GLDAS VIC: Monthly 1.0-Degree Land Surface Variables from 2000 to Present

34 land surface fields are provided monthly from January 2000 to the present. NASA's Global Land Data Assimilation System Version 2.1 (GLDAS-2.1) generated this data by simulating the VIC 4.1.2 Land Surface Model and temporally averaging 3-hourly outputs. The data is part of the main production stream, incorporating GPCP precipitation data and other meteorological forcing inputs.

Use Cases

• Modeling global soil moisture and snow water equivalent trends based on the 34 land surface fields.
• Analyzing long-term changes in surface energy fluxes (e.g., radiation, heat) based on the simulated land surface model outputs.
• Validating regional climate models against assimilated observational and model forcing data mentioned in the description.
• Studying hydrological extremes (droughts, floods) using the temporally consistent precipitation and runoff estimates.
• Assimilating land surface states into weather forecasting systems based on the data assimilation context of GLDAS-2 products.

Strengths

• Contains 34 distinct land surface variables for comprehensive hydrological analysis.
• Provides a temporally consistent series from January 2000 to the present, enabling long-term trend studies.
• Data was post-processed in October 2020 with a MODIS land mask to correct inland water representation.
• Generated by NASA using a combination of model data and observational inputs like GPCP precipitation.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for specific ML tasks.
• The description notes a 1.5-month latency for early products, suggesting the main stream may also have latency.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Generated through temporal averaging of GLDAS-2.1 3-hourly data simulated with the VIC 4.1.2 Land Surface Model in the Land Information System (LIS) Version 7.

Time Range

January 2000 to present

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03 13 02:27:26.318628; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global, on a 1.0 x 1.0 degree grid