MERRA-2 M2I3NPASM: 3-Hourly Global Atmospheric Reanalysis at 42 Pressure Levels

MERRA-2 M2I3NPASM is an instantaneous 3-dimensional, 3-hourly meteorological assimilation dataset produced by NASA's Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO). It contains assimilated fields such as temperature, wind components, and water vapor across 42 pressure levels, covering the period from 1980 to the present with a latency of approximately three weeks. The data is generated using the Goddard Earth Observing System Model (GEOS) version 5.12.4.

Use Cases

• Modeling atmospheric dynamics based on assimilated wind components and vertical pressure velocity.
• Analyzing long-term climate trends based on global temperature and water vapor data.
• Studying ozone distribution based on the ozone mass mixing ratio field.
• Initializing and validating numerical weather prediction models based on the 3-hourly, 3D assimilated state.

Strengths

• Covers a long temporal range from 1980 to present, enabling longitudinal climate studies.
• Provides data at 42 distinct pressure levels, offering detailed vertical atmospheric profiles.
• Data is produced by NASA GMAO, an authoritative source for atmospheric reanalysis.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and dataset size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

NASA Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO)

Collection Method

Assimilated using the Goddard Earth Observing System Model (GEOS) version 5.12.4.

Time Range

1980-present

Freshness

Updated with a latency of ~3 weeks after the end of a month.

Geography

Global