MERRA-2 M2I3NVGAS: 3D Aerosol Mixing Ratio Analysis Increments

NASA's MERRA-2 global atmospheric reanalysis provides instantaneous 3-dimensional, 3-hourly data on aerosol mixing ratio analysis increments. The dataset covers the period from 1980 to the present, with a latency of approximately three weeks after the end of each month. It is produced by NASA's Global Modeling and Assimilation Office using the Goddard Earth Observing System Model version 5.12.4.

Use Cases

• Modeling atmospheric aerosol transport based on 3-hourly increments.
• Analyzing black carbon, dust, and sulfate concentrations across 72 model layers.
• Studying long-term aerosol trends from 1980 onward.
• Assessing the impact of aerosol analysis increments on climate models.

Strengths

• Data is updated with a latency of ~3 weeks after the end of a month.
• Provides 3-hourly instantaneous data points at 00:00, 03:00, ... , 21:00 UTC.
• Covers a long temporal range from 1980 to the present.
• Includes analysis increments for specific aerosols like black carbon, dust, organic carbon, sea salt, and sulfate.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data reprocessing history requires checking linked documentation.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO)

Collection Method

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

Time Range

1980-present

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 00:53:34.338870; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global