Monthly Atmospheric Reanalysis Data for Climate Modeling

MERRA-2 provides a global atmospheric reanalysis from 1980 to the present, updated with a latency of about three weeks. NASA's Global Modeling and Assimilation Office produced this dataset using the Goddard Earth Observing System Model version 5.12.4. It consists of monthly mean assimilations of single-level meteorological diagnostics.

Use Cases

• Analyze long-term trends in 2-meter temperature and surface pressure for climate change studies.
• Model atmospheric dynamics using assimilated wind components at 10-meter and 50-meter heights.
• Study hydrological cycles by examining the total precipitable water variable over the global grid.
• Validate weather prediction models against the reanalysis data for parameters like temperature variance.

Strengths

• Global spatial coverage at a 0.625 x 0.5 degree resolution.
• Continuous temporal coverage from 1980 to present, spanning over 40 years.
• Produced by NASA GMAO using a consistent assimilation system (GEOS 5.12.4).

Limitations

• Data is a reanalysis product, representing a model fit to observations rather than direct measurements.
• The ~3-week latency prevents real-time or near-real-time analysis applications.
• Specific row counts, file sizes, and detailed column lists are not provided in the description.

Provenance

Source

NASA Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO).

Collection Method

Assimilation of observational data using the Goddard Earth Observing System Model (GEOS) version 5.12.4.

Time Range

1980 to present.

Freshness

Updated monthly with a latency of ~3 weeks.

Geography

Global.