Monthly Vertically Integrated Atmospheric Diagnostics from MERRA-2 Reanalysis

MERRA-2 instM_2d_int_Nx provides instantaneous, monthly mean, 2-dimensional vertically integrated atmospheric diagnostics from NASA's global reanalysis. The dataset covers the period from 1980 to the present, produced by NASA's Global Modeling and Assimilation Office using the GEOS model. It includes variables such as kinetic energy, virtual potential temperature, and total precipitable water components.

Use Cases

• Analyze trends in total precipitable water (vapor, liquid, ice) over oceans from 1980 to present to study hydrological cycle changes.
• Validate climate model outputs by comparing simulated kinetic energy and virtual potential temperature fields against this reanalysis.
• Study atmospheric energy budgets by examining the variance fields of integrated diagnostics included in the collection.
• Assimilate monthly mean vertically integrated data into statistical models for seasonal forecasting of atmospheric conditions.

Strengths

• Continuous temporal coverage from 1980 to present, providing over 40 years of data.
• Data is produced by NASA GMAO using the GEOS model, a state-of-the-art atmospheric assimilation system.
• Global spatial coverage at a 0.625 x 0.5 degree longitude/latitude resolution.

Limitations

• Specific row counts, column details, and file sizes are not provided in the source description.
• Data has an approximate latency of 3 weeks after the end of each month, limiting real-time analysis.
• Reprocessing events change filenames, which can complicate version tracking and data lineage.

Provenance

Source

NASA Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO) via the GES DISC.

Collection Method

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

Time Range

1980 to present.

Freshness

Updated monthly with a latency of about 3 weeks.

Geography

Global coverage.