Monthly Land Surface Forcings from NASA MERRA-2 Reanalysis

M2IMNXLFO is an instantaneous, 2-dimensional monthly mean collection of land surface forcing parameters from NASA's MERRA-2 global atmospheric reanalysis. Produced by NASA's Global Modeling and Assimilation Office, the dataset provides parameters like height, specific humidity, wind, and air temperature for the model surface layer. It covers the period from 1980 to the present, with data latency of approximately three weeks after each month.

Use Cases

• Analyze long-term trends in surface layer air temperature and specific humidity to study land-atmosphere coupling.
• Validate regional climate models using the gridded wind and height parameters at 0.625 x 0.5 degree resolution.
• Assess variance of specific forcing parameters to quantify uncertainty in reanalysis data for specific regions.
• Force hydrological or ecological models with historical monthly mean land surface conditions from 1980 onward.

Strengths

• Global spatial coverage at a 0.625 x 0.5 degree horizontal resolution.
• Continuous temporal coverage from 1980 to present, updated monthly.
• Produced by NASA's Global Modeling and Assimilation Office using the GEOS model version 5.12.4.

Limitations

• Data is a reanalysis product, representing a model assimilation rather than direct observations.
• The 0.625 x 0.5 degree resolution may be too coarse for localized or microclimate studies.
• Monthly mean temporal resolution limits analysis of sub-monthly or diurnal cycles.

Provenance

Source

NASA Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO) via the Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC).

Collection Method

Generated via the Goddard Earth Observing System Model (GEOS) version 5.12.4, assimilating satellite and observational data.

Time Range

1980 to present.

Freshness

Updated monthly with a latency of approximately three weeks.

Geography

Global.