MERRA-2 Global Hourly Atmospheric Diagnostics 1980-Present

1980 to present global atmospheric reanalysis data from NASA's Global Modeling and Assimilation Office. This collection provides instantaneous, diurnally resolved monthly means for single-level meteorological parameters at 0.625 x 0.5 degree resolution. It is produced using the Goddard Earth Observing System Model version 5.12.4 and is updated with a latency of approximately three weeks.

Use Cases

• Modeling diurnal temperature cycles using the 2-meter temperature field at each UTC hour.
• Analyzing surface wind patterns for renewable energy site assessment using 10-meter and 50-meter wind components.
• Studying atmospheric moisture transport and trends with the total precipitable water field.
• Validating climate model output against reanalysis data for parameters like surface pressure.

Strengths

• Continuous temporal coverage from 1980 to the present, enabling long-term climate trend analysis.
• High spatial resolution of 0.625 x 0.5 degrees for global atmospheric data.
• Provides diurnal resolution with data fields for each hour (00:00 to 23:00 UTC) within monthly means.
• Produced by NASA GMAO using a consistent assimilation system (GEOS 5.12.4).

Limitations

• Data is provided as monthly means of instantaneous values, not sub-monthly time series, limiting high-frequency event analysis.
• Latency of approximately three weeks after the end of a month prevents real-time or near-real-time applications.
• Potential for inhomogeneities due to reprocessing events, requiring users to check version records.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

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

Time Range

1980 - Present

Freshness

Updated monthly with ~3 week latency.

Geography

Global coverage on a 0.625 x 0.5 degree longitude-latitude grid.