MERRA-2 M2IUNXLFO: Hourly Land Surface Forcing Data from 1980

M2IUNXLFO is an instantaneous 2-dimensional monthly diurnal means data collection from NASA's MERRA-2 global atmospheric reanalysis. It provides hourly land surface forcing parameters, such as height, specific humidity, wind, and air temperature, from 1980 to the present. The dataset is produced by NASA's Global Modeling and Assimilation Office using the Goddard Earth Observing System Model version 5.12.4.

Use Cases

• Modeling land surface hydrology based on hourly specific humidity and temperature data
• Analyzing diurnal wind patterns for renewable energy studies based on wind data
• Studying surface layer climate variability based on long-term hourly time-series
• Validating other climate models based on assimilated reanalysis parameters

Strengths

• Covers a long temporal range from 1980 to the present
• Provides hourly data for each day, offering high temporal resolution
• Produced by NASA's Global Modeling and Assimilation Office, indicating institutional authority

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment
• Data has a latency of approximately 3 weeks after the end of a month

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Assimilated reanalysis produced by NASA Global Modeling and Assimilation Office using the Goddard Earth Observing System Model

Time Range

1980-present

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 00:29:47.380608; freshness should be verified

Geography

Global, 0.625 x 0.5 degree resolution