Hourly Land Surface Diagnostics from NASA's MERRA-2 Reanalysis

Hourly time-averaged land surface diagnostics form a global atmospheric reanalysis covering 1980 to present. NASA's Global Modeling and Assimilation Office produced this collection using the Goddard Earth Observing System Model version 5.12.4. Data includes variables like baseflow flux, runoff, and soil temperature across six layers.

Use Cases

• Modeling surface runoff and baseflow flux for hydrological forecasting and water resource management.
• Analyzing surface and root zone soil wetness for agricultural drought monitoring and crop yield prediction.
• Validating soil temperature profiles across six layers in climate and weather prediction models.
• Assessing water content in surface and root zone layers for ecosystem and carbon cycle studies.

Strengths

• Global spatial coverage at 0.625 x 0.5 degree resolution.
• Hourly temporal resolution provides diurnal cycle information.
• Continuous record from 1980 to present enables long-term trend analysis.
• Produced by NASA GMAO using a consistent assimilation system.

Limitations

• Latency of approximately 3 weeks after the end of a month limits near-real-time applications.
• Reanalysis data contains model biases and uncertainties inherent in the assimilation system.
• Spatial resolution of ~50 km may not capture local-scale phenomena.

Provenance

Source

NASA Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO).

Collection Method

Generated via the Goddard Earth Observing System Model (GEOS) version 5.12.4 data assimilation system.

Time Range

1980 to present.

Freshness

Updated monthly with a ~3 week latency.

Geography

Global.