Hourly Ocean Surface Diagnostics from NASA MERRA-2 Reanalysis

MERRA-2 M2T1NXOCN provides hourly time-averaged ocean surface diagnostics from 1980 to the present. NASA's Global Modeling and Assimilation Office produced this data using the GEOS 5.12.4 model. The collection includes variables like sea surface temperature and latent energy flux, with data timestamped at the central time of each hour.

Use Cases

• Modeling sea surface temperature dynamics using the open water skin temperature field.
• Analyzing energy exchange between ocean and atmosphere via latent energy flux and sensible heat flux fields.
• Calculating radiative budget components from net downward longwave and shortwave flux data.
• Validating and calibrating other oceanographic or climate models against this reanalysis assimilation data.
• Studying diurnal cycles and short-term variability in ocean surface conditions using the hourly time resolution.

Strengths

• Data coverage spans from 1980 to present, providing over 40 years of continuous record.
• Hourly temporal resolution captures diurnal cycles and short-term variability.
• Produced by NASA GMAO using a state-of-the-art assimilation system (GEOS 5.12.4).
• Global spatial coverage at 0.625 x 0.5 degree resolution.

Limitations

• Data has a latency of approximately three weeks after the end of each month.
• Specific row counts, file sizes, and total data volume are not provided.
• Reprocessed data files have different naming conventions, requiring careful version management.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

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

Time Range

1980 to present.

Freshness

Updated monthly with a ~3-week latency.

Geography

Global coverage.