Global 3-Hourly Assimilated Meteorological Fields at 72 Model Layers

MERRA-2 provides a 3-dimensional, 3-hourly time-averaged reanalysis of the global atmosphere from 1980 to the present. NASA's Global Modeling and Assimilation Office produced this dataset using the Goddard Earth Observing System Model version 5.12.4. Data fields include air temperature, wind components, water vapor, and vertical pressure velocity across 72 model layers.

Use Cases

• Analyze temporal trends in air temperature and water vapor across 72 vertical layers for climate change studies.
• Train models to predict wind component anomalies using 3-hourly assimilated data spanning decades.
• Correlate vertical pressure velocity with extreme weather event initiation across global 0.625 x 0.5 degree grids.
• Validate numerical weather prediction models against reanalysis data for parameters like layer height and temperature.

Strengths

• Covers a continuous period from 1980 to present, providing over 40 years of global atmospheric data.
• Provides data at 72 distinct model layers, offering high vertical resolution for atmospheric profiling.
• Delivers assimilated meteorological fields at a 3-hourly temporal resolution and a 0.625 x 0.5 degree spatial grid.

Limitations

• Data has an approximate latency of 3 weeks after the end of a month, limiting real-time analysis.
• Reprocessing events create filename inconsistencies, complicating automated data pipeline management.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Generated using the Goddard Earth Observing System Model (GEOS) version 5.12.4 for atmospheric reanalysis.

Time Range

1980 to present.

Freshness

Updated with a latency of ~3 weeks after the end of each month.

Geography

Global coverage.