MERRA-2 M2T3NVMST: 3-Hourly Atmospheric Moist Processes Diagnostics

72 model layers of assimilated moist processes diagnostics, such as convective rainwater source and large scale rainwater source, are available every three hours from 01:30 UTC. The MERRA-2 dataset, produced by NASA's Global Modeling and Assimilation Office using GEOS version 5.12.4, covers the period from 1980 to the present with a latency of approximately three weeks after the end of a month.

Use Cases

• Analyzing convective precipitation sources based on convective rainwater source diagnostics.
• Studying large-scale precipitation processes based on large scale rainwater source diagnostics.
• Modeling precipitation evaporation and sublimation based on evap subl of convective and non-convective precipitation diagnostics.
• Validating climate model outputs against assimilated reanalysis data.
• Investigating vertical atmospheric moisture profiles across 72 model layers.

Strengths

• Data is produced by NASA's Global Modeling and Assimilation Office, an authoritative source.
• Provides a long temporal coverage from 1980 to the present.
• Offers high vertical resolution with diagnostics across 72 model layers.
• Has a regular update cadence with a latency of about three weeks.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and dataset size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data reprocessing may result in filename changes, requiring careful version tracking.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Assimilated reanalysis produced by NASA GMAO using the Goddard Earth Observing System Model (GEOS) version 5.12.4.

Time Range

1980-present

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 00:51:37.783470; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global