MERRA-2 M2T3NPTDT: 3-Hourly Global Atmospheric Temperature Tendencies

42 pressure levels of assimilated air temperature tendencies, including total analysis tendency and tendencies due to dynamics, friction, moisture, radiation, and physics. The NASA Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO) produces this 3-hourly time-averaged data collection using the GEOS model version 5.12.4, covering the period from 1980 to the present with a latency of approximately 3 weeks.

Use Cases

• Analyze global temperature change mechanisms based on tendencies due to dynamics, friction, moisture, radiation, and physics.
• Validate atmospheric model simulations against assimilated reanalysis data on 42 pressure levels.
• Study diurnal and seasonal temperature variability based on 3-hourly time-averaged observations starting from 01:30 UTC.
• Assess the impact of specific physical processes (e.g., radiation) on air temperature trends over time.

Strengths

• Data is produced by NASA GMAO using the GEOS 5.12.4 model, indicating authoritative provenance.
• Provides temperature tendencies on 42 distinct pressure levels, offering vertical atmospheric detail.
• Time series begins in 1980 and extends to the present, providing a long-term climate record.
• Data is available at a 3-hourly frequency, allowing for analysis of short-term atmospheric changes.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred from the MERRA-2 File Specification document.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale ML projects.
• Data has a latency of ~3 weeks after the end of a month, limiting real-time applications.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO)

Collection Method

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

Time Range

1980-present

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 00:51:47.306806; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global, at 0.625 x 0.5 degree resolution