MERRA-2 Global Atmospheric Temperature Tendencies at 42 Pressure Levels

M2T3NPTDT provides assimilations of air temperature tendencies on 42 pressure levels, including total analysis tendency and contributions from dynamics, friction, moisture, radiation, and physics. The NASA Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO) produced this 3-hourly time-averaged collection using the GEOS version 5.12.4 model. Data coverage spans from 1980 to the present, with a latency of approximately three weeks after each month.

Use Cases

• Analyze the total temperature analysis tendency field to validate atmospheric model physics.
• Study the tendency of air temperature due to dynamics to understand large-scale atmospheric forcing mechanisms.
• Investigate contributions from moisture and radiation tendencies to regional energy balance studies.
• Use the 3-hourly, 42-pressure-level data to initialize or evaluate high-temporal-resolution climate models.
• Correlate friction and physics-based temperature tendencies with surface flux observations.

Strengths

• 42 pressure levels provide detailed vertical atmospheric profiling.
• Temporal resolution of 3 hours starting from 01:30 UTC enables diurnal cycle analysis.
• Data coverage from 1980-present offers a multi-decadal record for climate studies.
• Produced by NASA GMAO using the GEOS 5.12.4 model, an authoritative reanalysis system.

Limitations

• Data has a ~3-week latency after each month, limiting near-real-time applications.
• The 0.625 x 0.5 degree spatial resolution may be coarse for regional or micro-scale studies.
• Reprocessing events change filenames and data, requiring careful version tracking.

Provenance

Source

NASA Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO).

Collection Method

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

Time Range

1980 to present.

Freshness

Updated monthly with a ~3-week latency.

Geography

Global.