MERRA-2 M2T3NPTRB: 3-Hourly Turbulence Diagnostics on Pressure Levels

1980-present turbulence diagnostics from NASA's MERRA-2 atmospheric reanalysis. The data collection consists of assimilations of turbulence diagnostics on 42 pressure levels, such as total scalar diffusivity and Richardson number. It is produced by NASA's Global Modeling and Assimilation Office using the Goddard Earth Observing System Model.

Use Cases

• Model atmospheric turbulence based on assimilated turbulence diagnostics.
• Analyze total scalar diffusivity across 42 pressure levels.
• Study momentum diffusivity from Louis parameterization.
• Calculate Richardson number from Louis for atmospheric stability analysis.

Strengths

• Data covers the period from 1980 to present.
• Contains assimilations on 42 distinct pressure levels.
• Produced by NASA's Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO).

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

NASA Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO)

Collection Method

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

Time Range

1980-present

Freshness

Latency of ~3 weeks after the end of a month.

Geography

Global, 0.625 x 0.5 degree resolution