Monthly Vertically Integrated Atmospheric Diagnostics from MERRA-2 Reanalysis

M2TMNXINT is a monthly mean collection of vertically integrated water and energy diagnostics from NASA's MERRA-2 global atmospheric reanalysis. The dataset covers the period from 1980 to the present, produced by NASA's Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO) using the GEOS 5.12.4 model. Data has a latency of approximately three weeks after the end of each month.

Use Cases

• Analyze long-term trends in vertically integrated eastward flux of atmospheric ice using the monthly time series.
• Validate climate model outputs by comparing simulated convective source of cloud ice against this reanalysis data.
• Study global energy budgets by examining the total potential energy tendency and vertically integrated kinetic energy tendency fields.
• Investigate cloud processes through the autoconversion loss of cloud water diagnostic variable.
• Calculate spatial variances of key parameters like northward flux of atmospheric vapor for regional climate studies.

Strengths

• Provides a continuous, globally consistent record from 1980 to present.
• Data is produced by NASA's operational modeling and assimilation office using a documented model version (GEOS 5.12.4).
• Includes variance metrics for certain parameters to assess uncertainty.

Limitations

• Data is reprocessed, leading to filename changes that can complicate tracking specific versions.
• The ~3-week latency makes it unsuitable for real-time monitoring or near-term forecasting applications.
• As a model assimilation product, it represents a blend of observations and model physics, not pure measurements.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Produced by the Goddard Earth Observing System Model (GEOS) version 5.12.4, which assimilates satellite and other observational data.

Time Range

1980 to present.

Freshness

Updated monthly with a ~3-week latency.

Geography

Global coverage at 0.625 x 0.5 degree resolution.