MERRA-2 M2TMNXRAD: Monthly Radiation Diagnostics from NASA Atmospheric Reanalysis

Global atmospheric reanalysis data produced by NASA's Global Modeling and Assimilation Office covers the period from 1980 to the present. The dataset consists of monthly mean radiation diagnostics, including surface albedo, cloud area fraction, and surface incoming shortwave flux. It is generated using the Goddard Earth Observing System Model version 5.12.4 and has a latency of approximately three weeks after the end of each month.

Use Cases

• Modeling Earth's radiative balance based on surface incoming shortwave flux and outgoing longwave radiation at the top of atmosphere.
• Analyzing cloud cover and its impact on climate based on cloud area fraction and in-cloud optical thickness.
• Studying surface energy budgets based on surface albedo and surface net downward shortwave flux.
• Investigating climate variability over the satellite era based on the continuous time series from 1980 onward.

Strengths

• Produced by NASA's Global Modeling and Assimilation Office, an authoritative source.
• Covers a continuous period from 1980 to the present, providing a long-term climate record.
• Includes variance metrics for certain parameters, which may aid uncertainty analysis.

Limitations

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

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Generated via the Goddard Earth Observing System Model version 5.12.4 assimilation system.

Time Range

1980-present

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 00:28:46.350620; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global