Monthly Atmospheric Reanalysis Data from NASA MERRA-2

MERRA-2 provides a global atmospheric reanalysis from 1980 to present, updated with a latency of approximately three weeks. This monthly mean collection includes meteorology diagnostics such as air temperature at multiple levels, wind components, sea level pressure, and total precipitable water vapor. It is produced by NASA's Global Modeling and Assimilation Office using the GEOS version 5.12.4 model.

Use Cases

• Analyze long-term trends in 2-meter air temperature and sea level pressure for climate change studies.
• Model atmospheric circulation patterns using wind components at 50-meter, 850hPa, and 250hPa levels.
• Study global hydrology and moisture transport via total precipitable water vapor and ice/liquid water variables.
• Validate climate models by comparing reanalysis data for parameters like surface pressure and variance metrics.

Strengths

• Covers a continuous period from 1980 to present, providing over 40 years of data.
• Includes diagnostics at popularly used vertical levels (e.g., 2m, 10m, 850hPa, 500hPa, 250hPa).
• Produced by NASA GMAO using a documented assimilation system (GEOS 5.12.4).

Limitations

• Data is reprocessed, leading to filename differences that require careful version tracking.
• Latency of ~3 weeks after month-end limits near-real-time applications.
• Specific spatial resolution details for the '0.625 x 0.5 degree' grid are not fully elaborated in the provided description.

Provenance

Source

NASA Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO) via GES DISC.

Collection Method

Assimilation of satellite and observational data using the Goddard Earth Observing System Model (GEOS) version 5.12.4.

Time Range

1980-present

Freshness

Updated monthly with a ~3 week latency.

Geography

Global