MERRA-2: Monthly Mean Atmospheric Temperature Tendencies on 42 Pressure Levels

42 pressure levels provide assimilations of air temperature tendencies, such as total temperature analysis tendency and tendencies due to dynamics, friction, moisture, radiation, and physics. This 3-dimensional monthly mean data collection is part of NASA's MERRA-2 global atmospheric reanalysis produced by the Global Modeling and Assimilation Office. The dataset covers the period from 1980 to the present with a latency of approximately three weeks after the end of each month.

Use Cases

• Analyze global atmospheric temperature trends based on assimilated temperature tendencies
• Model climate dynamics based on temperature tendencies from friction, moisture, radiation, and physics
• Validate climate simulations based on NASA's GEOS version 5.12.4 reanalysis data

Strengths

• Data spans from 1980 to present, providing a long-term climate record
• Includes assimilations on 42 distinct pressure levels
• Produced by NASA's Global Modeling and Assimilation Office using the GEOS model

Limitations

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

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

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

Time Range

1980-present

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 00:51:05.800867; freshness should be verified

Geography

Global