MERRA-2: Monthly Turbulence Diagnostics on 42 Pressure Levels

M2TMNPTRB is a 3-dimensional monthly mean data collection from NASA's MERRA-2 atmospheric reanalysis. It contains assimilations of turbulence diagnostics, such as total scalar diffusivity and Richardson number, on 42 pressure levels. The dataset covers the period from 1980 to the present and is produced by NASA's Global Modeling and Assimilation Office.

Use Cases

• Modeling atmospheric mixing based on total scalar diffusivity
• Analyzing boundary layer turbulence based on momentum diffusivity from Louis
• Studying atmospheric stability based on Richardson number from Louis
• Investigating vertical transport processes based on variance parameters
• Validating climate models based on assimilated turbulence diagnostics

Strengths

• Data is produced by NASA's Global Modeling and Assimilation Office, a leading authority.
• Covers a long temporal range from 1980 to the present.
• Provides diagnostics on 42 distinct pressure levels.

Limitations

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

Provenance

Source

NASA Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO)

Collection Method

Assimilated reanalysis 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