Monthly Atmospheric Turbulence Diagnostics On Pressure Levels

MERRA-2 provides a 3-dimensional monthly mean collection of turbulence diagnostics on 42 pressure levels. NASA's Global Modeling and Assimilation Office produced this dataset using the GEOS model version 5.12.4. It covers the period from 1980 to the present with a latency of approximately three weeks.

Use Cases

• Analyze total scalar diffusivity and total momentum diffusivity to study atmospheric mixing and transport processes.
• Model boundary layer turbulence by examining momentum diffusivity derived from the Louis scheme across 42 pressure levels.
• Assess atmospheric stability for weather prediction using the Richardson number from Louis parameterization.
• Validate climate model turbulence parameterizations against this long-term reanalysis record spanning decades.

Strengths

• Provides data on 42 distinct pressure levels for detailed vertical atmospheric analysis.
• Covers a multi-decade period from 1980 onward, enabling long-term climate studies.
• Produced by NASA GMAO using a documented and versioned model (GEOS 5.12.4).

Limitations

• Specific row counts, file sizes, and column details are not provided in the available metadata.
• Data undergoes reprocessing, requiring users to check for version changes and filename differences.
• The ~3-week latency means data is not available in real-time for current-month analysis.

Provenance

Source

NASA Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO).

Collection Method

Assimilation product generated using the Goddard Earth Observing System Model (GEOS) version 5.12.4.

Time Range

1980 to present.

Freshness

Updated monthly with a latency of ~3 weeks after the end of each month.

Geography

Global coverage at 0.625 x 0.5 degree resolution.