MERRA-2 Monthly Diurnal Aerosol Diagnostics from NASA GMAO
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Description
MERRA-2 M2TUNXAER provides monthly diurnal means of assimilated aerosol diagnostics from NASA's Global Modeling and Assimilation Office. The collection includes variables like column mass density of black carbon, dust, sea salt, sulfate, and organic carbon, plus aerosol optical thickness at 550 nm. Data coverage spans from 1980 to the present, with a latency of approximately three weeks after each month.
Use Cases
Modeling long-term trends in sulfate aerosol optical thickness at 550 nm to assess climate forcing.
Estimating regional PM2.5 concentrations by combining column mass densities of aerosol components as described in the documentation.
Analyzing diurnal cycles of sea salt and dust surface mass concentrations for atmospheric process studies.
Validating other air quality models using assimilated black carbon and organic carbon diagnostics across the 1980-present period.
Mapping global spatial distributions of total aerosol extinction from the gridded geospatial data.
Strengths
Continuous temporal coverage from 1980 to present, enabling long-term trend analysis.
Provides multiple aerosol component diagnostics (e.g., black carbon, dust, sea salt, sulfate, organic carbon) for comprehensive analysis.
Data is produced by NASA GMAO using the GEOS 5.12.4 model, ensuring authoritative reanalysis methodology.
Limitations
Data has a latency of ~3 weeks, limiting real-time analysis applications.
Derived PM metrics (PM1.0, PM2.5, PM10) require calculation using provided formulas, not direct measurement.
Spatial resolution is 0.625 x 0.5 degrees, which may be too coarse for localized urban air quality studies.
Provenance
Source
NASA Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO) via GES DISC.
Collection Method
Assimilated atmospheric reanalysis produced using the Goddard Earth Observing System Model (GEOS) version 5.12.4.
Time Range
1980 to present.
Freshness
Updated monthly with ~3 week latency.
Geography
Global coverage at 0.625 x 0.5 degree resolution.
Data reprocessing occurs; filenames for reprocessed data differ from original files. Users must consult the linked documentation for derivation formulas and reprocessing records.