MERRA-2 tavgU_2d_int_Nx: 2d,diurnal,Time-Averaged,Single-Level,Assimilation,Vertically Int

MERRA-2 is a global atmospheric reanalysis produced by NASA's Global Modeling and Assimilation Office using the GEOS 5.12.4 model. The M2TUNXINT collection provides monthly diurnal means of vertically integrated diagnostics for each hour, timestamped at the central time (e.g., 00:30 UTC). It covers the period from 1980 to the present with a latency of approximately three weeks after the end of each month.

Use Cases

• Analyze diurnal cycles of cloud water autoconversion loss based on the described diagnostic fields.
• Model convective sources of cloud ice based on the vertically integrated diagnostics.
• Study eastward and northward fluxes of atmospheric ice, liquid, and vapor based on the flux variables.
• Calculate total potential energy tendencies for climate model validation based on the integrated energy diagnostics.

Strengths

• Data spans from 1980 to the present, providing a long-term climate record.
• Produced by NASA's Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO), an authoritative source.
• Provides hourly diurnal means for each month, offering fine temporal resolution within monthly aggregates.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and dataset size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data reprocessing may result in filename changes, requiring careful version tracking.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Generated by the Goddard Earth Observing System Model (GEOS) version 5.12.4 as part of the MERRA-2 reanalysis.

Time Range

1980-present

Freshness

Updated on 2026-03-13; data has a latency of ~3 weeks after the end of a month.

Geography

Global, at a 0.625 x 0.5 degree resolution.