Monthly Diurnal Ocean Surface Fluxes and Temperatures from MERRA-2 Reanalysis

MERRA-2 tavgU_2d_ocn_Nx provides monthly diurnal means for ocean surface diagnostics from 1980 to present. NASA's Global Modeling and Assimilation Office produced this collection using the GEOS 5.12.4 model, with data latency of approximately three weeks after each month's end.

Use Cases

• Analyzing diurnal cycles in open water skin temperature (sea surface temperature) across different ocean basins.
• Modeling ocean-atmosphere interactions using open water latent energy flux and sensible heat flux variables.
• Calculating net radiative energy input to the ocean surface from open water net downward longwave and shortwave flux data.
• Studying long-term trends in ocean surface heat fluxes from the 1980-present time series.

Strengths

• Global spatial coverage at 0.625 x 0.5 degree resolution.
• Continuous temporal coverage from 1980 to near-present, updated monthly.
• Data produced by NASA's authoritative Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO).

Limitations

• Data is a model reanalysis (assimilated product), not direct observation.
• Latency of approximately three weeks may not support real-time monitoring.
• Specific row counts and file sizes for the collection are unknown.

Provenance

Source

NASA Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO) via GES DISC.

Collection Method

Produced using the Goddard Earth Observing System Model (GEOS) version 5.12.4 assimilation.

Time Range

1980 to present.

Freshness

Updated monthly with ~3 week latency.

Geography

Global.