MERRA-2: Global Atmospheric Temperature Tendencies on 42 Pressure Levels

NASA's MERRA-2 reanalysis provides assimilated air temperature tendencies on 42 pressure levels. The collection consists of monthly diurnal means, time-stamped at 3-hour intervals from 01:30 UTC, covering the period from 1980 to the present with a latency of approximately three weeks. It is produced by NASA's Global Modeling and Assimilation Office using the GEOS version 5.12.4 model.

Use Cases

• Analyze total temperature analysis tendencies based on assimilated data fields
• Model atmospheric dynamics using temperature tendencies due to friction, moisture, radiation, and physics
• Validate climate simulations against reanalysis data on 42 pressure levels
• Study diurnal temperature cycles using 3-hourly time-stamped monthly means

Strengths

• Data covers the period from 1980 to the present
• Provides assimilated data on 42 distinct pressure levels
• Time-stamped at 3-hour intervals (e.g., 01:30, 04:30 UTC)
• Produced by NASA's Global Modeling and Assimilation Office

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Assimilations produced by NASA Global Modeling and Assimilation Office using the Goddard Earth Observing System Model (GEOS) version 5.12.4

Time Range

1980-present

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 00:50:44.443117; freshness should be verified

Geography

Global