MERRA-2: Global Atmospheric Reanalysis with PM2.5 and Model Parameters

NASA's MERRA-2 provides a global atmospheric reanalysis for the satellite era, produced by the Global Modeling and Assimilation Office using the GEOS model version 5.12.4. This collection includes derived surface concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) calculated from aerosol components and constant 2-dimensional model parameters like land and ocean fractions. Data is available under a CC-BY-4.0 license via AWS Open Data.

Use Cases

• Modeling long-term global PM2.5 exposure based on the sum of organic carbon, black carbon, sulfate, sea salt, and dust components.
• Analyzing spatial patterns of aerosol concentrations based on data recast from the native model grid.
• Incorporating constant model parameters like land/ocean fractions into climate or chemistry transport models.
• Comparing population-weighted and unweighted country-level PM2.5 concentrations for health impact studies.

Strengths

• Data is derived from NASA's latest global atmospheric reanalysis (MERRA-2), produced by the authoritative Global Modeling and Assimilation Office.
• PM2.5 is calculated as the sum of five specific aerosol components, providing a transparent methodology.
• Includes both raw and population-weighted country-level data, enabling different analytical approaches.

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.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.

Provenance

Source

NASA Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO)

Collection Method

Derived from the MERRA-2 aerosol monthly product M2TMNXAER_5.12.4 using the Goddard Earth Observing System Model (GEOS).

Time Range

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Freshness

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Geography

Global