MERRA-2 tavg1_2d_aer_Nx: 2d,1-Hourly,Time-averaged,Single-Level,Assimilation,Aerosol Diagnostics V5.12.4 (M2T1NXAER)

M2T1NXAER (or tavg1_2d_aer_Nx) is an hourly time-averaged 2-dimensional data collection in Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications version 2 (MERRA-2). This collection consists of assimilated aerosol diagnostics, such as column mass density of aerosol components (black carbon, dust, sea salt, sulfate, and organic carbon), surface mass concentration of aerosol components, and total extinction (and scattering ) aerosol optical thickness (AOT) at 550 nm. The total PM1.0, PM2.5, and PM10 may be derived with the formula described in the FAQs under the Documentation tab of this page. The data field is time-stamped with the central time of an hour starting from 00:30 UTC, e.g.: 00:30, 01:30, … , 23:30 UTC.

MERRA-2 is the latest version of global atmospheric reanalysis for the satellite era produced by NASA Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO) using the Goddard Earth Observing System Model (GEOS) version 5.12.4. The dataset covers the period of 1980-present with the latency of ~3 weeks after the end of a month.

Data and Resources

Field Value
DOI 10.5067/KLICLTZ8EM9D
Data Access Documentation https://disc.gsfc.nasa.gov/information/faqs?keywords=MERRA-2&page=1
Format netCDF
Organizations GMAO, NASA GSFC
Spatial 0.5 ° x 0.625 °
Spatial Coverage -180.0,-90.0,180.0,90.0
Start Guide Documentation https://disc.gsfc.nasa.gov/information/mission-project?title=MERRA-2
Temporal 1 hour
Temporal Coverage 1980-01-01 to 2025-08-01
Groups
  • NSF
  • United States
Tags
  • NSF
  • United States
isopen False
license_id notspecified
license_title License not specified
maintainer NASA Earthdata
maintainer_email gsfc-dl-help-disc@mail.nasa.gov
metadata_created 2026-10-30T17:21:17.520432
metadata_modified 2026-10-30T17:21:17.520437
notes M2T1NXAER (or tavg1_2d_aer_Nx) is an hourly time-averaged 2-dimensional data collection in Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications version 2 (MERRA-2). This collection consists of assimilated aerosol diagnostics, such as column mass density of aerosol components (black carbon, dust, sea salt, sulfate, and organic carbon), surface mass concentration of aerosol components, and total extinction (and scattering ) aerosol optical thickness (AOT) at 550 nm. The total PM1.0, PM2.5, and PM10 may be derived with the formula described in the FAQs under the Documentation tab of this page. The data field is time-stamped with the central time of an hour starting from 00:30 UTC, e.g.: 00:30, 01:30, … , 23:30 UTC. MERRA-2 is the latest version of global atmospheric reanalysis for the satellite era produced by NASA Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO) using the Goddard Earth Observing System Model (GEOS) version 5.12.4. The dataset covers the period of 1980-present with the latency of ~3 weeks after the end of a month.
num_resources 1
num_tags 2
title MERRA-2 tavg1_2d_aer_Nx: 2d,1-Hourly,Time-averaged,Single-Level,Assimilation,Aerosol Diagnostics V5.12.4 (M2T1NXAER)
url https://disc.gsfc.nasa.gov/datasets/M2T1NXAER_5.12.4/summary
version 5.12.4