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Description

M2I3NVAER (or inst3_3d_aer_Nv) is an instantaneous 3-dimensional 3-hourly data collection in Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications version 2 (MERRA-2). This collection consists of assimilations of aerosol mixing ratio parameters at 72 model layers, such as dust, sulphur dioxide, sea salt, black carbon, and organic carbon. The data field is available every three hour starting from 00:00 UTC, e.g.: 00:00, 03:00, … , 21:00 UTC. Section 4.2 of the MERRA-2 File Specification document provides pressure values nominal for a 1000 hPa surface pressure and refers to the top edge of the layer. The lev=1 is for the top layer, and lev=72 is for the bottom (or surface) model layer.

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 Reprocessing: Please check “Records of MERRA-2 Data Reprocessing and Service Changes” linked from the “Documentation” tab on this page. Note that a reprocessed data filename is different from the original file.

MERRA-2 Mailing List: Sign up to receive information on reprocessing of data, changing of tools and services, as well as data announcements from GMAO. Contact the GES DISC Help Desk (gsfc-dl-help-disc@mail.nasa.gov) to be added to the list.

Questions: If you have a question, please read "MERRA-2 File Specification Document", “MERRA-2 Data Access – Quick Start Guide”, and FAQs linked from the ”Documentation” tab on this page. If that does not answer your question, you may post your question to the NASA Earthdata Forum (forum.earthdata.nasa.gov) or email the GES DISC Help Desk (gsfc-dl-help-disc@mail.nasa.gov).

Version Description

The GEOS-5 model version used for processing MERRA-2

Product Summary

Platforms
MERRA-2
Instruments
NOT APPLICABLE
Projects
MERRA-2
Spatial Extent

N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180

Spatial Resolution
0.625 Decimal Degrees x 0.5 Decimal Degrees
Location
GLOBAL
Coordinate System
CARTESIAN
Granule Spatial Representation
CARTESIAN
Temporal Extent
1980-01-01 to Present
Data Partner
Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (formerly Goddard DAAC), Terrestrial Information Systems Laboratory, Earth Sciences Division, Science and Exploration Directorate, Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA (NASA/GSFC/SED/ESD/TISL/GESDI
Concept ID
C1276812882-GES_DISC
Data State
ACTIVE
Number of Files/Granules
16923
Processing Level
4
Published
Updated
Science Keywords
Dust/Ash/Smoke ,
Carbonaceous Aerosols ,
Organic Particles ,
Sulfate Particles ,
Sulfur Oxides ,
Sulfur Compounds ,
Sulfate ,
Sulfur Dioxide ,
Sulfur Oxides ,
Dimethyl Sulfide ,
Aerosol Particle Properties ,
Particulate Matter ,
Aerosols ,
Surface Pressure ,
Pressure Thickness ,
Relative Humidity ,
Sea Salt ,
Black Carbon ,
Air Mass/Density

Citation

Citation is critically important for dataset documentation and discovery. This dataset is openly shared, without restriction, in accordance with the EOSDIS Data Use and Citation Guidance.

Copy Citation

Global Modeling and Assimilation Office, & Pawson, S. (2015). MERRA-2 inst3_3d_aer_Nv: 3d,3-Hourly,Instantaneous,Model-Level,Assimilation,Aerosol Mixing Ratio V5.12.4 [Dataset]. NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/LTVB4GPCOTK2 Date Accessed: 2026-06-11

Documents

Publications Citing This Dataset

Filters
Title Year Author Topic
The negative impact of biomass burning and the Orinoco low-level jet on the air quality of the Orinoco River basin (edited by Dr. M. Grutter) Rodriguez-Gomez, Camila, Echeverry, Ghisliane, Jaramillo, Alejandro, Ladino, Luis Antonio Atmospheric Ozone, Sea Level Pressure, Surface Pressure, U/V Wind Components, U/V Wind Components, Potential Vorticity, Vertical Wind Velocity/Speed, Vertical Profiles, Upper Air Temperature, Air Temperature, Relative Humidity, Specific Humidity, Atmospheric Water Vapor, Cloud Liquid Water/Ice, Altitude, Geopotential Height, Ozone Profiles, Pressure Thickness, Cloud Fraction, Dust/Ash/Smoke, Carbonaceous Aerosols, Organic Particles, Sulfate Particles, Sulfur Oxides, Sulfur Compounds, Sulfate, Sulfur Dioxide, Sulfur Oxides, Dimethyl Sulfide, Aerosol Particle Properties, Particulate Matter, Aerosols, Sea Salt, Black Carbon, Air Mass/Density
African dust particles over the western CaribbeanPart I: Impact on air quality over the Yucatan Peninsula Ramirez-Romero, Carolina, Jaramillo, Alejandro, Cordoba, Maria F., Raga, Graciela B., Miranda, Javier, Alvarez-Ospina, Harry, Rosas, Daniel, Amador, Talib, Kim, Jong Sung, Yakobi-Hancock, Jacqueline, Baumgardner, Darrel, Ladino, Luis A. Dust/Ash/Smoke, Carbonaceous Aerosols, Organic Particles, Sulfate Particles, Sulfur Oxides, Sulfur Compounds, Sulfate, Sulfur Dioxide, Sulfur Oxides, Dimethyl Sulfide, Aerosol Particle Properties, Particulate Matter, Aerosols, Surface Pressure, Pressure Thickness, Relative Humidity, Sea Salt, Black Carbon, Air Mass/Density, Total Precipitable Water, Cloud Liquid Water/Ice, Atmospheric Water Vapor, Oxygen Compounds, Potential Temperature, Potential Temperature
Aerosol absorption over land derived from the ultra-violet aerosol index by deep learning Sun, Jiyunting, Veefkind, Pepijn, van Velthoven, Peter, Levelt, Pieternel F. Dust/Ash/Smoke, Carbonaceous Aerosols, Organic Particles, Sulfate Particles, Sulfur Oxides, Sulfur Compounds, Sulfate, Sulfur Dioxide, Sulfur Oxides, Dimethyl Sulfide, Aerosol Particle Properties, Particulate Matter, Aerosols, Surface Pressure, Pressure Thickness, Relative Humidity, Sea Salt, Black Carbon, Air Mass/Density, Aerosol Extinction, Aerosol Optical Depth/Thickness, Angstrom Exponent, PARTICULATE MATTER (PM 2.5), PARTICULATE MATTER (PM 1.0), PARTICULATE MATTER (PM 10), Aerosol Extinction
A Simulation Study on the New Transport Pathways of Global Tropopause Dust Layer Zhu, Qingzhe, Liu, Yuzhi, Shao, Tianbin, Luo, Run, Tan, Ziyuan Dust/Ash/Smoke, Carbonaceous Aerosols, Organic Particles, Sulfate Particles, Sulfur Oxides, Sulfur Compounds, Sulfate, Sulfur Dioxide, Sulfur Oxides, Dimethyl Sulfide, Aerosol Particle Properties, Particulate Matter, Aerosols, Surface Pressure, Pressure Thickness, Relative Humidity, Sea Salt, Black Carbon, Air Mass/Density
Changes in dust activity in spring over East Asia under a Global Warming Scenario Zong, Qi, Mao, Rui, Gong, Dao-Yi, Wu, Chenglai, Pu, Bing, Feng, Xingya, Sun, Yijie Dust/Ash/Smoke, Carbonaceous Aerosols, Organic Particles, Sulfate Particles, Sulfur Oxides, Sulfur Compounds, Sulfate, Sulfur Dioxide, Sulfur Oxides, Dimethyl Sulfide, Aerosol Particle Properties, Particulate Matter, Aerosols, Surface Pressure, Pressure Thickness, Relative Humidity, Sea Salt, Black Carbon, Air Mass/Density
Impacts of long-range-transported mineral dust on summertime convective cloud and precipitation: a case study over the Taiwan region Zhang, Yanda, Yu, Fangqun, Luo, Gan, Fan, Jiwen, Liu, Shuai Dust/Ash/Smoke, Carbonaceous Aerosols, Organic Particles, Sulfate Particles, Sulfur Oxides, Sulfur Compounds, Sulfate, Sulfur Dioxide, Sulfur Oxides, Dimethyl Sulfide, Aerosol Particle Properties, Particulate Matter, Aerosols, Surface Pressure, Pressure Thickness, Relative Humidity, Sea Salt, Black Carbon, Air Mass/Density, Precipitation, Precipitation Amount, Precipitation Rate, Snow, Rain
Improving dust simulations in WRF-Chem v4. 1.3 coupled with the GOCART aerosol module Ukhov, Alexander, Ahmadov, Ravan, Grell, Georg, Stenchikov, Georgiy Dust/Ash/Smoke, Carbonaceous Aerosols, Organic Particles, Sulfate Particles, Sulfur Oxides, Sulfur Compounds, Sulfate, Sulfur Dioxide, Sulfur Oxides, Dimethyl Sulfide, Aerosol Particle Properties, Particulate Matter, Aerosols, Surface Pressure, Pressure Thickness, Relative Humidity, Sea Salt, Black Carbon, Air Mass/Density, Atmospheric Carbon Monoxide, Atmospheric Ozone, Tropospheric Ozone, Carbon Monoxide
Evaluation of the CMIP6 marine subtropical stratocumulus cloud albedo and its controlling factors Jian, Bida, Li, Jiming, Wang, Guoyin, Zhao, Yuxin, Li, Yarong, Wang, Jing, Zhang, Min, Huang, Jianping Dust/Ash/Smoke, Carbonaceous Aerosols, Organic Particles, Sulfate Particles, Sulfur Oxides, Sulfur Compounds, Sulfate, Sulfur Dioxide, Sulfur Oxides, Dimethyl Sulfide, Aerosol Particle Properties, Particulate Matter, Aerosols, Surface Pressure, Pressure Thickness, Relative Humidity, Sea Salt, Black Carbon, Air Mass/Density, Surface Temperature, Skin Temperature, Upper Air Temperature, Air Temperature, Atmospheric Winds, Surface Winds, U/V Wind Components, Atmospheric Pressure, Sea Level Pressure, Specific Humidity, Total Precipitable Water, Cloud Liquid Water/Ice, Atmospheric Water Vapor, Atmospheric Ozone, Oxygen Compounds, Altitude, Boundary Layer Winds, U/V Wind Components, Potential Vorticity, Vertical Wind Velocity/Speed, Vertical Profiles, Geopotential Height, Ozone Profiles
Aerosol vertical distribution and interactions with land/sea breezes over the eastern coast of the Red Sea from lidar data and high-resolution WRF-Chem ... Parajuli, Sagar P., Stenchikov, Georgiy L., Ukhov, Alexander, Shevchenko, Illia, Dubovik, Oleg, Lopatin, Anton Aerosol Particle Properties, Turbidity, Aerosols, Aerosol Extinction, Air Quality, Particulates, Aerosol Optical Depth/Thickness, Angstrom Exponent, Carbonaceous Aerosols, Dust/Ash/Smoke, Organic Particles, Sulfate Particles, Sulfur Oxides, Sulfur Compounds, Sulfate, Sulfur Dioxide, Sulfur Oxides, Particulate Matter, Dimethyl Sulfide, Black Carbon, Sea Salt, PARTICULATE MATTER (PM 2.5), PARTICULATE MATTER (PM 1.0), PARTICULATE MATTER (PM 10), Surface Pressure, Pressure Thickness, Relative Humidity, Air Mass/Density
Assessing NO2 Concentration and Model Uncertainty with High Spatiotemporal Resolution across the Contiguous United States Using Ensemble Model Averaging Di, Qian, Amini, Heresh, Shi, Liuhua, Kloog, Itai, Silvern, Rachel, Kelly, James, Sabath, M. Benjamin, Choirat, Christine, Koutrakis, Petros, Lyapustin, Alexei, Wang, Yujie, Mickley, Loretta J., Schwartz, Joel Nitrogen Dioxide, Aerosol Extinction, Aerosol Optical Depth/Thickness, Aerosol Optical Depth/Thickness, Aerosol Optical Depth/Thickness, Aerosol Optical Depth/Thickness, Dust/Ash/Smoke, Carbonaceous Aerosols, Organic Particles, Sulfate Particles, Sulfur Oxides, Sulfur Compounds, Sulfate, Sulfur Dioxide, Sulfur Oxides, Dimethyl Sulfide, Aerosol Particle Properties, Particulate Matter, Aerosols, Surface Pressure, Pressure Thickness, Relative Humidity, Sea Salt, Black Carbon, Air Mass/Density
Characterizing a landmark biomass-burning event and its implication for aging processes during long-range transport Nguyen, Ly Sy Phu, Huang, Hsiang-Yu, Lei, Tin Long, Bui, Thu Thuy, Wang, Sheng-Hsiang, Chi, Kai Hsien, Sheu, Guey-Rong, Lee, Chung-Te, Ou-Yang, Chang-Feng, Lin, Neng-Huei Aerosol Optical Depth/Thickness, Atmospheric Ozone, Reflectance, Dust/Ash/Smoke, Carbonaceous Aerosols, Organic Particles, Sulfate Particles, Sulfur Oxides, Sulfur Compounds, Sulfate, Sulfur Dioxide, Sulfur Oxides, Dimethyl Sulfide, Aerosol Particle Properties, Particulate Matter, Aerosols, Surface Pressure, Pressure Thickness, Relative Humidity, Sea Salt, Black Carbon, Air Mass/Density
Effects of continental emissions on cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) activity in the northern South China Sea during summertime 2018 Cai, Mingfu, Liang, Baoling, Sun, Qibin, Zhou, Shengzhen, Chen, Xiaoyang, Yuan, Bin, Shao, Min, Tan, Haobo, Zhao, Jun Dust/Ash/Smoke, Carbonaceous Aerosols, Organic Particles, Sulfate Particles, Sulfur Oxides, Sulfur Compounds, Sulfate, Sulfur Dioxide, Sulfur Oxides, Dimethyl Sulfide, Aerosol Particle Properties, Particulate Matter, Aerosols, Surface Pressure, Pressure Thickness, Relative Humidity, Sea Salt, Black Carbon, Air Mass/Density
Radiative heating rate profiles over the southeast Atlantic Ocean during the 2016 and 2017 biomass burning seasons Marquardt Collow, Allison B., Miller, Mark A., Trabachino, Lynne C., Jensen, Michael P., Wang, Meng Aerosols, Aerosol Extinction, Aerosol Optical Depth/Thickness, Angstrom Exponent, Aerosol Particle Properties, Carbonaceous Aerosols, Dust/Ash/Smoke, Organic Particles, Sulfate Particles, Sulfur Oxides, Sulfur Compounds, Sulfate, Sulfur Dioxide, Sulfur Oxides, Particulate Matter, Dimethyl Sulfide, Black Carbon, Sea Salt, PARTICULATE MATTER (PM 2.5), PARTICULATE MATTER (PM 1.0), PARTICULATE MATTER (PM 10), Surface Pressure, Pressure Thickness, Relative Humidity, Air Mass/Density
Understanding processes that control dust spatial distributions with global climate models and satellite observations Wu, Mingxuan, Liu, Xiaohong, Yu, Hongbin, Wang, Hailong, Shi, Yang, Yang, Kang, Darmenov, Anton, Wu, Chenglai, Wang, Zhien, Luo, Tao, Feng, Yan, Ke, Ziming Dust/Ash/Smoke, Carbonaceous Aerosols, Organic Particles, Sulfate Particles, Sulfur Oxides, Sulfur Compounds, Sulfate, Sulfur Dioxide, Sulfur Oxides, Dimethyl Sulfide, Aerosol Particle Properties, Particulate Matter, Aerosols, Surface Pressure, Pressure Thickness, Relative Humidity, Sea Salt, Black Carbon, Air Mass/Density, Emissions, UV Aerosol Index, Gas/Aerosol Composition, Aerosol Extinction, Deposition, Aerosol Optical Depth/Thickness, Angstrom Exponent, PARTICULATE MATTER (PM 2.5), PARTICULATE MATTER (PM 10), PARTICULATE MATTER (PM 1.0), Atmospheric Ozone, Sea Level Pressure, U/V Wind Components, U/V Wind Components, Potential Vorticity, Vertical Wind Velocity/Speed, Vertical Profiles, Upper Air Temperature, Air Temperature, Specific Humidity, Atmospheric Water Vapor, Cloud Liquid Water/Ice, Cloud Fraction, Altitude, Geopotential Height, Ozone Profiles
Local monitoring of atmospheric transparency from the NASA MERRA-2 global assimilation system Guyonnet, A., Dagoret-Campagne, S., Mondrik, N. Atmospheric Ozone, Sea Level Pressure, Surface Pressure, Pressure Thickness, U/V Wind Components, U/V Wind Components, Potential Vorticity, Vertical Wind Velocity/Speed, Vertical Profiles, Upper Air Temperature, Air Temperature, Relative Humidity, Specific Humidity, Atmospheric Water Vapor, Cloud Liquid Water/Ice, Cloud Fraction, Altitude, Geopotential Height, Ozone Profiles, Surface Temperature, Skin Temperature, Atmospheric Winds, Surface Winds, Atmospheric Pressure, Total Precipitable Water, Oxygen Compounds, Boundary Layer Winds, Dust/Ash/Smoke, Carbonaceous Aerosols, Organic Particles, Sulfate Particles, Sulfur Oxides, Sulfur Compounds, Sulfate, Sulfur Dioxide, Sulfur Oxides, Dimethyl Sulfide, Aerosol Particle Properties, Particulate Matter, Aerosols, Sea Salt, Black Carbon, Air Mass/Density
Dust emission modeling using a new highresolution dust source function in WRFChem with implications for air quality Parajuli, Sagar P., Stenchikov, Georgiy L., Ukhov, Alexander, Kim, Hyunglok Aerosols, Aerosol Extinction, Aerosol Optical Depth/Thickness, Angstrom Exponent, Aerosol Particle Properties, Carbonaceous Aerosols, Dust/Ash/Smoke, Organic Particles, Sulfate Particles, Sulfur Oxides, Sulfur Compounds, Sulfate, Sulfur Dioxide, Sulfur Oxides, Particulate Matter, Dimethyl Sulfide, Black Carbon, Sea Salt, PARTICULATE MATTER (PM 2.5), PARTICULATE MATTER (PM 1.0), PARTICULATE MATTER (PM 10), Surface Pressure, Pressure Thickness, Relative Humidity, Air Mass/Density
Drivers of Seasonal Variability in Marine Boundary Layer Aerosol Number Concentration Investigated Using a Steady State Approach Mohrmann, Johannes, Wood, Robert, McGibbon, Jeremy, Eastman, Ryan, Luke, Edward Dust/Ash/Smoke, Carbonaceous Aerosols, Organic Particles, Sulfate Particles, Sulfur Oxides, Sulfur Compounds, Sulfate, Sulfur Dioxide, Sulfur Oxides, Dimethyl Sulfide, Aerosol Particle Properties, Particulate Matter, Aerosols, Surface Pressure, Pressure Thickness, Relative Humidity, Sea Salt, Black Carbon, Air Mass/Density
The MERRA-2 aerosol reanalysis, 1980 onward. Part I: System description and data assimilation evaluation Randles, C. A., da Silva, A. M., Buchard, V., Colarco, P. R., Darmenov, A., Govindaraju, R., Smirnov, A., Holben, B., Ferrare, R., Hair, J., Shinozuka, Y., Flynn, C. J. Dust/Ash/Smoke, Carbonaceous Aerosols, Organic Particles, Sulfate Particles, Sulfur Oxides, Sulfur Compounds, Sulfate, Sulfur Dioxide, Sulfur Oxides, Dimethyl Sulfide, Aerosol Particle Properties, Particulate Matter, Aerosols, Surface Pressure, Pressure Thickness, Relative Humidity, Sea Salt, Black Carbon, Air Mass/Density, Aerosol Optical Depth/Thickness, Atmospheric Ozone, Sea Level Pressure, U/V Wind Components, U/V Wind Components, Potential Vorticity, Vertical Wind Velocity/Speed, Vertical Profiles, Upper Air Temperature, Air Temperature, Specific Humidity, Atmospheric Water Vapor, Cloud Liquid Water/Ice, Cloud Fraction, Altitude, Geopotential Height, Ozone Profiles, Emissions, UV Aerosol Index, Gas/Aerosol Composition, Aerosol Extinction, Deposition, Atmospheric Radiation, Longwave Radiation, Shortwave Radiation, Radiative Flux, Radiative Forcing, Surface Radiative Properties, Albedo, Emissivity, Cloud Properties, Cloud Optical Depth/Thickness, Skin Temperature, Skin Temperature, Sea Surface Skin Temperature, Angstrom Exponent, PARTICULATE MATTER (PM 2.5), PARTICULATE MATTER (PM 1.0), PARTICULATE MATTER (PM 10)
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