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Description

M2I3NXGAS (or inst3_3d_gas_Nx) is an instantaneous 2-dimensional 3-hourly data collection in Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications version 2 (MERRA-2). This collection consists of assimilation of aerosol optical depth analysis and aerosol optical depth analysis increment. The data field is available every three hour starting from 00:00 UTC, e.g.: 00:00, 03:00, … , 21:00 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 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
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
C1276812759-GES_DISC
Data State
ACTIVE
Number of Files/Granules
16923
Processing Level
4
Published
Updated
Science Keywords
Aerosol Optical Depth/Thickness

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_2d_gas_Nx: 2d,3-Hourly,Instantaneous,Single-Level,Assimilation,Aerosol Optical Depth Analysis V5.12.4 [Data set]. NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/HNGA0EWW0R09 Date Accessed: 2026-05-27

Documents

Publications Citing This Dataset

Filters
Title Year Author Topic
Effects of Volcanic Aerosols on the Genesis of Tropical Cyclone Wukong (2018) Liu, Haiyang, Tang, Xiaodong, Gu, JianFeng Aerosol Optical Depth/Thickness
Establishment of aerosol optical depth dataset in the Sichuan Basin by the random forest approach Jiang, Mengjiao, Chen, Zhihang, Yang, Yinshan, Ni, Changjian, Yang, Qi Aerosol Optical Depth/Thickness
Nighttime smoke aerosol optical depth over U.S. rural areasFirst retrieval from VIIRS moonlight observations Zhou, Meng, Wang, Jun, Chen, Xi, Xu, Xiaoguang, Colarco, Peter R., Miller, Steven D., Reid, Jeffrey S., Kondragunta, Shobha, Giles, David Matthew, Holben, Brent Aerosol Optical Depth/Thickness, Reflectance, Geopotential Height, Atmospheric Ozone, Pressure Thickness, Sea Level Pressure, Surface Pressure, Air Temperature, Upper Air Temperature, Atmospheric Water Vapor, Cloud Liquid Water/Ice, Cloud Fraction, U/V Wind Components, U/V Wind Components, Ozone Profiles
Modeling Asian Dust Storms Using WRFChem During the DRAGONAsia Field Campaign in April 2012 Kim, KyoungMin, Kim, SiWan, Choi, Myungje, Kim, Mijin, Kim, Jhoon, Shin, Inchul, Kim, Jeongeun, Chung, ChuYong, Yeo, Huidong, Kim, SangWoo, Joo, Seung Jin, McKeen, Stuart A., Zhang, Li Surface Pressure, Heat Flux, Longwave Radiation, Shortwave Radiation, Surface Temperature, Humidity, Evapotranspiration, Surface Winds, Rain, Precipitation Rate, Snow, Soil Moisture/Water Content, Soil Temperature, Land Surface Temperature, Snow Water Equivalent, Runoff, Aerosol Optical Depth/Thickness
The impact of biomass burning emissions on protected natural areas in central and southern Mexico Trujano-Jimenez, Fabiola, Rios, Blanca, Jaramillo, Alejandro, Ladino, Luis A., Raga, Graciela B. Carbonaceous Aerosols, Dust/Ash/Smoke, Sulfate Particles, Pressure Thickness, Aerosol Optical Depth/Thickness
Significant reductions in crop yields from air pollution and heat stress in the United States Liu, Xiang, Desai, Ankur R. Aerosol Optical Depth/Thickness
Validation of Australian atmospheric aerosols from reanalysis data and CMIP6 simulations Isaza, Alejandra, Kay, Merlinde, Evans, Jason P., Bremner, Stephen, Prasad, Abhnil Aerosol Optical Depth/Thickness, Aerosols, Aerosol Extinction, 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 10), PARTICULATE MATTER (PM 1.0)
Effect of COVID-19 shutdown on aerosol direct radiative forcing over the Indo-Gangetic Plain outflow region of the Bay of Bengal Thomas, Abin, Kanawade, Vijay P., Sarangi, Chandan, Srivastava, Atul K. Aerosol Extinction, Aerosol Optical Depth/Thickness, Atmospheric Radiation, Longwave Radiation, Shortwave Radiation, Radiative Flux, Radiative Forcing, Surface Radiative Properties, Albedo, Emissivity, Cloud Properties, Cloud Fraction, Cloud Optical Depth/Thickness, Skin Temperature, Skin Temperature, Sea Surface Skin Temperature, Aerosol Extinction, Aerosol Optical Depth/Thickness, Aerosol Optical Depth/Thickness, Aerosol Optical Depth/Thickness
Ground PM2. 5 prediction using imputed MAIAC AOD with uncertainty quantification Pu, Qiang, Yoo, Eun-Hye Aerosol Optical Depth/Thickness
Aerosol-enhanced high precipitation events near the Himalayan foothills Choudhury, Goutam, Tyagi, Bhishma, Vissa, Naresh Krishna, Singh, Jyotsna, Sarangi, Chandan, Tripathi, Sachchida Nand, Tesche, Matthias 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, Total Surface Precipitation Rate, Aerosol Optical Depth/Thickness, Aerosol Backscatter, Aerosol Extinction, Angstrom Exponent, Aerosol Particle Properties, Aerosol Radiance, Carbonaceous Aerosols, Cloud Condensation Nuclei, Dust/Ash/Smoke, Nitrate Particles, Organic Particles, Particulate Matter, Sulfate Particles, Trace Gases/Trace Species, Atmospheric Emitted Radiation, Emissivity, Optical Depth/Thickness, Radiative Flux, Reflectance, Transmittance, Atmospheric Stability, Humidity, Total Precipitable Water, Water Vapor Profiles, Cloud Condensation Nuclei, Cloud Droplet Concentration/Size, Cloud Optical Depth/Thickness, Cloud Asymmetry, Cloud Ceiling, Cloud Frequency, Cloud Height, Cloud Top Pressure, Cloud Top Temperature, Cloud Vertical Distribution, Cloud Emissivity, Cloud Radiative Forcing, Cloud Reflectance, Rain Storms
Multi-parametric climatological analysis reveals the involvement of fluids in the preparation phase of the 2008 Ms 8.0 wenchuan and 2013 Ms 7.0 lushan earthquakes Liu, Qinqin, De Santis, Angelo, Piscini, Alessandro, Cianchini, Gianfranco, Ventura, Guido, Shen, Xuhui Aerosol Optical Depth/Thickness
Assessment of atmospheric aerosols from two reanalysis products over Australia Mukkavilli, S.K., Prasad, A.A., Taylor, R.A., Huang, J., Mitchell, R.M., Troccoli, A., Kay, M.J. 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)
Relationship between air pollution and urban forms: Evidence from prefecture-level cities of the Yangtze River Basin He, Lijie, Liu, Ying, He, Peipei, Zhou, Hao Aerosol Optical Depth/Thickness
Potential impacts of Arctic warming on Northern Hemisphere mid-latitude aerosol optical depth Chen, Yuyang, Zhao, Chuanfeng, Ming, Yi Aerosol Optical Depth/Thickness
Enlarging rainfall area of tropical cyclones by atmospheric aerosols Zhao, Chuanfeng, Lin, Yanluan, Wu, Fang, Wang, Yang, Li, Zhanqing, Rosenfeld, Daniel, Wang, Yuan Aerosol Optical Depth/Thickness
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)
Potential influences of neglecting aerosol effects on the NCEP GFS precipitation forecast Jiang, Mengjiao, Feng, Jinqin, Li, Zhanqing, Sun, Ruiyu, Hou, Yu-Tai, Zhu, Yuejian, Wan, Bingcheng, Guo, Jianping, Cribb, Maureen Aerosol Optical Depth/Thickness
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