Earth Data School
About
Full catalog/M2IUNXINT
M2IUNXINT·v5.12.4·dataset

Daily-cycle totals of moisture and energy in the air (MERRA-2)

MERRA-2 instU_2d_int_Nx: 2d,diurnal,Instantaneous,Single-Level,Assimilation,Vertically Integrated Diagnostics 0.625 x 0.5 degree V5.12.4 (M2IUNXINT) at GES DISC
atmosphere NASA GES_DISC Level 4 active
In plain English

What it measures. Monthly averages that show the daily (hour-by-hour) rhythm of vertically stacked-up atmospheric quantities, such as the total moisture in a column of air and measures of the atmosphere's energy.

How it's made. Comes from MERRA-2, a NASA reanalysis that blends decades of satellite and other observations with a weather model to produce a consistent global record from 1980 onward.

How & where you'd use it. Useful for studying how atmospheric moisture and energy change through the day and across seasons, and as consistent input for climate and weather research.

What's measured

ATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC WATER VAPOR › WATER VAPOR INDICATORS › TOTAL PRECIPITABLE WATERATMOSPHERE › CLOUDS › CLOUD MICROPHYSICS › CLOUD LIQUID WATER/ICEATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC WATER VAPORATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY › OXYGEN COMPOUNDSATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE › SURFACE TEMPERATURE › POTENTIAL TEMPERATUREOCEANS › OCEAN TEMPERATURE › POTENTIAL TEMPERATUREATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE › AIR MASS/DENSITY

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span1980-01-01 → ongoing
  • Measured byMERRA-2 (NOT APPLICABLE)
  • Processing levelLevel 4
  • Spatial extent-180, -90, 180, 90
  • StatusACTIVE

What you can do with it

  • Map air pollutants — NO₂, aerosols, ozone
  • Track greenhouse gases and Earth's energy budget
  • Feed weather and air-quality analysis
Official description

M2IUNXINT (or instU_2d_int_Nx) is an instantaneous 2-dimensional monthly diurnal means data collection in Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications version 2 (MERRA-2). This collection consists of vertically integrated diagnostics, such as kinetic energy, virtual potential temperature, and total precipitable water (or ice, liquid, and vapor). It consists of the monthly mean of the data fields on each hour starting from 00:00 UTC, e.g.: 00:00, 01:00, … , 23:00 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).

Get the data

m2iunxint_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="M2IUNXINT",
    version="5.12.4",
    bounding_box=(-122.5, 37.2, -121.8, 37.9),  # your area (W,S,E,N)
    temporal=("2024-01-01", "2024-12-31"),       # your dates
)
files = earthaccess.open(results)   # stream straight from GES_DISC
Browsing CMR needs no login. Downloading or streaming bytes needs a free Earthdata Login + the earthaccess package.