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Full catalog/M2T1NXADG
M2T1NXADG·v5.12.4·dataset

Haze and dust in the air, hourly (MERRA-2)

MERRA-2 tavg1_2d_adg_Nx: 2d,1-Hourly,Time-averaged,Single-Level,Assimilation,Aerosol Diagnostics (extended) 0.625 x 0.5 degree V5.12.4 (M2T1NXADG) at GES DISC
atmosphere NASA GES_DISC Level 4 active
In plain English

What it measures. Hourly estimates of airborne particles like dust and other aerosols, including how much settles out or gets washed out by rain, on a roughly half-degree global grid.

How it's made. Produced by NASA's MERRA-2 reanalysis, which blends a weather-and-climate model with satellite-era observations rather than relying on a single instrument.

How & where you'd use it. Useful for studying air quality, dust transport, and how aerosols cycle through the atmosphere over decades.

What's measured

ATMOSPHERE › AEROSOLSATMOSPHERE › AEROSOLS › CARBONACEOUS AEROSOLSATMOSPHERE › AEROSOLS › DUST/ASH/SMOKEATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY › SULFUR COMPOUNDS › SULFUR DIOXIDEATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY › SULFUR COMPOUNDS › SULFUR OXIDESATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY › SULFUR COMPOUNDS › SULFATEATMOSPHERE › AEROSOLS › SULFATE PARTICLESATMOSPHERE › AIR QUALITY › SULFUR OXIDESATMOSPHERE › AEROSOLS › PARTICULATE MATTERATMOSPHERE › AIR QUALITY › EMISSIONSATMOSPHERE › AEROSOLS › AEROSOL OPTICAL DEPTH/THICKNESS › UV AEROSOL INDEXSOLID EARTH › TECTONICS › VOLCANIC ACTIVITY › ERUPTION DYNAMICS › GAS/AEROSOL COMPOSITIONATMOSPHERE › AEROSOLS › AEROSOL EXTINCTIONATMOSPHERE › AEROSOLS › DEPOSITION

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

M2T1NXADG (or tavg1_2d_adg_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 (extended), such as dry and wet deposition of each aerosol component, dust emission and sedimentation for each sized bin, and organic carbon convective scavenging. The data fields are 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 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

m2t1nxadg_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="M2T1NXADG",
    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.