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Full catalog/M2TUNXLND
M2TUNXLND·v5.12.4·dataset

Modeled daily land surface conditions (MERRA-2)

MERRA-2 tavgU_2d_lnd_Nx: 2d,diurnal,Time-Averaged,Single-Level,Assimilation,Land Surface Diagnostics 0.625 x 0.5 degree V5.12.4 (M2TUNXLND) at GES DISC
atmosphere NASA GES_DISC Level 4 active
In plain English

What it measures. Modeled daily land surface conditions averaged over each month, including runoff, baseflow, soil wetness near the surface and at root depth, and soil temperature at several depths.

How it's made. Produced by NASA's MERRA-2 reanalysis, which blends satellite-era observations with a global computer model to reconstruct conditions, here on a roughly half-degree grid.

How & where you'd use it. Useful for studying the land water cycle, soil moisture patterns, and long-term climate behavior using a consistent record back to 1980.

What's measured

ATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC RADIATION › LONGWAVE RADIATIONATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC RADIATION › SHORTWAVE RADIATIONLAND SURFACE › SOILS › SOIL HEAT BUDGETAGRICULTURE › SOILS › SOIL HEAT BUDGETAGRICULTURE › SOILS › SOIL TEMPERATURELAND SURFACE › SOILS › SOIL TEMPERATURELAND SURFACE › SOILS › SOIL INFILTRATIONAGRICULTURE › SOILS › SOIL INFILTRATIONLAND SURFACE › SOILS › SOIL MOISTURE/WATER CONTENTLAND SURFACE › SOILS › SOIL MOISTURE/WATER CONTENT › SURFACE SOIL MOISTURELAND SURFACE › SOILS › SOIL MOISTURE/WATER CONTENT › ROOT ZONE SOIL MOISTUREAGRICULTURE › SOILS › SOIL MOISTURE/WATER CONTENTATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC WATER VAPOR › WATER VAPOR PROCESSES › EVAPORATIONTERRESTRIAL HYDROSPHERE › SURFACE WATER

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

M2TUNXLND (or tavgU_2d_lnd_Nx) is a time-averaged 2-dimensional monthly diurnal means data collection in Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications version 2 (MERRA-2). This collection consists of land surface diagnostics, such as baseflow flux, runoff, surface soil wetness, root zone soil wetness, water at surface layer, water at root zone layer, and soil temperature at six layers. This data collection is the monthly mean of data fields for each hour and 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

m2tunxlnd_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="M2TUNXLND",
    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.