NASA LogoNTRSNTRS - NASA Technical Reports ServerSearchmore_vertCollectionsAboutNewsHelpLogin Back to ResultsTechnical Report Series on Global Modeling and Data Assimilation, Volume 43The years since the introduction of MERRA have seen numerous advances in the GEOS-5 Data Assimilation System as well as a substantial decrease in the number of observations that can be assimilated into the MERRA system. To allow continued data processing into the future, and to take advantage of several important innovations that could improve system performance, a decision was made to produce MERRA-2, an updated retrospective analysis of the full modern satellite era. One of the many advances in MERRA-2 is a constraint on the global dry mass balance; this allows the global changes in water by the analysis increment to be near zero, thereby minimizing abrupt global interannual variations due to changes in the observing system. In addition, MERRA-2 includes the assimilation of interactive aerosols into the system, a feature of the Earth system absent from previous reanalyses. Also, in an effort to improve land surface hydrology, observations-corrected precipitation forcing is used instead of model-generated precipitation. Overall, MERRA-2 takes advantage of numerous updates to the global modeling and data assimilation system. In this document, we summarize an initial evaluation of the climate in MERRA-2, from the surface to the stratosphere and from the tropics to the poles. Strengths and weaknesses of the MERRA-2 climate are accordingly emphasized.Document ID20160005045Acquisition SourceGoddard Space Flight CenterDocument TypeTechnical Memorandum (TM)AuthorsKoster, Randal D.*(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)*Bosilovich, Michael G.*(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)*Akella, Santha*(Science Systems and Applications, Inc. Lanham, MD, United States)*Lawrence, Coy*(Science Systems and Applications, Inc. Lanham, MD, United States)*Cullather, Richard*(Maryland Univ. College Park, MD, United States)*Draper, Clara*(Universities Space Research Association Columbia, MD, United States)*Gelaro, Ronald*(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)*Kovach, Robin*(Science Systems and Applications, Inc. Lanham, MD, United States)*Liu, Qing*(Science Systems and Applications, Inc. Lanham, MD, United States)*Molod, Andrea*(Maryland Univ. College Park, MD, United States)*Norris, Peter*(Universities Space Research Association Columbia, MD, United States)*Wargan, Krzysztof*(Science Systems and Applications, Inc. Lanham, MD, United States)*Chao, Winston*(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)*Reichle, Rolf*(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)*Takacs, Lawrence*(Science Systems and Applications, Inc. Lanham, MD, United States)*Todling, Ricardo*(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)*Vikhliaev, Yury*(Universities Space Research Association Columbia, MD, United States)*Bloom, Steve*(Science Systems and Applications, Inc. Lanham, MD, United States)*Collow, Allison*(Universities Space Research Association Columbia, MD, United States)*Partyka, Gary*(Science Systems and Applications, Inc. Lanham, MD, United States)*Labow, Gordon*(Science Systems and Applications, Inc. Lanham, MD, United States)*Pawson, Steven*(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)*Reale, Oreste*(Universities Space Research Association Columbia, MD, United States)*Schubert, Siegfried*(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)*Suarez, Max*(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)*Date AcquiredApril 14, 2016Publication DateNovember 1, 2015Subject CategoryMeteorology And ClimatologyGeosciences (General)Report/Patent NumberGSFC-E-DAA-TN29739NASA/TM-2015-104606/VOL.43Funding Number(s)CONTRACT_GRANT: NNG12HP08CCONTRACT_GRANT: NNA10DF30CCONTRACT_GRANT: NNG11HP16ACONTRACT_GRANT: NNG12HP06CCONTRACT_GRANT: NNX12AD03ADistribution LimitsPublicCopyrightPublic Use Permitted.KeywordsMERRA-2GEOS-5MERRAAvailable DownloadsNameType20160005045.pdfSTIcloud_downloadcontent_copyvisibilityRelated RecordsThere are no records associated with this record.visibility_offNo Preview Available
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