Time averaged data vs instantaneous data

[eha1]

I've noticed that MERRA2 offers two types of data: time-averaged and instantaneous data for example data sets M2T1NXSLV and M2I1NXASM. From these two data sets I have downloaded the 50m wind speed variables (u and v components) and compared them. The data is very similar providing a near 1:1 correlation. What actually differentiates these two datasets and how do I know which one is appropriate for the applications I'm interested in?

[mbosilov]

The tavg data is centered on the reporting time and average of all time steps within the time window, and instantaneous is the data of the time step at the reporting time. It's probably not surprising that they correlate very high. The environment would need to change rapidly within an hour at many time intervals for correlation to drop.

Please see the File Specification Document here https://gmao.gsfc.nasa.gov/reanalysis/MERRA-2/docs/ for more information on the time intervals.