Request for Monthly Mean Vertical Aerosol Data from MERRA-2

[moonth]

Dear GES DISC team,

I am conducting a scientific study on long-term global aerosol climatology and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) distributions. For this purpose, I would like to request access to monthly mean global aerosol data (with vertical profiles) derived from the MERRA-2 inst3_3d_aer_Nv (M2I3NVAER, Version 5.12.4) dataset.

Currently, only 3-hourly instantaneous data are publicly available. However, processing the entire 1990–2024 period at this resolution would be computationally prohibitive. Therefore, I would like to inquire whether monthly-mean versions of this dataset (either as a climatology or full time series) are available, or could be made available.

Requested Data Specifications:
Dataset: MERRA-2 inst3_3d_aer_Nv (Aerosol Mixing Ratio, Version 5.12.4) https://disc.gsfc.nasa.gov/datasets/M2I3NVAER_5.12.4/summary

Temporal Coverage: January 1980 – December 2024
(a shorter period is also acceptable, but inclusion of recent years and at least 2000 onward is strongly preferred)

Temporal Resolution: Monthly Mean

Spatial Coverage: Global

Vertical Levels: Model levels or pressure levels

Variables of Interest:

SO4 (sulfate aerosol mixing ratio)
DU (dust aerosols, bins 1–5 mixing ratio)
SS (sea salt aerosols, bins 1–5 mixing ratio)
OC (hydrophilic and hydrophobic organic carbon mixing ratio)
BC (hydrophilic and hydrophobic black carbon mixing ratio)
SO2 (sulfur dioxide mixing ratio)
DMS (dimethylsulfide mixing ratio)
MSA (methanesulfonic acid mixing ratio)

Purpose of Request:
To generate a long-term global climatology of vertical CCN profiles.
To integrate these profiles into high-resolution atmospheric models.

Questions:
1. Is there an existing monthly mean vertical aerosol dataset available for this period?
2. If not, is it possible to request custom processing support to generate such a dataset?
3. Are there alternative products or recommended approaches to efficiently obtain monthly mean vertical aerosol profiles for this application?

Thank you very much for your time and assistance.

Best regards,
Taeho Mun

[GES DISC - xpan2]

Hi Taeho

We’re glad to assist you and understand that the download volume is quite large. We're actively working on identifying the best solution to support your needs.

M2I3NVAER is in 72-model levels and MERRA-2 doesn't have a similar collection in pressure levels.

Do you have an account at the NASA Center for Climate Simulation (NCCS)?

NASA GES DISC MERRA-2 support team

[moonth]

Thank you for your kind response and for considering possible solutions to my request.

Regarding the NCCS account, as I am an international researcher (non-U.S. citizen) currently working as a visiting researcher at NCAR, I guess that obtaining a personal NCCS account could be difficult due to access restrictions for foreign nationals.

Best regards,
Taeho Mun

[GES DISC - xpan2]

Hi Taeho,

Thanks for your reply. Yes, NCCS account is restricted for foreign nationals.

Do you mind to send an email to the GES DISC Help Desk at gsfc-dl-help-disc@mail.nasa.gov, mentioning the subject and this forum link viewtopic.php?p=22999#p22999?

Thanks,

NASA GES DISC MERRA-2 support team

[moonth]

Thank you for your assistance.
As recommended, I have sent an email to the GES DISC Help Desk with the details of my request.
Looking forward to your further guidance.

Best regards,
Taeho Mun

[GES DISC - jshiles]

Here are two notebooks our science team recommended:

-"How to Access GES DISC Granules using Python" which includes earthaccess commands for querying granules from various sources.
-"How to Access M2T1NXSLV Cloud OPeNDAP Granules using Python" (https://disc.gsfc.nasa.gov/information/howto?keywords=cloud%20opendap&title=How%20to%20Access%20M2T1NXSLV%20Cloud%20OPeNDAP%20Granules%20using%20Python) which can be changed to use M2I3NVAER and shows how to calculate/plot means using Cloud OPeNDAP data. This is a great option for this user.