Earthdata Forum

As part of my research, I am attempting to access aerosol data from the GES DISC portal.
Specifically, I am working with the M2T1NXAER dataset and trying to obtain a spatially subsetted time series via the TDS (THREDDS Data Server) interface, requesting data in netCDF format. I have selected multiple variables and applied subsetting by latitude/longitude and time (January to June 2017). However, I have repeatedly encountered an "Internal Server Error" during the download process.

I have attempted these requests on multiple occasions over the past two days, most recently on June 11, 2025, at approximately 1:18 PM (ET). I used a Windows 10 computer with both Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge (both browsers are configured to accept cookies), but the error persisted.

Dear user,

Please try again by narrowing the time range for each attempt — for example, subset one month per attempt. A large volume of data request may result in the error of "Internal Service Error".

https://goldsmr4.gesdisc.eosdis.nasa.gov/thredds/ncss/grid/MERRA2_aggregation/M2T1NXAER.5.12.4/M2T1NXAER.5.12.4_Aggregation_2017.ncml/dataset.html

GES DISC MERRA-2 support team

Hello,
I attempted to subset one month per attempt and I am still getting this error. My data files are not big, they are on average 35KB and getting the data for each month is either taking too long or giving the same Internal Server Error.
Please let me know!
Thank you in advance

Before retrying, make sure to clear your browser cache or try using a different web browser.

To assist you more effectively, please provide the exact error message you received, along with the "NCSS Request URL" that triggered the issue. This URL is displayed just above the "Submit" button in the TDS page (https://goldsmr4.gesdisc.eosdis.nasa.gov/thredds/ncss/grid/MERRA2_aggregation/M2T1NXAER.5.12.4/M2T1NXAER.5.12.4_Aggregation_2017.ncml/dataset.html) and reflects the subsetting criteria you selected.

For reference, I was able to retrieve a one-month time series in under a minute using the following "NCSS Request URL". Please copy and paste it into your browser to see if it works for you:

My NCSS Request URL
https://goldsmr4.gesdisc.eosdis.nasa.gov/thredds/ncss/MERRA2_aggregation/M2T1NXAER.5.12.4/M2T1NXAER.5.12.4_Aggregation_2017.ncml?var=BCANGSTR&north=30.0000&west=-80.0000&east=79.3750&south=-30.0000&disableProjSubset=on&horizStride=1&time_start=2017-01-01T00%3A30%3A00Z&time_end=2017-02-01T23%3A30%3A00Z&timeStride=1&accept=netcdf

If you're new to using the THREDDS Data Server (TDS), this tutorial may be helpful:
https://disc.gsfc.nasa.gov/information/howto?keywords=TDS&page=1

GES DISC MERRA-2 support team

I received multiple "Internal Server Error 505"
I copied and pasted the request URL you sent and it didn't take very long.
Would the problem be how many variables I have selected? I'm not sure why this would be the issue as my files are still only on average 35 KB
An example of my request URL would be:

https://goldsmr4.gesdisc.eosdis.nasa.gov/thredds/ncss/MERRA2_aggregation/M2T1NXAER.5.12.4/M2T1NXAER.5.12.4_Aggregation_2017.ncml?var=BCANGSTR&var=BCCMASS&var=BCEXTTAU&var=BCSMASS&var=DMSCMASS&var=DMSSMASS&var=DUANGSTR&var=DUCMASS&var=DUCMASS25&var=DUEXTT25&var=DUEXTTAU&var=DUSMASS&var=DUSMASS25&var=OCANGSTR&var=OCCMASS&var=OCEXTTAU&var=OCSMASS&var=SO2CMASS&var=SO2SMASS&var=SO4CMASS&var=SO4SMASS&var=SSANGSTR&var=SSCMASS&var=SSCMASS25&var=SSEXTT25&var=SSEXTTAU&var=SSSMASS&var=SSSMASS25&var=SUANGSTR&var=SUEXTTAU&var=TOTANGSTR&var=TOTEXTTAU&var=TOTSCATAU&north=44&west=-73&east=-72&south=43&disableProjSubset=on&horizStride=100&time_start=2017-12-01T00%3A30%3A00Z&time_end=2017-12-31T23%3A30%3A00Z&timeStride=6&addLatLon=true&accept=netcdf

After reviewing your URL, it seems the issue may be related to the value you entered for "Horizontal Stride." This parameter controls the interval at which latitude and longitude points are sampled—essentially acting like the increment in a loop. For example, a stride of 1 means every grid point is included, while a stride of 100 would select every 100th point (e.g., point 1, 101, 201, etc.).

In your case, the selected region is very small (longitude: -73 to -72, latitude: 43 to 44), and applying a large horizontal stride over such a narrow area can cause the subsetting tool to fail or return unexpected results.

If your goal is to extract a time series at a specific point—such as a station or site ___location—I recommend following this guide:
How to Obtain a Time Series at a Single Point using TDS (https://disc.gsfc.nasa.gov/information/howto?keywords=TDS&title=How%20to%20Obtain%20a%20Time%20Series%20at%20a%20Single%20Point%20using%20TDS)

In your case, you might start by subsetting one month at a time. If successful, you can try increasing the range to two months, and so on. In many cases, it's possible to retrieve data for an entire year in a single request.

Please keep in mind that the original data are stored as daily files, so requesting long time periods and multiple variables results in a large number of backend operations. We encourage users to be mindful of the request volume to ensure smooth performance.

Here is the resulting URL, which I subsetted one-year data with one variable, saving the result as a csv file: https://goldsmr4.gesdisc.eosdis.nasa.gov/thredds/ncss/MERRA2_aggregation/M2T1NXAER.5.12.4/M2T1NXAER.5.12.4_Aggregation_2017.ncml?var=TOTSCATAU&latitude=72&longitude=43&time_start=2017-01-01T00%3A30%3A00Z&time_end=2017-12-31T23%3A30%3A00Z&accept=csv