MERRA-2 M2T1NXRAD: Radiation Diagnostics V5.12.4

  • The NASA/GSFC/MERRA/rad/2 dataset provides hourly time-averaged radiation diagnostics from the Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications version 2 (MERRA-2).

  • This dataset includes measurements such as surface albedo, cloud area fraction, optical thickness, shortwave flux, and longwave flux.

  • Data is available from 1980 to near-present with a latency of approximately 3 weeks after the end of a month and is provided at a spatial resolution of 55,000 - 69,375 meters.

  • NASA promotes open sharing of this data with research, industry, academia, and the public.

  • The data is easily accessible through Google Earth Engine using the provided Earth Engine Snippet.
NASA/GSFC/MERRA/rad/2
Dataset Availability
1980-01-01T00:00:00Z–2025-09-01T23:00:00Z
Dataset Provider
Earth Engine Snippet
ee.ImageCollection("NASA/GSFC/MERRA/rad/2")
Cadence
1 Hour
Tags
albedo atmosphere climate emissivity merra shortwave temperature

Description

M2T1NXRAD (or tavg1_2d_rad_Nx) is an hourly time-averaged data collection in Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications version 2 (MERRA-2). This collection consists of radiation diagnostics, such as surface albedo, cloud area fraction, in cloud optical thickness, surface incoming shortwave flux (i.e. solar radiation), surface net downward shortwave flux, and upwelling longwave flux at TOA (top of atmosphere) (i.e. outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) at TOA). The data field is 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.

Bands

Pixel Size
69375 meters

Y Pixel Size
55000 meters

Bands

Name Units Min Max Pixel Size Description
ALBEDO 0.01* 0.898471* meters

Surface albedo
ALBNIRDF 0.017455* 0.820016* meters

Surface albedo for near infrared diffuse
ALBNIRDR 0.018709* 0.82001* meters

Surface albedo for near infrared beam
ALBVISDF 0.016788* 0.959771* meters

Surface albedo for visible diffuse
ALBVISDR 0.01853* 0.959762* meters

Surface albedo for visible beam
CLDHGH 0* 0.999236* meters

Cloud area fraction for high clouds
CLDLOW 0* 0.999997* meters

Cloud area fraction for low clouds
CLDMID 0* 0.998779* meters

Cloud area fraction for middle clouds
CLDTOT 0* 1* meters

Total cloud area fraction
EMIS 0.943074* 0.999993* meters

Surface emissivity
LWGABCLRCLN W/m^2 41.1408* 458.523* meters

Surface absorbed longwave radiation assuming clear sky and no aerosol
LWGABCLR W/m^2 41.1414* 465.929* meters

Surface absorbed longwave radiation assuming clear sky
LWGAB W/m^2 41.1446* 482.398* meters

Surface absorbed longwave radiation
LWGEM W/m^2 67.5297* 630.29* meters

Longwave flux emitted from surface
LWGNTCLRCLN W/m^2 -248.748* 61.0736* meters

Surface net downward longwave flux assuming clear sky and no aerosol
LWGNTCLR W/m^2 -248.653* 62.2794* meters

Surface net downward longwave flux assuming clear sky
LWGNT W/m^2 -268.862* 77.255* meters

Surface net downward longwave flux
LWTUPCLRCLN W/m^2 80.6768* 372.229* meters

Upwelling longwave flux at TOA assuming clear sky and no aerosol
LWTUPCLR W/m^2 80.6768* 372.229* meters

Upwelling longwave flux at TOA assuming clear sky
LWTUP W/m^2 80.6506* 370.868* meters

Upwelling longwave flux at TOA
SWGDNCLR W/m^2 -0.008217* 1155.5* meters

Surface incoming shortwave flux assuming clear sky
SWGDN W/m^2 0* 1127.49* meters

Surface incoming shortwave flux
SWGNTCLN W/m^2 0* 1088.42* meters

Surface net downward shortwave flux assuming no aerosol
SWGNTCLRCLN W/m^2 -3.2e-05* 1088.42* meters

Surface net downward shortwave flux assuming clear sky and no aerosol
SWGNTCLR W/m^2 -0.001333* 1083.95* meters

Surface net downward shortwave flux assuming clear sky
SWGNT W/m^2 0* 1083.95* meters

Surface net downward shortwave flux
SWTDN W/m^2 0* 1404.28* meters

TOA incoming shortwave flux
SWTNTCLN W/m^2 0* 1315.89* meters

TOA net downward shortwave flux assuming no aerosol
SWTNTCLRCLN W/m^2 0* 1317.5* meters

TOA net downward shortwave flux assuming clear sky and no aerosol
SWTNTCLR W/m^2 0* 1316.5* meters

TOA net downward shortwave flux assuming clear sky
SWTNT W/m^2 0* 1313.33* meters

TOA net downward shortwave flux
TAUHGH 0* 142.188* meters

In cloud optical thickness of high clouds(export)
TAULOW 0* 318.218* meters

In cloud optical thickness of low clouds
TAUMID 0* 252.995* meters

In cloud optical thickness of middle clouds
TAUTOT 0* 348.125* meters

In cloud optical thickness of all clouds
TS K 185.73* 328.864* meters

Surface skin temperature
* estimated min or max value

Terms of Use

Terms of Use

NASA promotes the full and open sharing of all data with research and applications communities, private industry, academia, and the general public.

Explore with Earth Engine

Code Editor (JavaScript)

var dataset = ee.ImageCollection('NASA/GSFC/MERRA/rad/2')
                  .filter(ee.Filter.date('2022-02-01', '2022-02-02')).first();
var surface_albedo = dataset.select('ALBEDO');
var saVis = {
  min: -0.428147,
  max: 0.833350,
  palette: ['001137', '01abab', 'e7eb05', '620500']
};
Map.setCenter(-95, 39, 2);
Map.addLayer(surface_albedo, saVis, 'Surface albedo');
Open in Code Editor
M2T1NXRAD (or tavg1_2d_rad_Nx) is an hourly time-averaged data collection in Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications version 2 (MERRA-2). This collection consists of radiation diagnostics, such as surface albedo, cloud area fraction, in cloud optical thickness, surface incoming shortwave flux (i.e. solar radiation), surface net downward shortwave flux, and …
NASA/GSFC/MERRA/rad/2, albedo,atmosphere,climate,emissivity,merra,shortwave,temperature
1980-01-01T00:00:00Z/2025-09-01T23:00:00Z
-90 -180 90 180
Google Earth Engine