Table 1:
Observation types assimilated in MERRA-2, including their usage datesand sources. Bold fonts indicate observation types not assimilated in MERRA. Acronyms are defined in the Appendix.
| Data Type | MERRA-2 Dates | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Conventional | ||
| Raob, Pibal, Dropsonde | 1 Jan 1980-present | See Rienecker et al. (2011) |
| AIREP, PIREP, ASDAR, MDCRS aircraft | 1 Jan 1980-present | NCEP, ECMWF, JMA |
| PAOB | 1 Jan 1980–17 Aug 2010 | BOM |
| Surface land | 1 Jan 1980-present | NCEP |
| Surface ship and buoy | 1 Jan 1980-present | ICOADS |
| Ground-Based Remotely Sensed | ||
| Wind profiler | 14 May 1992-present | UCAR, NCEP |
| NEXRAD VAD wind | 16 June 1997-present | NCEP |
| Satellite-Derived Wind | ||
| GMS, MTSAT, Himawari atmos. motion vector | 1 Jan 1980-present | NCEP, JMA |
| Meteosat atmos. motion vector | 1 Jan 1980-present | NCEP, EUMETSAT |
| GOES atmos. motion vector | 1 Jan 1980-present | NCEP |
| AVHRR atmos. motion vector | 1 Oct 1982—present | CIMSS |
| SSM/I surface wind speed | 9 Jul 1987–4 Nov 2009 | RSS |
| ERS-1 surface wind vector | 5 Aug 1991–21 May 1996 | ESA |
| ERS-2 surface wind vector | 19 Mar 1996–29 Mar 2011 | ESA |
| QuikSCAT surface wind vector | 19 Jul 1999–22 Nov 2009 | JPL |
| MODIS atmos. motion vector | 2 Jul 2002-present | CIMSS, NCEP |
| SSMIS surface wind speed | 23 Oct 2003–29 Oct 2013 | RSS |
| WindSat surface wind vector | 13 Aug 2007–4 Aug 2012 | NCEP |
| ASCAT surface wind vector | 15 Sep 2008 present | NCEP |
| Satellite-Retrieved | ||
| SBUV, SBUV/2 ozone | 1 Jan 1980–31 Sep 2004 | NASA/GES DISC |
| SSM/I rain rate | 9 Jul 1987–16 Sep 2009 | NASA/GES DISC |
| TMI rain rate | 1 Jan 1998–8 Apr 2015 | NASA/GES DISC |
| MLS temperature | 13 Aug 2004-present | NASA/GES DISC |
| MLS ozone | 1 Oct 2004-present | NASA/GES DISC |
| OMI total column ozone | 1 Oct 2004 present | NASA/GES DISC |
| Radio Occultation | ||
| GPSRO bending angle | 14 July 2004 present | NCAR, NCEP |
| Satellite Radiance | ||
| TOVS | 1 Jan 1980–10 Oct 2006 | NCAR, NESDIS |
| SSM/I | 9 Jul 1987–4 Nov 2009 | RSS |
| ATOVS (NOAA-15, -16, -17, -18) | 21 Jul 1998-present | NESDIS |
| GOES (G08, G10, G11, G12 Low Res.) | 24 April 2001–31 March 2007 | NCEP, NESDIS |
| AMSU-A (Aqua) | 1 Sep 2002-present | NASA/GES DISC |
| AIRS | 1 Sep 2002-present | NASA/GES DISC |
| GOES (G11, G12, G13, G15 Full Res.) | 1 April 2007-present | NESDIS |
| ATOVS (NOAA-19, Metop-A, -B) | 21 May 2007-present | NESDIS |
| IASI | 17 Sep 2008-present | NESDIS |
| ATMS | 16 Nov 2011-present | NESDIS |
| SEVIRI | 15 Feb 2012-present | NESDIS |
| CrIS | 7 Apr 2012-present | NESDIS |