MERRA: NASA’s Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications

TLDR

Differences among reanalyses, arising from model and analysis technique variations, highlight the uncertainty inherent in reanalysis products. MERRA was developed to integrate Earth Observing System satellite observations into a climate context and to enhance the hydrologic cycle representation of earlier reanalyses, while addressing sensitivity to observing system changes. The MERRA system combines satellite data assimilation with quality diagnostics, compares its performance to other reanalyses such as ERA‑Interim and CFSR, and makes its output available online via GES DISC. Since 1979, MERRA has improved precipitation and water‑vapor climatology, yet differences remain for poorly constrained variables like precipitation and surface fluxes, and all reanalyses still show sensitivity to observing system changes, with MERRA now operating in near‑real‑time production.

Abstract

Abstract The Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) was undertaken by NASA’s Global Modeling and Assimilation Office with two primary objectives: to place observations from NASA’s Earth Observing System satellites into a climate context and to improve upon the hydrologic cycle represented in earlier generations of reanalyses. Focusing on the satellite era, from 1979 to the present, MERRA has achieved its goals with significant improvements in precipitation and water vapor climatology. Here, a brief overview of the system and some aspects of its performance, including quality assessment diagnostics from innovation and residual statistics, is given. By comparing MERRA with other updated reanalyses [the interim version of the next ECMWF Re-Analysis (ERA-Interim) and the Climate Forecast System Reanalysis (CFSR)], advances made in this new generation of reanalyses, as well as remaining deficiencies, are identified. Although there is little difference between the new reanalyses in many aspects of climate variability, substantial differences remain in poorly constrained quantities such as precipitation and surface fluxes. These differences, due to variations both in the models and in the analysis techniques, are an important measure of the uncertainty in reanalysis products. It is also found that all reanalyses are still quite sensitive to observing system changes. Dealing with this sensitivity remains the most pressing challenge for the next generation of reanalyses. Production has now caught up to the current period and MERRA is being continued as a near-real-time climate analysis. The output is available online through the NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC).