dataset · USA
NASA NLDAS Project
This data set contains thirty-eight fields simulated from the Mosaic land-surface model (LSM) for Phase 2 of the North American Land Data Assimilation System (NLDAS-2). The data are in 1/8th degree grid spacing and range from Jan 1979 to the present. The temporal resolution is hourly. The file format is netCDF (converted from the GRIB format). Mosaic was developed by Koster and Suarez (1994, 1996) to account for subgrid vegetation variability with a tile approach. Each vegetation tile carries it
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Licence: [Creative Commons BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Evidence quality: 20.9
Listed in aws-odr public catalogue API on 2026-10-16; relevance/value screened (haiku).
Metadata checked: 2026-10-14T13:20:00.000Z
What's in it
- Data offered docs-verified
- Mosaic LSM simulated fields (38 fields, hourly and monthly) · Noah LSM simulated fields (53 fields, hourly and monthly) · NLDAS-2 forcing fields (File A primary, File B secondary, hourly and monthly) · Monthly climatology products (1981-2020 averages) for Mosaic, Noah and forcing
- Coverage docs-verified
- North America · Jan 1979 to present
- Resolution docs-verified
- 1/8th degree grid spacing; hourly and monthly temporal resolution
- Formats docs-verified
- netCDF
- Access llm-inferred
- Open data on AWS Registry of Open Data; no authentication listed; licence Creative Commons BY 4.0
Useful for
- Use cases llm-inferred
- Baseline soil moisture and runoff time series for FRA catchments from hourly Mosaic/Noah output · Rainfall and temperature forcing inputs for hydrological modelling from NLDAS-2 File A · Monthly climatology baseline for water balance and drought context in drainage or water resources assessments
- Audience llm-inferred
- hydrologists · flood consultants · drainage engineers · water resources engineers
Limitations
- Constraints llm-inferred
- Model-simulated land-surface output, not direct observations · Mosaic soil layers fixed at 10, 30 and 160 cm (200 cm column, 40 cm root zone) · Registry entry covers several NLDAS products (Mosaic, Noah, forcing; hourly, monthly, climatology); confirm the specific product before use · Netcdf-only climatology products; prior 30-year climatology was GRIB
Evidence
- arn:aws:s3:::gesdisc-cumulus-prod-protected/NLDAS/NLDAS_MOS0125_H.2.0, arn:aws:s3:::gesdisc-cumulus-prod-protected/NLDAS/NLDAS_MOS0125_M.2.0, arn:aws:s3:::gesdisc-cumulus-prod-protected/NLDAS/NLDAS_MOS0125_MC.2.0
- https://registry.opendata.aws/nasa-nldas/
Check upstream coverage, uncertainty and licence before use. Station observations are not forecasts or design levels.