Back to data catalog
ClimateExternal downloadCandidate for sample file
NLDAS Forcing (Phase 2)
North American land data assimilation forcing data often used for hydroclimate and land-surface exposure workflows.
Dataset summary
- Provider
- NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center
- Spatial coverage
- CONUS
- Temporal coverage
- 1979 → present
- Spatial resolution
- 0.125° (~12 km)
- Temporal resolution
- Hourly
- Formats
- NetCDF, GRIB
- Climate variable tags
- Rainfall, Wind
- Observatory relevance
- North Carolina
Use guidance
- Best for
- CONUS hydroclimate forcing, heat, moisture, and land-surface context.
- Not best for
- Global analyses or direct station-observation use cases.
- Common pitfalls
- Using NLDAS outside its intended North American domain.
- Mixing forcing variables with observed station data without documenting product differences.
Variables and notes
- T, RH, precip, SW/LW radiation, wind, pressure
Related learning resources
Use these guides to interpret the variable, scale, format, and workflow choices before using this dataset in a climate-health analysis.