GLDAS Specifications
GLDAS currently can run with the following specifications and improvements such as additional datasets (forcing and near surface), new land surface models, and algorithms are ongoing in the project.
Projection | Lat/Lon |
Spatial Extent | All land north of 60 degrees S |
Spatial Resolution | 1 degree and 1/4 degree |
Time Period | 1/1/1948 - present |
Temporal Resolution | 15 minute time steps, 3-hourly output fields |
Forcing | Multiple datasets derived from satellite measurements and atmospheric analyses |
Forcing Heights | 2 m for air temperature and specific humidity, 10 m for wind |
Elevation Definition | GTOPO30 |
Vegetation Definition | University of Maryland, 1 km |
Soils Definition | Reynolds, Jackson, and Rawls [2000] |
Land Surface Models | Noah, VIC, Catchment LSM |
Output Format | NetCDF, GDS |
The land surface models currently run in GLDAS have following number of vertical levels and depths.
GLDAS-2 MODELS | Number of layers | Depth |
---|---|---|
Noah | 4 layers | 0-0.1, 0.1-0.4, 0.4-1.0, 1.0-2.0 m |
VIC | 3 layers | 0-0.3 surface, spatially variable in the second and third layers (data below) |
Catchment | No layers | surface, root zone, and profile where profile includes surface and root zone and root zone includes surface. |
- VIC soil depth data: 1 degree
Land Surface Datasets
DATASET TYPE | DOMAIN | SPATIAL RESOLUTION | TIME RECORD | TEMPORAL RESOLUTION |
---|---|---|---|---|
Land Cover Classification | Global | 1 km | Static | Static |
Boston University Leaf Area Index (derived from both AVHRR and MODIS) | Global | 1 km | 1981-Current (AVHRR), 2000-Current (MODIS) | Monthly |
Soils Database from Reynolds, Jackson, and Rawls (2000) | Global | 5 minute | Not applicable | Not applicable |
Elevation Database from GTOPO30 | Global | 30 second | Not applicable | Not applicable |