FLDAS Specifications

FLDAS 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.

*The tables below scroll to the right

FLDAS Global	LIS7.3 Noah3.6 monthly runs
Projection	Lat-Lon
Spatial Extent	Global (179.95W, 59.95S; 179.95E, 89.95N)
Spatial Resolution*	0.1 degree (10km)
Time Period	1/1/1981 - present
Temporal Resolution**	15 minute time steps, daily output
Forcing	Datasets derived from satellite measurements and atmospheric analyses (CHIRPS rain forcing 50S-50N, MERRA2 reanalysis)
Forcing Heights	2 m for air temperature and specific humidity, 10 m for wind
Elevation Definition	SRTM
Vegetation Definition	NCEP-modified IGBP(MODIS), 1 km
Soils Definition	Reynolds, Jackson, and Rawls [1999]
Albedo	monthly climatology, NCEP_Native
Max Snow Albedo	Barlage_Native
Greenness	NCEP Greenness fraction
Soil Texture	STATSGOFAO
Landmask	MODIS
Land Surface Models	Noah 3.6.1
Output Format	NetCDF
Soil layers: 4	0-0.1 m, 0.1-0.4 m, 0.4-1.0 m, 1.0-2.0 m

Central Asia Snow Modeling	LIS 7.3 Noah 3.6 and LIS7.4 Noah MP 4.0.1 daily runs
projection	Lat-Lon
Spatial extent	Central Asia Domain ( 30-100°E, 21-56°N)
Spatial Resolution*	0.01x0.01 degree (1km x 1 km)
Time Period	2001-01 to present
Temporal Resolution**	30-min
Forcing	Datasets derived from satellite measurements and atmospheric analyses (GDAS)
Forcing Heights	2 m for air temperature and specific humidity, 10 m for wind
Elevation Definition	SRTM
Vegetation Definition	IGBP-MODIS
Soil Texture	STATSGOFAO
Albedo	monthly climatology, NCEP_Native
Max Snow Albedo	Barlage_Native
Greenness	NCEP Greenness fraction
Land mask Definition	MOD44W
Soils Definition	Reynolds, Jackson, and Rawls [1999]
Land Surface Models	Noah3.6.1, NoahMP4.0.1
Soil layers	4 layers: 0-0.1 m, 0.1-0.4 m, 0.4-1.0 m, 1.0-2.0 m
Output format	NetCDF

*coarser scale meteorological forcing are spatially disaggregated in the LIS core software using bilinear interpolation.
** daily rainfall inputs are temporally disaggregated with LDT software, matching the rainfall distribution specified in the meteorological forcing

Get the Data

LDAS datasets are available from the NASA GES DISC

The NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC) provides access to LDAS datasets using multiple methods, including HTTPS, GDS, and the ability to subset spatially, temporally, and/or by variable:

These datasets are also available via Giovanni. Giovanni is an online application developed by the GES DISC that allows researchers to rapidly explore data, so that spatial-temporal variability, anomalous conditions, and patterns of interest can be directly and easily analyzed online before optionally downloading the data. Supported download formats include NetCDF, GeoTIFF, and KMZ.

Latest News

Central Asia Extended Outlook: Reservoir water levels are low with a possible drought looming

Central Asia Extended Outlook: Reservoir water levels are low with a possible drought looming, 2021. https://blog.chc.ucsb.edu/?p=1044

Elevated chances of drought in March to May 2022 rainy season in East Africa

Elevated chances of drought in March to May 2022 rainy season in East Africa, https://blog.chc.ucsb.edu/?p=1008.

NEW and Reprocessed GLDAS-2 Simulations Released

We are pleased to announce the release of the new and reprocessed Global Land Data Assimilation System Version 2 data. Please read the announcement of New and Reprocessed GLDAS Version 2 Data Products Released.