This data set contains fifty-two fields simulated from the Noah 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 monthly. The file format is netCDF (converted from the GRIB format).

The NLDAS-2 monthly Noah model data, containing fifty-two fields, were generated from the NLDAS-2 hourly Noah model data, as monthly accumulation for rainfall, snowfall, subsurface runoff, surface runoff, total evapotranspiration, snow melt, and monthly averages for other variables. The monthly period of each month is from 00Z at start of the month to 23:59Z at end of the month, with the exception of the very first month in the data set (Jan 1979) which starts at 00Z 02 Jan 1979. Also for the first month (Jan 1979), because the variables listed as instantaneous in the README file do not have valid data exactly on 00Z 02 Jan 1979, and this one hour is not included in the average for this month only.

Details about the NLDAS-2 configuration of the Noah LSM can be found in Xia et al. (2012).