Trouble accessing NLDAS hourly Primary Forcing Data

[janettelin5]

I was previously able to download hourly NLDAS data for a specific variable (downward shortwave radiation) from the Hydrology Data Rods servers, using a handy R function to specify the time range, lat and long coordinates, and variable name (previous post about it here: viewtopic.php?p=22937#p22937). Unfortunately the Data Rods service was discontinued not long after, and I am back in the position of trying to download new subsets of this data.

I have been trying to download these subsets directly from GES DISC server (https://disc.gsfc.nasa.gov/datasets/NLDAS_FORA0125_H_2.0/summary?keywords=NLDAS). I click on Data Access, select Transform Data, select CSV as my output file format, and enter in my date range, lat/long coordinates, and SWDown variable name. However, I then get the error "the requested combination of operations: variable subsetting and area averaging on C2033151148-GES_DISC is unsupported. The following services may have matched if additional operations were requested: giovanni-averaging-service requires spatialSubset." When I then use a small bounding box instead of a point coordinate, I get the error "WorkItem failed: giovanni-averaging-adapter:v1.1.12: Your request failed and we are unfortunately unable to automatically determine why."

What is the simplest way I can download this dataset for a point location? Most ideally, is there another R function I can use, either with GES DISC or another server, to automatically read the subsetted NLDAS data directly into R?

Thank you in advance!

[GES DISC - afisher]

You can use the Hydrology time series tool to quickly get hourly SWDown data from the NLDAS primary forcing dataset. https://disc.gsfc.nasa.gov/information/tools?title=Hydrology%20Time%20Series. From here, you can select a variable subset, location, and time and download a csv file. In the "About tab" you can find information on how to use the Giovanni API to programmatically get the subsetted data in code.

[GES DISC - afisher]

For more information about the upcoming changes to GES DISC data access and services please refer to this document: https://github.com/nasa/gesdisc-tutorials/blob/main/user-guidance/GES_DISC_Migration_to_Earthdata_Website_and_Earthdata_Cloud.md. The "Updates to Giovanni Service" section might be more relevant to your use case.

[GES DISC - alouise517]

Dear User,

Your original method in obtaining point time series data for this NLDAS dataset where you previously would "click on Data Access, select Transform Data, select CSV as my output file format, and enter in my date range, lat/long coordinates, and SWDown variable name", should now function properly, error free.

Please give this method another try, and let us know if you encounter any additional issues or errors. Thank you.

Regards,
GES DISC User Services