Magnitude and Unit of PM2.5, MERRA-2: Conversion Necessary?
Posted: Sun May 28, 2023 9:07 am America/New_York
I am constructing PM2.5 using the MERRA-2 dataset following the equation (PM2.5 = DUSMASS25 + OCSMASS+ BCSMASS + SSSMASS25 + SO4SMASS* (132.14/96.06)) provided in FAQ.
Dataset: https://disc.gsfc.nasa.gov/datasets/M2T1NXAER_5.12.4/summary
FAQ: https://gmao.gsfc.nasa.gov/reanalysis/MERRA-2/FAQ/#Q4
I knew that the unit of each variable DUSMASS25 to SO4SMASS is kg m^{-3}. I calculated the average daily PM2.5 for Indian states using the equation and I got very small numbers of PM2.5, such as 4.579283e-08. The values I expected are 10-50, with the unit of μg/m^3 (← also how do you call/pronounce this?).
Example is https://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/health-sapping.html
I guess I need to adjust the unit, but since I am not a climate or any natural science major (I study social science) and as it is my first time using such climate data, I have no idea how to adjust the calculated/obtained PM2.5 from using the equation.
Any thoughts, comments, or advice is appreciated!
Dataset: https://disc.gsfc.nasa.gov/datasets/M2T1NXAER_5.12.4/summary
FAQ: https://gmao.gsfc.nasa.gov/reanalysis/MERRA-2/FAQ/#Q4
I knew that the unit of each variable DUSMASS25 to SO4SMASS is kg m^{-3}. I calculated the average daily PM2.5 for Indian states using the equation and I got very small numbers of PM2.5, such as 4.579283e-08. The values I expected are 10-50, with the unit of μg/m^3 (← also how do you call/pronounce this?).
Example is https://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/health-sapping.html
I guess I need to adjust the unit, but since I am not a climate or any natural science major (I study social science) and as it is my first time using such climate data, I have no idea how to adjust the calculated/obtained PM2.5 from using the equation.
Any thoughts, comments, or advice is appreciated!