The Global Land Data Assimilation System
2004/03/01 by M. Rodell, Matthew Rodell, Paul R. Houser +21 · 5,763 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · #Assimilation (phonology) #Climate change #Climate change and permafrost #Climate model #Climatology #Computer science #Cryospheric studies and observations #Data assimilation #Environmental science #Forcing (mathematics) #Geography #Geology #Hydrometeorology #Meteorology #Precipitation #Remote sensing #Satellite #Soil Moisture and Remote Sensing
paper · pdf · doi:10.1175/bams-85-3-381
published in Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 85(3), 381-394 (American Meteorological Society)
openalex publication_date 2004/03/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Abstract
A Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) has been developed. Its purpose is to ingest satellite- and ground-based observational data products, using advanced land surface modeling and data assimilation techniques, in order to generate optimal fields of land surface states and fluxes. GLDAS is unique in that it is an uncoupled land surface modeling system that drives multiple models, integrates a huge quantity of observation-based data, runs globally at high resolution (0.25°), and produces results in near–real time (typically within 48 h of the present). GLDAS is also a test bed for innovative modeling and assimilation capabilities. A vegetation-based “tiling” approach is used to simulate subgrid-scale variability, with a 1-km global vegetation dataset as its basis. Soil and elevation parameters are based on high-resolution global datasets. Observation-based precipitation and downward radiation and output fields from the best available global coupled atmospheric data assimilation systems are employed as forcing data. The high-quality, global land surface fields provided by GLDAS will be used to initialize weather and climate prediction models and will promote various hydrometeorological studies and applications. The ongoing GLDAS archive (started in 2001) of modeled and observed, global, surface meteorological data, parameter maps, and output is publicly available.
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