Surface PM2.5 at Accra Technical University, Ghana, derived from MERRA-2 aerosol reanalysis, 1981–1988

Hourly surface fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations and aerosol component mass concentrations for the MERRA-2 grid cell containing Accra Technical University, Accra, Ghana (5.579447° N, 0.170699° W), from 1 January 1981 to 31 December 1988. The record has 70,128 hourly values with no gaps.

Source data: NASA Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO), MERRA-2 tavg1_2d_aer_Nx (M2T1NXAER), version 5.12.4, https://doi.org/10.5067/KLICLTZ8EM9D.

PM2.5 (µg m−3) was calculated as (BCSMASS + DUSMASS25 + OCSMASS + SSSMASS25 + SO4SMASS × 132.14/96.06) × 1e9. The factor 132.14/96.06 converts sulphate mass to ammonium sulphate mass.

Columns: Timestamp (UTC, centre of each hourly average); Date; Year; BCSMASS, black carbon (kg m−3); DUSMASS25, dust smaller than 2.5 µm (kg m−3); OCSMASS, organic carbon (kg m−3); SO4SMASS, sulphate (kg m−3); SSSMASS25, sea salt smaller than 2.5 µm (kg m−3); PM2.5 (µg m−3).

Values are reanalysis estimates for a grid cell of about 55 km × 69 km, not point measurements. For 1981–1988, MERRA-2 assimilates aerosol observations over the ocean only, so values over land depend mainly on the model.

These data support the manuscript “Eight years of reanalysis-based PM2.5 over Accra, Ghana, 1981–1988” by Sowah, Thompson, Lawson and Derbi-Okae, submitted to Aerosol Research.