diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index 79ac2c1..eb4fb96 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ Imports:
     terra,
     fs,
     httr,
-    httr2,
     tidync,
     rlang,
     tibble,
diff --git a/R/merra.R b/R/merra.R
index b2073af..45e9245 100644
--- a/R/merra.R
+++ b/R/merra.R
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@
 #' converted to micrograms per cubic meter ($ug/m^3$).
 #' - Total surface PM2.5 mass is calculated according to
 #' the formula in <https://gmao.gsfc.nasa.gov/reanalysis/MERRA-2/FAQ/#Q4>
+#' Set a proxy to be used by all {httr} calls in the merra functions with `httr::set_config(httr::use_proxy( ... ))`; e.g.
+#' `httr::set_config(httr::use_proxy("http://bmiproxyp.chmcres.cchmc.org", 80, Sys.getenv("CCHMC_USERNAME"), Sys.getenv("CCHMC_PASSWORD")))`
 #' @param x a vector of s2 cell identifers (`s2_cell` object)
 #' @param dates a list of date vectors for the MERRA data, must be the same length as `x`
 #' @param merra_year a character string that is the year for the merra data
@@ -116,24 +118,20 @@ create_daily_merra_data <- function(merra_date) {
   tf <- tempfile(fileext = ".nc4")
   req_url <-
     fs::path("https://goldsmr4.gesdisc.eosdis.nasa.gov/data/MERRA2",
-      "M2T1NXAER.5.12.4",
-      format(the_date, "%Y"),
-      format(the_date, "%m"),
-      paste0("MERRA2_400.tavg1_2d_aer_Nx.", format(the_date, "%Y%m%d")),
-      ext = "nc4"
-    )
+             "M2T1NXAER.5.12.4",
+             format(the_date, "%Y"),
+             format(the_date, "%m"),
+             paste0("MERRA2_400.tavg1_2d_aer_Nx.", format(the_date, "%Y%m%d")),
+             ext = "nc4")
   if ((format(the_date, "%Y") == "2020" & format(the_date, "%m") == "09") ||
         (format(the_date, "%Y") == "2021" & format(the_date, "%m") %in% c("06", "07", "08", "09"))) {
     req_url <- gsub("MERRA2_400.", "MERRA2_401.", req_url, fixed = TRUE)
   }
-  req_url |>
-    httr2::request() |>
-    httr2::req_auth_basic(
-      username = earthdata_secrets["EARTHDATA_USERNAME"],
-      password = earthdata_secrets["EARTHDATA_PASSWORD"]
-    ) |>
-    httr2::req_cache(tempdir()) |>
-    httr2::req_perform(path = tf)
+  httr::GET(
+    req_url,
+    httr::authenticate(user = earthdata_secrets["EARTHDATA_USERNAME"], password = earthdata_secrets["EARTHDATA_PASSWORD"]),
+    httr::write_disk(tf)
+  )
   out <-
     tidync::tidync(tf) |>
     tidync::hyper_filter(
diff --git a/inst/install_merra_from_source_on_cchmc_hpc.sh b/inst/install_merra_from_source_on_cchmc_hpc.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..598549a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/inst/install_merra_from_source_on_cchmc_hpc.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+#BSUB -W 30:00
+#BSUB -n 2
+#BSUB -M 24000
+#BSUB -R "span[ptile=2]"
+#BSUB -e install_merra.out
+#BSUB -o install_merra.out
+
+module load singularity
+export APPC_INSTALL_DATA_FROM_SOURCE=1
+
+echo "A reminder to ensure CCHMC_USERNAME and CCHMC_PASSWORD environment variables are set (or are defined in a .env file) for curl proxy settings"
+
+for year in "2023" "2022" "2021" "2020" "2019" "2018" "2017";
+do
+    rm -f ~/.local/share/R/appc/merra_$year.rds
+    singularity exec ~/singr_latest.sif \
+        Rscript \
+        -e "if (file.exists('.env')) dotenv::load_dot_env()" \
+        -e "httr::set_config(httr::use_proxy('http://bmiproxyp.chmcres.cchmc.org', 80, Sys.getenv('CCHMC_USERNAME'), Sys.getenv('CCHMC_PASSWORD')))" \
+        -e "appc::install_merra_data('$year')"
+done
diff --git a/justfile b/justfile
index 54975cd..bfec8cd 100644
--- a/justfile
+++ b/justfile
@@ -3,22 +3,10 @@ set dotenv-load
 pkg_version := `Rscript -e "cat(desc::desc_get('Version'))"`
 geomarker_folder := `Rscript -e "cat(tools::R_user_dir('appc', 'data'))"`
 
-# document R package
-document:
-  R -e "devtools::document()"
-
-# check R package
-check:
-  R -e "devtools::check()"
-
 # run tests without cached geomarker files
 docker_test:
   docker build -t appc .
 
-# build documentation website
-build_site: document
-  R -e "pkgdown::build_site(preview = TRUE, devel = TRUE)"
-
 # make training data
 make_training_data:
   Rscript inst/make_training_data.R
@@ -38,48 +26,29 @@ report:
 
 # install nei data from source and upload to github release
 release_nei_data:
-  rm -f "{{geomarker_folder}}/nei_2017.rds"
-  R --quiet -e \
-    "devtools::load_all(); \
-     options('appc_install_data_from_source' = TRUE); \
-     install_nei_point_data('2017')"
-  gh release upload v{{pkg_version}} "{{geomarker_folder}}/nei_2017.rds"
-  rm -f "{{geomarker_folder}}/nei_2020.rds"
-  R --quiet -e \
-    "devtools::load_all(); \
-     options('appc_install_data_from_source' = TRUE); \
-     install_nei_point_data('2020')"
-  gh release upload v{{pkg_version}} "{{geomarker_folder}}/nei_2020.rds"
+  for year in 2017 2020; do \
+    rm -f "{{geomarker_folder}}"/nei_$year.rds; \
+    APPC_INSTALL_DATA_FROM_SOURCE=1 Rscript -e "appc::install_nei_point_data('$year')"; \
+    gh release upload v{{pkg_version}} "{{geomarker_folder}}"/nei_$year.rds; \
+  done
 
 # install smoke data from source and upload to github release
 release_smoke_data:
   rm -f "{{geomarker_folder}}/smoke.rds"
-  R --quiet -e \
-    "devtools::load_all(); \
-     options('appc_install_data_from_source' = TRUE); \
-     install_smoke_pm_data()"
+  APPC_INSTALL_DATA_FROM_SOURCE=1 Rscript -e "install_smoke_pm_data()"
   gh release upload v{{pkg_version}} "{{geomarker_folder}}/smoke.rds"
 
 # install traffic data from source and upload to github release
 release_traffic_data:
   rm -f "{{geomarker_folder}}/hpms_f123_aadt.rds"
-  R --quiet -e \
-    "devtools::load_all(); \
-     options('appc_install_data_from_source' = TRUE); \
-     options('timeout' = 3000); \
-     install_traffic()"
+  APPC_INSTALL_DATA_FROM_SOURCE=1 Rscript -e "merra::install_traffic()"
   gh release upload v{{pkg_version}} "{{geomarker_folder}}/hpms_f123_aadt.rds"
 
-# install merra data from source and upload to github release
+# upload merra data to github release
 release_merra_data:
-  export APPC_INSTALL_DATA_FROM_SOURCE=TRUE
-  rm "{{geomarker_folder}}/merra_2017.rds"
-  R -f -e "install_merra_data('2017')"
-  gh release upload v{{pkg_version}} "{{geomarker_folder}}/merra_2017.rds"
-  rm "{{geomarker_folder}}/merra_2018.rds"
-  R -f -e "install_merra_data('2018')"
-  gh release upload v{{pkg_version}} "{{geomarker_folder}}/merra_2018.rds"
-  rm "{{geomarker_folder}}/merra_2017.rds"
-  R -f -e "install_merra_data('2017')"
-  gh release upload v{{pkg_version}} "{{geomarker_folder}}/merra_2017.rds"
+  for year in {2017..2023}; do \
+    rm -f "{{geomarker_folder}}"/merra_$year.rds; \
+    APPC_INSTALL_DATA_FROM_SOURCE=1 Rscript -e "appc::install_merra_data('$year')"; \
+    gh release upload v{{pkg_version}} "{{geomarker_folder}}"/merra_$year.rds; \
+  done
 
diff --git a/man/get_merra_data.Rd b/man/get_merra_data.Rd
index 0fb1faa..98c3666 100644
--- a/man/get_merra_data.Rd
+++ b/man/get_merra_data.Rd
@@ -47,6 +47,8 @@ around the contiguous US, averaged to daily values, and
 converted to micrograms per cubic meter ($ug/m^3$).
 \item Total surface PM2.5 mass is calculated according to
 the formula in \url{https://gmao.gsfc.nasa.gov/reanalysis/MERRA-2/FAQ/#Q4}
+Set a proxy to be used by all {httr} calls in the merra functions with \code{httr::set_config(httr::use_proxy( ... ))}; e.g.
+\code{httr::set_config(httr::use_proxy("http://bmiproxyp.chmcres.cchmc.org", 80, Sys.getenv("CCHMC_USERNAME"), Sys.getenv("CCHMC_PASSWORD")))}
 }
 }
 \examples{
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-merra-daily.R b/tests/testthat/test-merra-daily.R
index 9036b18..fe2eb38 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-merra-daily.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-merra-daily.R
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 if (file.exists(".env")) dotenv::load_dot_env()
 earthdata_secrets <- Sys.getenv(c("EARTHDATA_USERNAME", "EARTHDATA_PASSWORD"), unset = NA)
 skip_if(any(is.na(earthdata_secrets)), message = "no earthdata credentials found")
-skip()
 
 test_that("getting daily merra from GES DISC works", {
   # "normal" pattern
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-merra.R b/tests/testthat/test-merra.R
index fbcc109..9cba5d7 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-merra.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-merra.R
@@ -1,5 +1,3 @@
-skip()
-
 test_that("get_merra_data works", {
   d <- list(
     "8841b39a7c46e25f" = as.Date(c("2023-05-18", "2023-11-06")),