GEOS–Chem v9–02 Online User's Guide

Previous | Next | Printable View (no frames)

Appendix 4: GEOS–Chem Meteorological Fields

We compare the meteorological data products that GEOS–Chem reads from disk.

A4.1 GCAP fields used by GEOS–Chem

NOTES about GCAP met fields:

  1. A3 fields are 3-hour time averages, centered on 01:30 04:30 07:30 ... 22:30 GMT
  2. A6 fields are 6-hour time averages, centered on 00:00 06:00 12:00 18:00 GMT
  3. I6 fields are 6-hour instantaneous fields, centered on 00:00 06:00 12:00 18:00 GMT
  4. Constant fields are time-invariant
  5. Please see the GCAP page on the GEOS-Chem Wiki for more information.
Field Type Dimension Quantity Units
ALBEDO A3 2-D Surface albedo 1
PREACC A3 2-D Total precipitation mm day-1
PRECON A3 2-D Convective precipitation mm day-1
TS A3 2-D Surface temprature K
MOLENGTH A3 2-D Monin-Obhukov length m
USTAR A3 2-D Friction velocity m s-1
PBL A3 2-D Boundary layer height m
RADSWG A3 2-D Incident radiation at ground W m-2
SNICE A3 2-D Fraction of box covered w/ snow, land, or ocean ice 1
OICE A3 2-D Ocean or lake ice fraction 1
USS A3 2-D Zonal wind at 10m above surface m s-1
VSS A3 2-D Meridional wind at 10m above the surface m s-1
SOIL A3 2-D Volumetric water content m3 m-3
SNOWD A3 2-D Snow depth m
PARDIR A3 2-D Direct photosynthetically-active radiation W m-2
PARDIF A3 2-D Diffuse photosynthetically-active radiation 1
         
T A6 3-D Temperature K
U A6 3-D Zonal wind m s-1
V A6 3-D Meridional wind m s-1
OPTDEPTH A6 3-D Optical depth 1
CLDF A6 3-D Cloud fraction 1
Q A6 3-D Specific humidity kg kg-1
MOISTQ A6 3-D Tendency of Q w/r/t precipitation g kg-1 day-1
UPDE A6 3-D Convective updraft flux Pa s-1
DNDE A6 3-D Convective downdraft flux Pa s-1
ENTRAIN A6 3-D Convective entrainment Pa s-1
DETRAINE A6 3-D Convective detrainment Pa s-1
UPDN A6 3-D Convective updraft flux (non-entraining plume) Pa s-1
DNDN A6 3-D Convective downdraft flux (non-entraining plume) Pa s-1
DETRAINN A6 3-D Convective detrainment (non-entraining plume) Pa s-1
         
PS I6 2-D Surface pressure hPa
SLP I6 2-D Sea-level pressure hPa
         
PHIS Constant 2-D Surface geopotential heights m-2 s-2
LWI Constant 2-D Land fraction 1

A4.2 GEOS–4 fields used by GEOS–Chem

NOTES for GEOS–4 fields:

  1. A-3 fields are 3-hour time-averages, centered on 01:30, 04:30, 07:30, ... 22:30 GMT.
  2. A-6 fields are 6-hour time-averages, centered on 00:00, 06:00, 12:00, and 18:00 GMT.
  3. I-6 fields are 6-hour instantaneous data at 00:00, 06:00, 12:00, and 18:00 GMT.
  4. The air temperature at 2 meters is used as a proxy for the surface air temperature.
  5. Skin temperature is the temperature of the ground (or ocean) surface.
  6. Please see the GEOS–4 page on the GEOS-Chem Wiki for more information.
Field Type Dimension Quantity Units
LWI I6 2-D Land-water-ice flags 1
PHIS I6 2-D Surface geopotential heights m2 s-2
PS I6 2-D Surface pressure hPa
SLP I6 2-D Sea level pressure hPa
         
CLDTOT A6 3-D 3-D cloud fraction (conv + large scale) 1
HKBETA A6 3-D Hack overshoot parameter 1
HKETA A6 3-D Hack convective mass flux kg m-2 s-1
MOISTQ A6 3-D Tendency in specific humidity g kg-1 day-1
OPTDEPTH A6 3-D Grid box optical depth 1
Q A6 3-D Specific humidity g kg-1
T A6 3-D Temperature K
U A6 3-D Zonal wind m s-1
V A6 3-D Meridional wind m s-1
ZMEU A6 3-D Zhang-McFarlane updraft entrainment Pa s-1
ZMMD A6 3-D Zhang-McFarlane downdraft mass flux Pa s-1
ZMMU A6 3-D Zhang-McFarlane updraft mass flux Pa s-1
         
ALBEDO A3 2-D Surface albedo (visible) 1
CLDFRC A3 2-D Column cloud fraction at ground 1
GWETTOP A3 2-D Top soil wetness 1
HFLUX A3 2-D Sensible heat flux W m-2
LAI A3 2-D Leaf area indices %
PARDF A3 2-D Photosynthetically active diffuse radiation W m-2
PARDR A3 2-D Photosynthetically active direct radiation W m-2
PBLH A3 2-D Planetary boundary layer depth m
PREACC A3 2-D Total precipitation at ground mm day-1
PRECON A3 2-D Convective precipitation at ground mm day-1
RADLWG A3 2-D Longwave (IR) radiation emanating from the ground W m-2
RADSWG A3 2-D Solar insolation (shortwave) reaching the ground W m-2
SNOW A3 2-D Snow depth (equivalent water) mm H2O
T2M A3 2-D Air temperature at 2 meter elevation K
TSKIN A3 2-D Skin temperature (ground T or sea surface T) K
U10M A3 2-D UWND at 10 m altitude m s-1
USTAR A3 2-D Friction velocity m s-1
V10M A3 2-D VWND at 10 m altitude m s-1
Z0M A3 2-D Roughness height m

A4.3 GEOS–5 fields used by GEOS–Chem

NOTES about GEOS–5 met fields:

  1. A3 fields are 3-hour time averages, centered on 01:30 04:30 07:30 ... 22:30 GMT
  2. A6 fields are 6-hour time averages, centered on 00:00 06:00 12:00 18:00 GMT
  3. I6 fields are 6-hour instantaneous fields, centered on 00:00 06:00 12:00 18:00 GMT
  4. NOTE: Relative Humidity in the GEOS–5 "raw data files" is labeled as "percent" but is actually "fraction" (unitless).
  5. Please see the GEOS–5 page on the GEOS-Chem Wiki for more information.
Field Type Dimension Quantity Units
ALBEDO A3 2-D Surface albedo 1
CLDTOT A3 2-D Column cloud fraction 1
EFLUX A3 2-D< Latent heat flux W m-2
EVAP A3 2-D Evapotranspiration flux 1
FRLAKE A3 2-D Fraction of lake 1
FRLAND A3 2-D Fraction of land 1
FRLANDIC A3 2-D Fraction of land ice 1
FROCEAN A3 2-D Fraction of ocean 1
GRN A3 2-D Greenness index 1
GWETROOT A3 2-D Root zone soil wetness 1
GWETTOP A3 2-D Top soil wetness 1
HFLUX A3 2-D Sensible heat flux W m-2
LAI A3 2-D Leaf area index m2 m-2
LWGNET A3 2-D Net longwave radiation at ground W m-2
LWTUP A3 2-D Outgoing longwave radiation W m-2
PARDF A3 2-D Diffuse photosnythetically-active radiation W m-2
LWTUP A3 2-D Outgoing longwave radiation W m-2
PARDR A3 2-D Direct photosynthetically-active radiation W m-2
PBLH A3 2-D Planetary boundary layer thickness m
PRECANV A3 2-D Anvil precipitation kg m-2 s-1
PRECCON A3 2-D Total convective precipitation at the ground kg m-2 s-1
PRECTOT A3 2-D Total precipitation at the ground kg m-2 s-1
PRECSNO A3 2-D Total snow precipitation at the ground kg m-2 s-1
QV2M A3 2-D Specific humidity at 2m kg kg-1
SNOMAS A3 2-D Snow depth (H2O equivalent) m
SNODP A3 2-D Snow depth (geometric) m
SWGNET A3 2-D Net shortwave radiation at ground W m-2
T2M A3 2-D Temperature at 2m above ground K
TROPP A3 2-D Tropopause pressure hPa
TSKIN A3 2-D Ground (skin) temperature K
U10M A3 2-D Zonal wind at 10m above ground m/s
USTAR A3 2-D Friction velocity m/s
V10M A3 2-D Meridional wind at 10m above ground m/s
Z0M A3 2-D Roughness height m
         
DQRCON A6 3-D Precipitation from convective processes kg m-2 s-1
DQRLSC A6 3-D Precipitation from large-scale processes kg m-2 s-1
DTRAIN A6 3-D Detrainment mass flux kg m-2 s-2
QL A6 3-D Water mixing ratio 1
QI A6 3-D Ice mixing ratio 1
OPTDEPTH A6 3-D Overall grid-box optical depth 1
TAUCLI A6 3-D Grid-box optical depth, ice-path 1
TAUCLW A6 3-D Grid-box optical depth, water-path 1
CLOUD A6 3-D Cloud fraction 1
PV A6 3-D Ertel potential vorticity K m2 kg-1 s-1
OMEGA A6 3-D Vertical pressure velocity Pa s-1
QV A6 3-D Specific humidity kg kg-1
RH A6 3-D Relative Humidity 1
T A6 3-D Temperature K
U A6 3-D Zonal wind m s-1
V A6 3-D Meridional wind m s-1
DQIDTMST A6 3-D Tendency of QV in ice processes kg kg-1 s-1
DQLDTMST A6 3-D Tendency of QV in moist processes kg kg-1 s-1
DQVDTMST A6 3-D Tendency of QV in vapor processes kg kg-1 s-1
MOISTQ A6 3-D Overall tendency of QV kg kg-1 s-1
CMFMC A6 3-D Convective mass flux kg kg-1 s-1
         
LWI I6 2-D Land/water/ice flags m s-1
PS I6 2-D Surface pressure hPa
SLP I6 2-D Sea-level pressure hPa
TO3 I6 2-D Total ozone column Dobsons
TTO3 I6 2-D Tropospheric ozone column Dobsons

A4.4 GEOS–FP fields used by GEOS–Chem

Notes about GEOS–FP met fields:

  1. A1 fields are 1-hr time-averaged fields with timestamps (i.e. center of averaging period): 00:30, 01:30, 02:30 ... 23:30 GMT
  2. A3 fields are 3-hr time-averaged fields with timestamps (i.e. center of averaging period): 01:30, 04:30, 07:30, 10:30, 13:30, 16:30, 19:30, 22:30 GMT
  3. I3 fields 3-hr instantaneous fields with timestamps: 00:00, 03:00, 06:00, 09:00, 12:00, 15:00, 18:00, 21:00 GMT.
  4. Constant fields are time-invariant.
  5. For more information about the GEOS–FP raw data, please see the GEOS–FP page on the GEOS–Chem wiki.
  6. For detailed information about how the individual GEOS–FP fields were regridded, see the List of GEOS–FP met fields page on the GEOS–Chem wiki.
Field Type Dimension Units Quantity
FRLAKE Constant 2-D Fraction of lake type in grid box 1
FRLAND Constant 2-D Fraction of land type in grid box 1
FRLANDIC Constant 2-D Fraction of land ice type in grid box 1
FROCEAN Constant 2-D Fraction of ocean in grid box 1
PHIS Constant 2-D Surface geopotential m2 s-2
         
ALBEDO A1 2-D Surface albedo 1
CLDTOT A1 2-D Total cloud fraction 1
EFLUX A1 2-D Latent heat flux (positive upward) W m-2
EVAP A1 2-D Surface evaporation kg m-2 s-2
FRSEAICE A1 2-D Fraction of sea ice 1
FRSNO A1 2-D Fractional snow-covered area 1
GRN A1 2-D Vegetation greenness fraction 1
GWETROOT A1 2-D Root zone soil wetness 1
GWETTOP A1 2-D Top soil wetness 1
HFLUX A1 2-D Sensible heat flux (positive upward) W m-2
LAI A1 2-D Leaf area index m2 m-2
LWGNT A1 2-D Surface net downward longwave flux W m-2
LWI A1 2-D Land/water/ice flags 1
LWTUP A1 2-D Upward longwave flux at top of atmosphere (TOA) W m-2
PARDF A1 2-D Surface downward PAR diffuse flux W m-2
PARDR A1 2-D Surface downward PAR beam flux W m-2
PBLH A1 2-D Planetary boundary layer height above surface m
PRECANV A1 2-D Surface precipitation flux from anvils kg m-2 s-2
PRECCON A1 2-D Surface precipitation flux from convection kg m-2 s-2
PRECLSC A1 2-D Surface precipitation flux from large-scale kg m-2 s-2
PRECSNO A1 2-D Surface snowfall flux kg m-2 s-2
PRECTOT A1 2-D Total surface precipitation flux kg m-2 s-2
QV2M A1 2-D Specific humidity at 2 m above the displacement height kg kg-1
Q850 A1 2-D Specific humidity at 850 hPa kg kg-1
SEAICE00 A1 2-D Fraction of grid box that has < 10% sea ice coverage 1
SEAICE10 A1 2-D Fraction of grid box that has 10-20% sea ice coverage 1
SEAICE20 A1 2-D Fraction of grid box that has 20-30% sea ice coverage 1
SEAICE30 A1 2-D Fraction of grid box that has 30-40% sea ice coverage 1
SEAICE40 A1 2-D Fraction of grid box that has 40-50% sea ice coverage 1
SEAICE50 A1 2-D Fraction of grid box that has 50-60% sea ice coverage 1
SEAICE60 A1 2-D Fraction of grid box that has 60-70% sea ice coverage 1
SEAICE70 A1 2-D Fraction of grid box that has 70-80% sea ice coverage 1
SEAICE80 A1 2-D Fraction of grid box that has 80-90% sea ice coverage 1
SEAICE90 A1 2-D Fraction of grid box that has > 90% sea ice coverage 1
SLP A1 2-D Sea level pressure hPa
SNODP A1 2-D Snow depth m
SNOMAS A1 2-D Snow mass kg m-2
SWGDN A1 2-D Surface incident shortwave flux W m-2
SWGNT A1 2-D Net surface downward shortwave flux W m-2
TO3 A1 2-D Total column ozone Dobsons
TROPPT A1 2-D T based tropopause pressure hPa
TS A1 2-D Surface skin temperature K
T2M A1 2-D Temperature 2 m above displacement height K
U10M A1 2-D Eastward wind 10 m above displacement height m s-1
USTAR A1 2-D Friction velocity m s-1
V10M A1 2-D Northward wind 10 m above displacement height m s-1
Z0M A1 2-D Roughness length, momentum m
         
CLOUD A3cld 3-D Total cloud fraction in grid box 1
QI A3cld 3-D Cloud ice mixing ratio kg kg-1
QIAN A3cld 3-D Cloud ice mixing ratio – anvils kg kg-1
QILS A3cld 3-D Cloud ice mixing ratio – large-scale kg kg-1
QL A3cld 3-D Cloud liquid water mixing ratio kg kg-1
QLAN A3cld 3-D Cloud liquid water mixing ratio – anvil kg kg-1
QLLS A3cld 3-D Cloud liquid water mixing ratio – large-scale kg kg-1
TAUCLI A3cld 3-D In-cloud ice cloud optical thickness (visible band) 1
TAUCLW A3cld 3-D In-cloud liquid cloud optical thickness (visible band) 1
OPTDEPTH A3cld 3-D Total in-cloud optical depth (visible band) 1
         
DTRAIN A3dyn 3-D Detrainment cloud mass flux kg m-2 s-2
OMEGA A3dyn 3-D Vertical pressure velocity Pa s-1
RH A3dyn 3-D Relative humidity 1
U A3dyn 3-D Eastward component of wind m s-1
V A3dyn 3-D Northward component of wind m s-1
         
DQRCU A3mstC 3-D Precipitation production rate – convective kg kg-1 s-1
DQRLSAN A3mstC 3-D Precipitation production rate – large-scale + anvil kg kg-1 s-1
REEVAPCN A3mstC 3-D Evaporation of precipitating convective condensate kg kg-1 s-1
REEVAPLS(AN) A3mstC 3-D Evaporation of precipitating LS + anvil condensate kg kg-1 s-1
         
CMFMC A3mstE 3-D Upward moist convective mass flux kg m-2 s-2
PFICU A3mstE 3-D Downward flux of ice precipitation – convective kg m-2 s-1
PFILSAN A3mstE 3-D Downward flux of ice precip – large-scale + anvil kg m-2 s-1
PFLCU A3mstE 3-D Downward flux of liquid precipitation – convective kg m-2 s-1
PFLLSAN A3mstE 3-D Downward flux of liquid precip – large-scale + anvil kg m-2 s-1
         
PS I3 2-D Surface pressure Pa
PV I3 3-D Ertel potential vorticity K m2 kg-1 s-1
QV I3 3-D Specific humidity kg kg-1
T I3 3-D Air temperature K

A4.5 MERRA fields used by GEOS–Chem

Notes about MERRA met fields:

  1. A1 fields are 1-hr time-averaged fields with timestamps (i.e. center of averaging period): 00:30, 01:30, 02:30 ... 23:30 GMT
  2. A3 fields are 3-hr time-averaged fields with timestamps (i.e. center of averaging period): 01:30, 04:30, 07:30, 10:30, 13:30, 16:30, 19:30, 22:30 GMT
  3. I6 fields 6-hr instantaneous fields with timestamps: 00:00, 06:00, 12:00, 18:00 GMT.
  4. Constant fields are time-invariant.
  5. For more information about the MERRA raw data, please see the MERRA post on the GEOS–Chem wiki.
  6. For detailed information about how the individual MERRA fields were regridded, see the List of MERRA met fields post on the GEOS–Chem wiki.
  7. For more information about the native MERRA grids, see the MERRA grid structure post on the GEOS–Chem wiki.
Field Type Dimension Units Quantity
FRLAKE Constant 2-D Fraction of lake type in grid box 1
FRLAND Constant 2-D Fraction of land type in grid box 1
FRLANDIC Constant 2-D Fraction of land ice type in grid box 1
FROCEAN Constant 2-D Fraction of ocean in grid box 1
PHIS Constant 2-D Surface geopotential m2 s-2
         
ALBEDO A1 2-D Surface albedo 1
CLDTOT A1 2-D Total cloud fraction 1
EFLUX A1 2-D Latent heat flux (positive upward) W m-2
EVAP A1 2-D Surface evaporation kg m-2 s-2
FRSEAICE A1 2-D Fraction of sea ice 1
FRSNO A1 2-D Fractional snow-covered area 1
GRN A1 2-D Vegetation greenness fraction 1
GWETROOT A1 2-D Root zone soil wetness 1
GWETTOP A1 2-D Top soil wetness 1
HFLUX A1 2-D Sensible heat flux (positive upward) W m-2
LAI A1 2-D Leaf area index m2 m-2
LWGNT A1 2-D Surface net downward longwave flux W m-2
LWI A1 2-D Land/water/ice flags 1
LWTUP A1 2-D Upward longwave flux at top of atmosphere (TOA) W m-2
PARDF A1 2-D Surface downward PAR diffuse flux W m-2
PARDR A1 2-D Surface downward PAR beam flux W m-2
PBLH A1 2-D Planetary boundary layer height above surface m
PRECANV A1 2-D Surface precipitation flux from anvils kg m-2 s-2
PRECCON A1 2-D Surface precipitation flux from convection kg m-2 s-2
PRECLSC A1 2-D Surface precipitation flux from large-scale kg m-2 s-2
PRECSNO A1 2-D Surface snowfall flux kg m-2 s-2
PRECTOT A1 2-D Total surface precipitation flux kg m-2 s-2
QV2M A1 2-D Specific humidity at 2 m above the displacement height kg kg-1
SEAICE00 A1 2-D Fraction of grid box that has < 10% sea ice coverage 1
SEAICE10 A1 2-D Fraction of grid box that has 10-20% sea ice coverage 1
SEAICE20 A1 2-D Fraction of grid box that has 20-30% sea ice coverage 1
SEAICE30 A1 2-D Fraction of grid box that has 30-40% sea ice coverage 1
SEAICE40 A1 2-D Fraction of grid box that has 40-50% sea ice coverage 1
SEAICE50 A1 2-D Fraction of grid box that has 50-60% sea ice coverage 1
SEAICE60 A1 2-D Fraction of grid box that has 60-70% sea ice coverage 1
SEAICE70 A1 2-D Fraction of grid box that has 70-80% sea ice coverage 1
SEAICE80 A1 2-D Fraction of grid box that has 80-90% sea ice coverage 1
SEAICE90 A1 2-D Fraction of grid box that has > 90% sea ice coverage 1
SLP A1 2-D Sea level pressure hPa
SNODP A1 2-D Snow depth m
SNOMAS A1 2-D Snow mass kg m-2
SWGDN A1 2-D Surface incident shortwave flux W m-2
SWGNT A1 2-D Net surface downward shortwave flux W m-2
TROPPT A1 2-D T based tropopause pressure hPa
TS A1 2-D Surface skin temperature K
T2M A1 2-D Temperature 2 m above displacement height K
U10M A1 2-D Eastward wind 10 m above displacement height m s-1
USTAR A1 2-D Friction velocity m s-1
V10M A1 2-D Northward wind 10 m above displacement height m s-1
Z0M A1 2-D Roughness length, momentum m
         
CLOUD A3 3-D Total cloud fraction in grid box 1
CMFMC A3 3-D Upward moist convective mass flux kg m-2 s-2
DQRCU A3 3-D Precipitation production rate – convective kg kg-1 s-1
DQRLSAN A3 3-D Precipitation production rate – large-scale + anvil kg kg-1 s-1
DQIDTMST A3 3-D Ice tendency from moist physics kg kg-1 s-1
DQLDTMST A3 3-D Liquid water tendency from moist physics kg kg-1 s-1
DQVDTMST A3 3-D Water vapor tendency from moist physics kg kg-1 s-1
DTRAIN A3 3-D Detrainment cloud mass flux kg m-2 s-2
MOISTQ A3 3-D Overall tendency of QV g kg-1 day-1
OPTDEPTH A3 3-D Total in-cloud optical depth (visible band) 1
PFICU A3 3-D Downward flux of ice precipitation – convective kg m-2 s-1
PFILSAN A3 3-D Downward flux of ice precip – large-scale + anvil kg m-2 s-1
PFLCU A3 3-D Downward flux of liquid precipitation – convective kg m-2 s-1
PFLLSAN A3 3-D Downward flux of liquid precip – large-scale + anvil kg m-2 s-1
QI A3 3-D Cloud ice mixing ratio kg kg-1
QL A3 3-D Cloud liquid water mixing ratio kg kg-1
QV A3 3-D Specific humidity kg kg-1
REEVAPCN A3 3-D Evaporation of precipitating convective condensate kg kg-1 s-1
REEVAPLS A3 3-D Evaporation of precipitating large-scale + anvil condensate kg kg-1 s-1
T A3 3-D Air temperature K
TAUCLI A3 3-D In-cloud ice cloud optical thickness (visible band) 1
TAUCLW A3 3-D In-cloud liquid cloud optical thickness (visible band) 1
U A3 3-D Eastward component of wind m s-1
V A3 3-D Northward component of wind m s-1
         
OMEGA I6 3-D Vertical pressure velocity Pa s-1
PS I6 2-D Surface pressure hPa
PV I6 3-D Ertel potential vorticity K m2 kg-1 s-1
RH I6 3-D Relative humidity 1

Previous | Next | Printable View (no frames)