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The driving GCM and RCM models included in the CDS-CORDEX subsets for the different domains available are detailed in the table below. Note that the ensembles for different domains are formed by different GCM and RCM combinations from the main CMIP5 and CORDEX archives, respectively: these include 8 GCMs and 13 RCMs for EURO-CORDEX, 8 GCMs and 8 RCMs for North-America CORDEX, and 5 GCMs and 6 RCMs for the Arctic. Please note that a small number of models were not included as those data have a research-only restriction on their use, while the data presented in the CDS are released without any restriction.
GUILLAUME: WE NEED THE ADDITIONAL TABLES HERE FOR THE OTHER DOMAINS, PLEASE!
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List of published parameters
The table below lists the variables provided (in boldface those provided the bold face items are available for all domains, the rest are provided is only for Europe) at 3-hourly, 6-hourly, daily, monthly and monthly seasonal temporal scale (only daily for non-European domains and for tasmin and tasmax for all domainsonly daily data are available). Note that sftlf and orog are static time independent that orography and land area fraction variables are time independent model fields.
| Name | Short name | Units | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2m temperature | tas | K | The temperature of the air near the surface (or ambient temperature). The data represents the mean over the aggregation period at 2m above the surface. |
| 200hPa temperature | ta200 | K | The temperature of the air at 200hPa. The data represents the mean over the aggregation period at 200hPa pressure level. |
| Minimum 2m temperature in the last 24 hours | tasmin | K | The minimum temperature of the air near the surface. The data represents the daily minimum at 2m above the surface. |
| Maximum 2m temperature in the last 24 hours | tasmax | K | The maximum temperature of the air near the surface. The data represents the daily maximum at 2m above the surface. |
| Mean precipitation flux | pr | kg.m-2.s-1 | The deposition of water to the Earth's surface in the form of rain, snow, ice or hail. The precipitation flux is the mass of water per unit area and time. The data represents the mean over the aggregation period. |
| 2m surface relative humidity | hurs | % | The relative humidity is the percentage ratio of the water vapour mass to the water vapour mass at the saturation point given the temperature at that location. The data represents the mean over the aggregation period at 2m above the surface. |
| 2m surface specific humidity | huss | Dimensionless | The amount of moisture in the air at 2m above the surface divided by the amount of air plus moisture at that location. The data represents the mean over the aggregation period at 2m above the surface. |
| Surface pressure | ps | Pa | The air pressure at the lower boundary of the atmosphere. The data represents the mean over the aggregation period. |
| Mean sea level pressure | psl | Pa | The air pressure at sea level. In regions where the Earth's surface is above sea level the surface pressure is used to compute the air pressure that would exist at sea level directly below given a constant air temperature from the surface to the sea level point. The data represents the mean over the aggregation period. |
| 10m Wind Speed | sfcWind | m.s-1 | The magnitude of the two-dimensional horizontal air velocity. The data represents the mean over the aggregation period at 10m above the surface. |
| Surface solar radiation downwards | rsds | W.m-2 | The downward shortwave radiative flux of energy per unit area. The data represents the mean over the aggregation period at the surface. |
| Surface thermal radiation downward | rlds | W.m-2 | The downward longwave radiative flux of energy inciding on the surface from the above per unit area. The data represents the mean over the aggregation period. |
| Surface upwelling shortwave radiation | rsus | W.m-2 | The upward shortwave radiative flux of energy from the surface per unit area. The data represents the mean over the aggregation period at the surface. |
| Total cloud cover | clt | Dimensionless | Total refers to the whole atmosphere column, as seen from the surface or the top of the atmosphere. Cloud cover refers to fraction of horizontal area occupied by clouds. The data represents the mean over the aggregation period. |
| 500hPa geopotential | zg500 | m | The gravitational potential energy per unit mass normalized by the standard gravity at 500hPa at the same latitude. The data represents the mean over the aggregation period at 500hPa pressure level. |
| 10m u-component of wind | uas | m.s-1 | The magnitude of the eastward component of the wind. The data represents the mean over the aggregation period at 10m above the surface. |
| 10m v-component of wind | vas | m.s-1 | The magnitude of the northward component of the wind. The data represents the mean over the aggregation period at 10m above the surface. |
| 200hPa u-component of the wind | ua200 | m.s-1 | The magnitude of the eastward component of the wind. The data represents the mean over the aggregation period at 200hPa above the surface. |
| 200hPa v-component of the wind | va200 | m.s-1 | The magnitude of the northward component of the wind. The data represents the mean over the aggregation period at 200hPa pressure level. |
| 850hPa U-component of the wind | ua850 | m.s-1 | The magnitude of the eastward component of the wind. The data represents the mean over the aggregation period at 850hPa pressure level. |
| 850hPa V-component of the wind | va850 | m.s-1 | The magnitude of the northward component of the wind. The data represents the mean over the aggregation period at 850hPa pressure level. |
| Total run-off flux | mrro | kg.m-2.s-1 | The mass of surface and sub-surface liquid water per unit area and time, which drains from land. The data represents the mean over the aggregation period. |
| Mean evaporation flux | evspsbl | kg.m-2.s-1 | The mass of surface and sub-surface liquid water per unit area ant time, which evaporates from land. The data includes conversion to vapour phase from both the liquid and solid phase, i.e., includes sublimation, and represents the mean over the aggregation period. |
| Land area fraction | sftlf | % | The fraction (in percentage) of model grid cell occupied by land surface. The data is time-independent. |
| Orography | orog | m | The model height above the geoid (being 0.0 over the ocean). The data is time-independent. |
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The data within the files were not individually checked, therefore it is important to note that passing of these quality control tests should not be confused with validity: for example, it will be possible for a file to be fully CF compliant and have fully compliant metadata but contain gross errors in the data that have not been revealed.
Known issues
HERE WE HAVE TO SPEAK ABOUT THE ERRATA AND WE HAVE TO POPULATE THE ERRATA INFORMATION TOO!!
- Please not that not all combinations of models and domains exists. This feature is due to the different CORDEX initiatives/consortiums that do not involved the same data producers using the same RCMs.
- Please note that not all the combinations of models and variables exist. This feature is inherited from the ESGF system, where the main target is to publish as much as possible data and even publish incomplete datasets, which might be of use. This allows to have more data available with the price that not everything is fully complete.
Sometimes there are some inconsistencies in the NetCDF files, for instance the header information is not in agreement with the content. An example is the case of ALADIN Regional Climate Model, where in the file header it is indicated that the 2m temperature data units are Kelvin, though instead the data are listed in Celsius. This kind of discrepancies come from the data producers and they are very difficult to rectify, since the producers are usually reluctant to update datasets, which were provided quite some time ago. Such kind of issue should be documented through the errata service.
Background documents and user guides
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