This catalogue entry provides Regional Climate Model (RCM) data on single levels from a number of experiments, models, domains, resolutions, ensemble members, time frequencies and periods computed over several regional domains all over the World in the framework of the Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX). The term "single levels" is used to express that the variables are 2D-matrices computed on one vertical level which can be surface (or a level close to the surface) or a dedicated pressure level in the atmosphere. Multiple vertical levels are excluded from this catalogue entry.
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The term "region" in the CDS form refers to the different regional domains, which are as follows:
- EUR: European domain from 27°N to 72°N and from 22°W to 45°E. The horizontal resolution for this domain is 0.11° x 0.11° (EUR-11).
- MED: Mediterranean domain from 25°N to 52°N and from 21°W to 50°E. The horizontal resolutions for this domain are 0.11° x 0.11° (MED-11) and 0.44° x 0.44° (MED-44).
- NAM: North-American domain from 12°N to 59°N and from 171°W to 24°W. The horizontal resolutions for this domain are 0.22° x 0.22° (NAM-22) and 0.44° x 0.44° (NAM-44).
- ARC: Arctic domain from 46°N to 90°N and from 180°W to 180°E. The horizontal resolutions for this domain are 0.22° x 0.22° (ARC-22) and 0.44° x 0.44° (ARC-44).
- AFR: Africa domain from 45°S to 42°N and from 24°W to 60°E. The horizontal resolutions for this domain are 0.22° x 0.22° (AFR-22) and 0.44° x 0.44° (AFR-44).
- SAM: South America domain from 52°S to 19°N and from 105°W to 17°W. The horizontal resolutions for this domain are 0.20° x 0.20° (SAM-20),0.22° x 0.22° (SAM-22) and 0.44° x 0.44° (SAM-44).
Additional details on each CORDEX geographical domain are available at https://cordex.org/domains/.
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Additionally, the uncertainty related to internal variability of the climate system is sampled by running several simulations with the same RCM-GCM combination. On the forms, these are indexed as separate ensemble members (the naming convention for ensemble members is available in the documentation). For each GCM, the same experiment was repeatedly done using slightly different conditions (like initial conditions or different physical parameterisations for instance) producing in that way an ensemble of experiments closely related. More details behind these sequential ensemble numbers will be is available in the detailed documentation.
On a general level in the CDS form for the RCM simulations “v” enumerates runs and not model versions. Runs numbers different from “v1” means new simulations relative to the first “v1” one. It might not mean a new version:
ANDRAS: we have to check, if this level of information is needed in this overview or that is enough in the documentation. Maybe one sentence about these "runs" is sufficient here.
GL: Agree with Andras. This paragraph burdens the overview.
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All known issues about the CORDEX data are documented through the ES-DOC Errata Service : https://errata.es-doc.org/.
The data are produced by the participating institutes of the EURO-CORDEX, Med-CORDEX projects and several national contributions to CORDEX. ANDRAS: this sentence might be extended in the view of the non-European data. GL: "several national contributions" is not enough ? I don't know if the non-European domains were part of similar consortiums as EURO-CORDEX or Med-CORDEX. I let Manuel and Grisha on this. Jose, would you check this, please?and modelling centres participating in the different CORDEX domains with partial support from different international and national contributions (including support from COPERNICUS for some of the EURO-CORDEX runs and for helping in the data curation and ESGF archiving process in some domains).
Recommended search procedure:
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| DATA DESCRIPTION |
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| Data type | Gridded |
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| Horizontal coverage | Depends on the regional domain (grid projection may differ among RCMs) |
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| Horizontal resolution | 0.11° x 0.11°, 0.20°x 0.20°, 0.22° x 0.22° or 0.44° x 0.44° depending on the region. |
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| Vertical resolution | Variables are provided in one single level (which may differ among variables) |
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| Temporal coverage | evaluation runs are from 1989 to 2008 historical runs are from 1951 to 2005 scenario runs are from 2006 to 2100 |
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| Temporal resolution | 3h, 6h, daily, monthly and seasonal |
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| File format | NetCDF4 |
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| Conventions | Climate and Forecast (CF) Metadata Convention v1.6 |
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| Versions | Latest version of the data is provided. |
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| Update frequency | Regular quarterly updates |
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MAIN | VARIABLES |
| Name | Short name | Units | Description |
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Total run-off flux | mrro | kg.m-2.s-1 | The mass of surface and sub-surface liquid water per unit area | 2m temperature | tas | K | The temperature of the air near the surface (or ambient temperature). The |
and time, which drains from land. The | data represents the mean over the aggregation period at 2m above 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.| 200hPa temperature | ta200 | K | The temperature of the air at 200hPa. The data represents the mean over the aggregation period at 200hPa pressure level. |
Surface upwelling shortwave radiation | rsus | W.m-2 | The upward shortwave radiative flux of energy from the surface per unit area |
| 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 |
mean over the aggregation period at | daily maximum at 2m above the surface. |
Surface thermal radiation downward | rlds | | Mean precipitation flux | pr | kg |
W downward longwave radiative flux of energy inciding on the surface from the above per unit area| 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. |
Surface solar radiation downwards | rsds | | Mean evaporation flux | evspsbl | kg |
W downward shortwave radiative flux of energy | mass of surface and sub-surface liquid water per unit area |
. The data | 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 |
at the surfaceSurface pressure | ps | Pa | The air pressure at the lower boundary of the atmosphere. The | 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. |
| Orography | orog | m | The height above the geoid (being 0.0 over the ocean). The data is time-independent. |
Minimum 2m temperature in the last 24 hours | tasmin | K | | 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. |
The minimum temperature of the air near the surface. The data represents the daily minimum at 2m above the surface. |
| 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. |
Mean precipitation flux | pr | kg.m-2 deposition 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 two-dimensional horizontal air velocity. The data represents the mean over the aggregation period at 10m above the surface. |
Mean evaporation flux | evspsbl | | Surface solar radiation downwards | rsds | W |
kg.s-1The conversion of water from the Earth s surface in the form of rain, snow, ice or hail into vapor. The evaporation flux is the mass of water per unit area and time | The downward shortwave radiative flux of energy per unit area. The data represents the mean over the aggregation period at the surface. |
Mean evaporation flux | evspsbl | | Surface thermal radiation downward | rlds | W |
kg.s-1 mass of surface and sub-surface liquid water downward longwave radiative flux of energy inciding on the surface from the above 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 . The data represents the mean over the aggregation period. |
Maximum 2m temperature in the last 24 hours | tasmax | K | | Surface upwelling shortwave radiation | rsus | W.m-2 | The upward shortwave radiative flux of energy from the surface per unit area |
The maximum temperature of the air near the surface. The data represents the |
daily maximum at 2m above mean over the aggregation period at the surface. |
| Land area fraction | sftlf | % | The fraction (in percentage) of grid cell occupied by land surface. The data is time-independent. |
| 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. |
850hPa U-component of the wind | ua850 | m.s-1 | The magnitude of the eastward component of the wind. The | 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 |
at 850hPa pressure level| . |
| 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. |
200hPa v the va200| uas | m.s-1 | The magnitude of the |
northward | eastward component of the wind. The data represents the mean over the aggregation period at |
200hPa pressure level200hPa u the ua200 the eastward | the northward component of the wind. The data represents the mean over the aggregation period at |
200hPa | 10m above the surface. |
| 200hPa |
temperatureta200 | K | The temperature of the air at 200hPa. The | 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 |
pressure level.above the surface. |
| 200hPa v-component of the wind | va200 |
10m Wind Speed | sfcWind | m.s-1 | The magnitude of the |
two-dimensional horizontal air velocity| northward component of the wind. The data represents the mean over the aggregation period at |
10m above the surface10m v| 850hPa U-component of the wind |
vas| ua850 | m.s-1 | The magnitude of |
the northward | the eastward component of the wind. The data represents the mean over the aggregation period at |
10m above the surface10m u| 850hPa V-component of the wind |
uas| va850 | m.s-1 | The magnitude of the |
eastward | northward component of the wind. The data represents the mean over the aggregation period at |
10m above the surface.| 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 |
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 surface2m surface specific humidity | huss | Dimensionless | | 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 |
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 surface2m surface relative humidity | hursThe 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. | ...
| The fraction (in percentage) of grid cell occupied by land surface. The data is time-independent. |
| Orography | orog | m | The height above the geoid (being 0.0 over the ocean). The data is time-independent. |