MPAS#
Model description#
MPAS is an atmospheric model that consists of an atmospheric fluid-flow solver (the dynamical core) and a subset of the Advanced Research WRF (ARW) model atmospheric physics. The dynamical core solves the fully compressible non-hydrostatic equations of motion. MPAS uses an unstructured centroidal Voronoi mesh (grid, or tessellation) and C-grid staggering of the state variables as the basis for the horizontal discretisation in the fluid-flow solver. For a more detailed description, see Skamarock et al. 2012.
Contact#
Falko Judt, National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), USA
Data structure#
Horizontal#
For DYAMOND, MPAS employs the following meshes:
Global mean mesh spacing |
Number of grid cols |
15km |
2621442 |
7.5km |
10485762 |
3.75km |
41943042 |
Vertical#
The number of vertical levels is 75. A detailed list can be found here.
Data access#
History Files, Output Interval: PT03H
Output will be written for all levels.
uReconstructZonal |
zonal component of horizontal velocity |
vReconstructMeridional |
meriodonal component of horizontal velocity |
w |
vertical velocity |
temperature |
actual temperature |
pressure |
pressure |
qv |
water vapor mixing ratio |
qc |
cloud water mixing ratio |
qi |
ice mixing ratio |
qr |
rain water mixing ratio |
qs |
snow mixing ratio |
qg |
graupel mixing ratio |
ni |
cloud ice number concentration |
nr |
rain number concentration |
skintemp |
ground or water surface temperature |
sst |
sea-surface temperature |
snow |
snow water equivalent |
snowh |
physical snow depth |
vegfra |
vegetation fraction |
sh2o |
soil equivalent liquid water |
smois |
soil moisture |
tslb |
soil layer temperature |
Diagnostics Files, Output Interval: PT15M
taux |
surface zonal momentum flux, in N m^{-2} |
tauy |
surface meridional momentum flux, in N m^{-2} |
olrtoa |
top-of-atmosphere outgoing longwave radiation flux, in W m^{-2} |
cldcvr |
cloud cover, here taken as the maximum of the 3D field cloudfraction along the vertical dimension, unitless |
vert_int_qv |
vertically integrated water vapor mixing ratio, in kg m^{-2} |
vert_int_qc |
vertically integrated cloud water mixing ratio, in kg m^{-2} |
vert_int_qr |
vertically integrated rain mixing ratio, in kg m^{-2} |
vert_int_qi |
vertically integrated ice mixing ratio, in kg m^{-2} |
vert_int_qs |
vertically integrated snow mixing ratio, in kg m^{-2} |
vert_int_qg |
vertically integrated graupel mixing ratio, in kg m^{-2} |
refl10cm_1km |
diagnosed 10 cm radar reflectivity at 1 km AGL, in dBZ |
precipw |
precipitable water, in kg m^{-2} |
u10 |
10-meter zonal wind, in m s^{-1} |
v10 |
10-meter meridional wind, in m s^{-1} |
q2 |
2-meter specific humidity, in kg kg^{-1} |
t2m |
2-meter temperature, in K |
th2m |
2-meter potential temperature, in K |
mslp |
mean sea-level pressure, in Pa |
relhum_200hPa |
relative humidity vertically interpolated to 200 hPa, in % |
relhum_250hPa |
relative humidity vertically interpolated to 250 hPa, in % |
relhum_500hPa |
relative humidity vertically interpolated to 500 hPa, in % |
relhum_700hPa |
relative humidity vertically interpolated to 700 hPa, in % |
relhum_850hPa |
relative humidity vertically interpolated to 850 hPa, in % |
relhum_925hPa |
relative humidity vertically interpolated to 925 hPa, in % |
dewpoint_200hPa |
dewpoint temperature vertically interpolated to 200 hPa, in K |
dewpoint_250hPa |
dewpoint temperature vertically interpolated to 250 hPa, in K |
dewpoint_500hPa |
dewpoint temperature vertically interpolated to 500 hPa, in K |
dewpoint_700hPa |
dewpoint temperature vertically interpolated to 700 hPa, in K |
dewpoint_850hPa |
dewpoint temperature vertically interpolated to 850 hPa, in K |
dewpoint_925hPa |
dewpoint temperature vertically interpolated to 925 hPa, in K |
temperature_200hPa |
temperature vertically interpolated to 200 hPa, in K |
temperature_250hPa |
temperature vertically interpolated to 250 hPa, in K |
temperature_500hPa |
temperature vertically interpolated to 500 hPa, in K |
temperature_700hPa |
temperature vertically interpolated to 700 hPa, in K |
temperature_850hPa |
temperature vertically interpolated to 850 hPa, in K |
temperature_925hPa |
temperature vertically interpolated to 925 hPa, in K |
height_200hPa |
geometric height interpolated to 200 hPa, in m |
height_250hPa |
geometric height interpolated to 250 hPa, in m |
height_500hPa |
geometric height interpolated to 500 hPa, in m |
height_700hPa |
geometric height interpolated to 700 hPa, in m |
height_850hPa |
geometric height interpolated to 850 hPa, in m |
height_925hPa |
geometric height interpolated to 925 hPa, in m |
uzonal_200hPa |
zonal wind at cell centers, vertically interpolated to 200 hPa, in m/s |
uzonal_250hPa |
zonal wind at cell centers, vertically interpolated to 250 hPa, in m/s |
uzonal_500hPa |
zonal wind at cell centers, vertically interpolated to 500 hPa, in m/s |
uzonal_700hPa |
zonal wind at cell centers, vertically interpolated to 700 hPa, in m/s |
uzonal_850hPa |
zonal wind at cell centers, vertically interpolated to 850 hPa, in m/s |
uzonal_925hPa |
zonal wind at cell centers, vertically interpolated to 925 hPa, in m/s |
umeridional_200hPa |
meridional wind at cell centers, vertically interpolated to 200 hPa, in m/s |
umeridional_250hPa |
meridional wind at cell centers, vertically interpolated to 250 hPa, in m/s |
umeridional_500hPa |
meridional wind at cell centers, vertically interpolated to 500 hPa, in m/s |
umeridional_700hPa |
meridional wind at cell centers, vertically interpolated to 700 hPa, in m/s |
umeridional_850hPa |
meridional wind at cell centers, vertically interpolated to 850 hPa, in m/s |
umeridional_925hPa |
meridional wind at cell centers, vertically interpolated to 925 hPa, in m/s |
w_200hPa |
vertical velocity vertically interpolated to 200 hPa, in m/s |
w_250hPa |
vertical velocity vertically interpolated to 250 hPa, in m/s |
w_500hPa |
vertical velocity vertically interpolated to 500 hPa, in m/s |
w_700hPa |
vertical velocity vertically interpolated to 700 hPa, in m/s |
w_850hPa |
vertical velocity vertically interpolated to 850 hPa, in m/s |
w_925hPa |
vertical velocity vertically interpolated to 925 hPa, in m/s |
omega_200hPa |
pressure velocity vertically interpolated to 200 hPa, in Pa s^{-1} |
omega_250hPa |
pressure velocity vertically interpolated to 250 hPa, in Pa s^{-1} |
omega_500hPa |
pressure velocity vertically interpolated to 500 hPa, in Pa s^{-1} |
omega_700hPa |
pressure velocity vertically interpolated to 700 hPa, in Pa s^{-1} |
omega_850hPa |
pressure velocity vertically interpolated to 850 hPa, in Pa s^{-1} |
omega_925hPa |
pressure velocity vertically interpolated to 925 hPa, in Pa s^{-1} |
vorticity_200hPa |
relative vorticity vertically interpolated to 200 hPa, in s^{-1} |
vorticity_250hPa |
relative vorticity vertically interpolated to 250 hPa, in s^{-1} |
vorticity_500hPa |
relative vorticity vertically interpolated to 500 hPa, in s^{-1} |
vorticity_700hPa |
relative vorticity vertically interpolated to 700 hPa, in s^{-1} |
vorticity_850hPa |
relative vorticity vertically interpolated to 850 hPa, in s^{-1} |
vorticity_925hPa |
relative vorticity vertically interpolated to 925 hPa, in s^{-1} |
cape |
convective available potential energy with respect to surface parcel, in J kg^{-1} |
cin |
convective inhibition with respect to surface parcel, in J kg^{-1} |
acswupb |
accumulated all-sky upward surface shortwave radiation flux, in J m^{-2} |
acswdnb |
accumulated all-sky downward surface shortwave radiation flux, in J m^{-2} |
acswnetb |
accumulated all-sky net surface shortwave radiation flux, in J m^{-2} |
acswdnt |
accumulated all-sky downward top-of-atmosphere shortwave radiation flux, in J m^{-2} |
acswnett |
accumulated all-sky net top-of-atmosphere shortwave radiation, in J m^{-2} |
aclwupb |
accumulated all-sky upward surface longwave radiation flux, in J m^{-2} |
aclwdnb |
accumulated all-sky downward surface longwave radiation flux, in J m^{-2} |
aclwnetb |
accumulated all-sky net surface longwave radiation, in J m^{-2} |
aclwupt |
accumulated all-sky upward surface longwave radiation flux, in J m^{-2} |
aclwdnt |
accumulated clear-sky downward surface longwave radiation flux, in J m^{-2} |
aclwnett |
accumulated all-sky net top-of-atmosphere longwave radiation flux, in J m^{-2} |
rainc |
accumulated convective precipitation, in mm |
rainnc |
accumulated total grid-scale precipitation, in mm |
Initialisation and Boundary conditions#
Soil Initialisation#
Soil initialisation is done via ERA-5.
Input Data#
Input data are generated from ERA-5.
Treatment of SST and Sea Ice#
MPAS uses the provided IFS data (7 day means).