ECMWF Reanalysis Products#

Description of ERA5 and ERA5-Land data available at Levante /pool/data/ERA5

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For inquiries regarding data at Levante /pool/data/ERA5, contact: data(at)dkrz.de.

The ERA5 climate reanalyses#

ERA ('ECMWF Re-Analysis') refers to a series of climate reanalysis datasets produced at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). Climate reanalyses combine observations with models to generate consistent time series of multiple climate variables. Reanalysis time series are widely used as forcing fields in atmospheric models. ERA5 (ERA fifth generation) is the latest climate reanalysis which is produced by Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) at ECMWF. It covers the period from January 1940 to present and replaces ERA-Interim and other predecessor ERA datasets such as, e.g., ERA-40, ERA-15 and ERA-20C.

ERA5 data are produced with a spatial resolution of approximately 31 km, 137 vertical model levels and hourly time steps. It consists of analyses and short forecasts. ECMWF generates ERA5 forecasts twice daily at 6:00 and 18:00 UTC, providing hourly output for forecast steps up to 18 hours ahead. ERA5 is available on single and model levels. In addition, data that are interpolated to 37 pressure levels or to potential temperature/vorticity are provided. Single or ‘surface’ level data encompass 2D parameters such as surface quantities (e.g., precipitation) or top of atmosphere radiation. There are more than 200 different parameters available for single level data, as well as 16 parameters for vertically resolved data. The final, quality-assured ERA5 product is archived on a spectral/reduced Gaussian grid (T639/N320) on the ECMWF MARS tape system.

Apart from the final ERA5 product, ECMWF has released two additional product variants: ERA5T and ERA5.1. ERA5T is a provisional, early-release version of the ERA5 data. ECMWF produces ERA5T with a ~3-day delay from real time, i.e. with much less delay compared to the 2-3 months for the release of the final, validated ERA5 data. ERA5T is superseded once the validated ERA5 data become available. ERA5.1 is an improved re-run of ERA5 for the years 2000 to 2006 as it corrects for the pronounced cold bias in the lower stratospheric temperature observed during that period (see Simmons et al., 2020). ERA5.1 shows significant differences to ERA5 only in the upper troposphere/stratosphere and only for certain variables.

As a complement to the ERA5, ERA5.1, and ERA5-T datasets, the ERA5-Land and ERA5-Land-T datasets provide hourly, high-resolution reanalysis data with approximately 9 km spatial resolution, specifically for land surface parameters. The final, validated ERA5-Land data cover the period from January 1950 to three months behind the present. Similar to ERA5-T, ERA5-Land-T is a provisional early-release version of the ERA5-Land data, produced with a ~6-day delay from the present. ERA5-Land(-T) output includes around 50 single-level parameters (analysis or forecast) and is stored on the ECMWF MARS tape archive in GRIB format on a reduced Gaussian grid N1280.

ERA5 data via /pool/data/ERA5#

As a service to DKRZ users, DKRZ makes a comprehensive subset of the ERA5, ERA5T, ERA5.1 and ERA5-Land(-T) data available on the HPC system Levante through its data pool at /pool/data/ERA5.

For ERA5, ERA5-T, and ERA5.1, the subset comprises model (ml) and pressure level (pl) data for all 16 parameters, as well as single-level data (sf) for around 100 parameters. Only ERA5 analysis (an) data are provided. sf parameters are the exception, as some are provided as forecast (fc) and others as analysis (an). In the case of fc data, the 12 forecast steps of each of the two daily forecast runs are merged. ERA5-Land(-T) are provided as single-level data (sf) for around 20 parameters (either as analysis (an) or as forecast fc)).

Besides hourly resolution data (1H), daily (1D) and monthly (1M) aggregated data are made accessible. Also some time-invariant data (IV) are provided. All files are stored in GRIB format.

Users can access the final ERA5 data on Levante via /pool/data/ERA5/E5. That directory contains the ERA5 time series starting from January 1940. DKRZ staff regularly updates the available time series to extend them forward in time. Updates of ERA5 typically lag 3 months behind real time. ERA5T data are provided on /pool/data/ERA5/ET with a 2-3 day delay from real time. ERA5T files are deleted three months after the corresponding final ERA5 files have become available on /pool/data/ERA5/E5. ERA5.1 data for the period 2000 to 2006 are provided on /pool/data/ERA5/E1. ERA5-Land and ERA5-Land-T data are combined into a continuous time series and provided on /pool/data/ERA5/EL. ERA5-Land-T data is replaced by ERA5-Land after about three months.

/pool/data/ERA5/ File and Directory Names#

A consistent directory structure and file naming conventions has been implemented.

The directory structure is as follows:

/pool/data/ERA5/${FAMILY}/${LEVEL}/${TYPE}/${TRES}/${PARAM}

The file naming convention is as follows:

${FAMILY}${LEVEL}${TYPEID}_${TRES}_${DATE}_${PARAM}.grb

with

FAMILY	(ERA family):
`E5`	Final ERA5 data starting from January 1940.
`ET`	ERA5-T: Provisional, early-release ERA5 data. Only ET data of the last 5 months are provided.
`E1`	ERA5.1: Improved ERA5 re-run for the period 2000 to 2006.
`EL`	Merged ERA5-Land and early-release ERA5-Land-T data. Time series start from January 1950.

LEVEL	(level type):
`sf`	Single (or ‘surface’) (sf) level analysis or forecast data
`ml`	Model level (ml) data (137 levels)
`pl`	Pressure level (pl) data (37 levels)

TYPE	(ECMWF type):
`an`	Analysis
`fc`	Forecast

TRES	(temporal resolution):
`1H`	Hourly resolution data
`1D`	Daily aggregated statistics
`1M`	Monthly means of daily aggregated statistics
`IV`	Time-invariant (static) data

TYPEID	(ECMWF type ID):
`00`	all data with ECMWF type (TYPE) = an
`12`	for data with ECMWF type (TYPE) = fc

DATE	(date stamp with YYYY = 4-digit year; MM = two-digit month; DD = 2-digit day):
`${YYYY}-${MM}-${DD}`	for TRES=1H
`${YYYY}-${MM}`	for TRES=1D
`${YYYY}`	for TRES=1M
`INVARIANT`	for TRES=IV

PARAM	(parameter code, derived from the WMO GRIB parameter table):
`PARAM <=256`	3-digit parameter ID of GRIB table 128
`PARAM >256`	256 + last 3-digits of parameter ID of GRIB table 228

For example, PARAM=259 corresponds to “friction velocity” which has the parameter ID 003 in GRIB table 228. Please see ERA5 Parameter Codes for a list of all parameters and their description. For a detailed description, please download the Excel table published by Heil (2024) https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11119532.

How to Use and Correctly Cite ERA5 Data?#

ERA5 data, which are produced as part of the EU-funded Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), are distributed on an open basis without any specific restrictions on their usage or distribution (see License). However, all users of Copernicus Products must provide clear and visible attribution to the Copernicus program. The citation for the ERA products distributed by DKRZ on Levante /pool/data/ERA5 is as follows:

ERA5 (E5 and ET):

Hersbach, H., Bell, B., Berrisford, P., Hirahara, S., Horányi, A., Muñoz‐Sabater, J., Nicolas, J., Peubey, C., Radu, R., Schepers, D., Simmons, A., Soci, C., Abdalla, S., Abellan, X., Balsamo, G., Bechtold, P., Biavati, G., Bidlot, J., Bonavita, M., De Chiara, G., Dahlgren, P., Dee, D., Diamantakis, M., Dragani, R., Flemming, J., Forbes, R., Fuentes, M., Geer, A., Haimberger, L., Healy, S., Hogan, R.J., Hólm, E., Janisková, M., Keeley, S., Laloyaux, P., Lopez, P., Lupu, C., Radnoti, G., de Rosnay, P., Rozum, I., Vamborg, F., Villaume, S., Thépaut, J-N. (2017): Complete ERA5 from 1940: Fifth generation of ECMWF atmospheric reanalyses of the global climate. Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) Data Store (CDS). DOI: 10.24381/cds.143582cf (Accessed on 15-JUN-2023). Data distribution by the German Climate Computing Center (DKRZ).

ERA5.1 (E1):

Simmons, A., Soci, C., Nicolas, J., Bell, B., Berrisford, P., Dragani, R., Flemming, J., Haimberger, L., Healy, S., Hersbach, H., Horányi, A., Inness, A., Munoz-Sabater, J., Radu, R., Schepers, D. (2020): ERA5.1: Rerun of the Fifth generation of ECMWF atmospheric reanalyses of the global climate (2000-2006 only). Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) Data Store (CDS). DOI: 10.24381/cds.143582cf (Accessed on 02-FEB-2023). Data distribution by the German Climate Computing Center (DKRZ).

ERA5-Land and ERA5-Land-T (EL):

Muñoz Sabater, J. (2019): ERA5-Land hourly data from 1950 to present. Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) Climate Data Store (CDS). DOI: 10.24381/cds.e2161bac (Accessed on DD-MMM-YYYY). Data distribution by the German Climate Computing Center (DKRZ). Data distribution by the German Climate Computing Center (DKRZ).

Further Information on ERA Data#

More detailed information on the data can be found in:

the README files in /pool/data/ERA5/READMEs
The ECMWF ERA5 data documentation provides detailed explanations on ERA5 parameters, space and time properties and many more topics.

Other ERA Products#

In addition to holding ERA5 data on Levante /pool/data directory, DKRZ distributes the following ERA datasets via the WDCC data repository:

ERA5 Parameter Codes#

Table: ERA5 parameter codes used in /pool/data/ERA5 and their description

(PARAM: Parameter ID used by DKRZ; Name: Variable name with hyperlink to detailed variable description; shortName: Variable short name as defined by WMO GRIB; Units: Units; GribTable: WMO GRIB table ID; GribParamID: WMO GRIB parameter ID; TimeRepr: Time representation of hourly data (INST=instantaneous, ACC=accumulated, INV=time-invariant, MINMAX=time minimum or maximum), for PARAM 207, ECMWF only produces monthly mean data (MMEAN); LEVELTYPEID: Data provided by DKRZ (by LEVEL TYPEID referring to E5, E1, ET; EL data are marked with EL)

PARAM	Name	ShortName	Units	GribTable	GribParamID	TimeRepr	LEVELTYPEID
008	Surface runoff	sro	m	128	8	ACC	sf12,ELsf12
026	Lake cover	cl	(0 - 1)	128	26	INV	sf00
027	Low vegetation cover	cvl	(0 - 1)	128	27	INV	sf00
028	High vegetation cover	cvh	(0 - 1)	128	28	INV	sf00
029	Type of low vegetation	tvl	~	128	29	INV	sf00
030	Type of high vegetation	tvh	~	128	30	INV	sf00
031	Sea ice area fraction	ci	(0 - 1)	128	31	INST	sf00
032	Snow albedo	asn	(0 - 1)	128	32	INST	sf00,ELsf00
033	Snow density	rsn	kg m-3	128	33	INST	sf00,ELsf00
034	Sea surface temperature	sst	K	128	34	INST	sf00,sf12
035	Ice temperature layer 1	istl1	K	128	35	INST	sf00
036	Ice temperature layer 2	istl2	K	128	36	INST	sf00
037	Ice temperature layer 3	istl3	K	128	37	INST	sf00
038	Ice temperature layer 4	istl4	K	128	38	INST	sf00
039	Volumetric soil water layer 1	swvl1	m3 m-3	128	39	INST	sf00,ELsf00
040	Volumetric soil water layer 2	swvl2	m3 m-3	128	40	INST	sf00,ELsf00
041	Volumetric soil water layer 3	swvl3	m3 m-3	128	41	INST	sf00,ELsf00
042	Volumetric soil water layer 4	swvl4	m3 m-3	128	42	INST	sf00,ELsf00
043	Soil type	slt	~	128	43	INV	sf00
044	Snow evaporation	es	m of water equivalent	128	44	ACC	sf12,ELsf12
045	Snowmelt	smlt	m of water equivalent	128	45	ACC	sf12,ELsf12
049	10 metre wind gust since previous post-processing	10fg	m s-1	128	49	MINMAX	sf12
050	Large-scale precipitation fraction	lspf	s	128	50	ACC	sf12
057	Downward UV radiation at the surface	uvb	J m-2	128	57	ACC	sf12
059	Convective available potential energy	cape	J kg-1	128	59	INST	sf12
060	Potential vorticity	pv	K m2 kg-1 s-1	128	60	INST	ml00
066	Leaf area index, low vegetation	lai_lv	m2 m-2	128	66	INST	sf12,ELsf12
067	Leaf area index, high vegetation	lai_hv	m2 m-2	128	67	INST	sf12,ELsf12
074	Standard deviation of filtered subgrid orography	sdfor	m	128	74	INV	sf00
075	Specific rain water content	crwc	kg kg-1	128	75	INST	pl00,ml00
076	Specific snow water content	cswc	kg kg-1	128	76	INST	pl00,ml00
077	Eta-coordinate vertical velocity	etadot	s-1	128	77	INST	pl00
078	Total column cloud liquid water	tclw	kg m-2	128	78	INST	sf12
079	Total column cloud ice water	tciw	kg m-2	128	79	INST	sf12
129	Geopotential	z	m2 s-2	128	129	INV/INST	sf00,pl00,ml00
130	Temperature	t	K	128	130	INST	pl00,ml00
131	U component of wind	u	m s-1	128	131	INST	pl00,ml00
132	V component of wind	v	m s-1	128	132	INST	pl00,ml00
133	Specific humidity	q	kg kg-1	128	133	INST	pl00,ml00
134	Surface pressure	sp	Pa	128	134	INST	sf00,ELsf12
135	Vertical velocity	w	Pa s-1	128	135	INST	pl00,ml00
136	Total column water	tcw	kg m-2	128	136	INST	sf00
137	Total column vertically-integrated water vapour	tcwv	kg m-2	128	137	INST	sf00,sf12
138	Vorticity (relative)	vo	s-1	128	138	INST	pl00,ml00
139	Soil temperature level 1	stl1	K	128	139	INST	sf00,ELsf00
141	Snow depth	sd	m of water equivalent	128	141	INST	sf00,ELsf00
142	Large-scale precipitation	lsp	m	128	142	ACC	sf12
143	Convective precipitation	cp	m	128	143	ACC	sf12
144	Snowfall	sf	m of water equivalent	128	144	ACC	sf12,ELsf12
145	Boundary layer dissipation	bld	J m-2	128	145	ACC	sf12
146	Surface sensible heat flux	sshf	J m-2	128	146	ACC	sf12,ELsf12
147	Surface latent heat flux	slhf	J m-2	128	147	ACC	sf12,ELsf12
151	Mean sea level pressure	msl	Pa	128	151	INST	sf00
152	Logarithm of surface pressure	lnsp	~	128	152	INST	pl00
155	Divergence	d	s-1	128	155	INST	pl00,ml00
157	Relative humidity	r	%	128	157	INST	ml00
159	Boundary layer height	blh	m	128	159	INST	sf00,sf12
160	Standard deviation of orography	sdor	m	128	160	INV	sf00
161	Anisotropy of sub-gridscale orography	isor	~	128	161	INV	sf00
162	Angle of sub-gridscale orography	anor	radians	128	162	INV	sf00
163	Slope of sub-gridscale orography	slor	~	128	163	INV	sf00
164	Total cloud cover	tcc	(0 - 1)	128	164	INST	sf00,sf12
165	10 metre U wind component	10u	m s-1	128	165	INST	sf00,ELsf12
166	10 metre V wind component	10v	m s-1	128	166	INST	sf00,ELsf12
167	2 metre temperature	2t	K	128	167	INST	sf00,ELsf12
168	2 metre dewpoint temperature	2d	K	128	168	INST	sf00,ELsf12
169	Surface solar radiation downwards	ssrd	J m-2	128	169	ACC	sf12,ELsf12
170	Soil temperature level 2	stl2	K	128	170	INST	sf00,ELsf00
172	Land-sea mask	lsm	(0 - 1)	128	172	INV	sf00
175	Surface thermal radiation downwards	strd	J m-2	128	175	ACC	sf12,ELsf12
176	Surface net solar radiation	ssr	J m-2	128	176	ACC	sf12,ELsf12
177	Surface net thermal radiation	str	J m-2	128	177	ACC	sf12,ELsf12
178	Top net solar radiation	tsr	J m-2	128	178	ACC	sf12
179	Top net thermal radiation	ttr	J m-2	128	179	ACC	sf12
180	Eastward turbulent surface stress	ewss	N m-2 s	128	180	ACC	sf12
181	Northward turbulent surface stress	nsss	N m-2 s	128	181	ACC	sf12
182	Evaporation	e	m of water equivalent	128	182	ACC	sf12,ELsf12
183	Soil temperature level 3	stl3	K	128	183	INST	sf00,ELsf00
186	Low cloud cover	lcc	(0 - 1)	128	186	INST	sf00
187	Medium cloud cover	mcc	(0 - 1)	128	187	INST	sf00
188	High cloud cover	hcc	(0 - 1)	128	188	INST	sf00
195	Eastward gravity wave surface stress	lgws	N m-2 s	128	195	ACC	sf12
196	Northward gravity wave surface stress	mgws	N m-2 s	128	196	ACC	sf12
197	Gravity wave dissipation	gwd	J m-2	128	197	ACC	sf12
198	Skin reservoir content	src	m of water equivalent	128	198	INST	sf00,ELsf00
201	Maximum temperature at 2 metres since previous post-processing	mx2t	K	128	201	MINMAX	sf12
202	Minimum temperature at 2 metres since previous post-processing	mn2t	K	128	202	MINMAX	sf12
203	Ozone mass mixing ratio	o3	kg kg-1	128	203	INST	pl00,ml00
205	Runoff	ro	m	128	205	ACC	sf12,ELsf12
206	Total column ozone	tco3	kg m-2	128	206	INST	sf00
207	10 metre wind speed	10si	m s-1	128	207	MMEAN
208	Top net solar radiation, clear sky	tsrc	J m-2	128	208	ACC	sf12
209	Top net thermal radiation, clear sky	ttrc	J m-2	128	209	ACC	sf12
210	Surface net solar radiation, clear sky	ssrc	J m-2	128	210	ACC	sf12
211	Surface net thermal radiation, clear sky	strc	J m-2	128	211	ACC	sf12
212	TOA incident solar radiation	tisr	J m-2	128	212	ACC	sf12
228	Total precipitation	tp	m	128	228	ACC	sf12,ELsf12
232	Instantaneous moisture flux	ie	kg m-2 s-1	128	232	INST	sf00
235	Skin temperature	skt	K	128	235	INST	sf00,ELsf00
236	Soil temperature level 4	stl4	K	128	236	INST	sf00,ELsf00
238	Temperature of snow layer	tsn	K	128	238	INST	sf00,ELsf00
239	Convective snowfall	csf	m of water equivalent	128	239	ACC	sf12
240	Large-scale snowfall	lsf	m of water equivalent	128	240	ACC	sf12
243	Forecast albedo	fal	(0 - 1)	128	243	INST	sf00,sf12,ELsf12
244	Forecast surface roughness	fsr	m	128	244	INST	sf00,sf12
245	Forecast logarithm of surface roughness for heat	flsr	~	128	245	INST	sf00,sf12
246	Specific cloud liquid water content	clwc	kg kg-1	128	246	INST	pl00,ml00
247	Specific cloud ice water content	ciwc	kg kg-1	128	247	INST	pl00,ml00
248	Fraction of cloud cover	cc	(0 - 1)	128	248	INST	pl00,ml00
259	Friction velocity	zust	m s-1	228	3	INST	sf12
263	Lake total depth	dl	m	228	7	INV	sf00
277	Total sky direct solar radiation at surface	fdir	J m-2	228	21	ACC	sf12
278	Clear-sky direct solar radiation at surface	cdir	J m-2	228	22	ACC	sf12
279	Cloud base height	cbh	m	228	23	INST	sf12
285	Instantaneous 10 metre wind gust	i10fg	m s-1	228	29	INST	sf12
345	Total column rain water	tcrw	kg m-2	228	89	INST	sf12
346	Total column snow water	tcsw	kg m-2	228	90	INST	sf12
385	Surface solar radiation downward clear-sky	ssrdc	J m-2	228	129	ACC	sf12
386	Surface thermal radiation downward clear-sky	strdc	J m-2	228	130	ACC	sf12
474	Convective rain rate	crr	kg m-2 s-1	228	218	INST	sf12
475	Large scale rain rate	lsrr	kg m-2 s-1	228	219	INST	sf12
476	Convective snowfall rate water equivalent	csfr	kg m-2 s-1	228	220	INST	sf12
477	Large scale snowfall rate water equivalent	lssfr	kg m-2 s-1	228	221	INST	sf12
502	100 metre U wind component	100u	m s-1	228	246	INST	sf00
503	100 metre V wind component	100v	m s-1	228	247	INST	sf00
507	Potential evaporation	pev	m	228	251	ACC	sf12,ELsf12
550	Snow cover	snowc	%	260	38	INST	ELsf12

last updated 2024-07-23 by A. Heil