Climate Experiment Variables

The table below shows a list of monthly variables generally being made available through the FACTS website. Each experiment may have only some of the variables available. The netCDF files use the CMIP5 variable names and units where possible and include variable attributes to show the original model variable name and units.

	CMIP5 Variables Names and Units			Model Variables Names
Variable Description (long_name attribute)	Variable Name	Units	CF Standard name	ECHAM5	CAM4/CAM5.1	ESRL-GFSv2	AM3	GEOS-5
Surface Upward Latent Heat Flux	hfls	W m-2	surface_upward_latent_heat_flux	ahfl	LHFLX	lhtfl		lhfx
Surface Upward Sensible Heat Flux	hfss	W m-2	surface_upward_sensible_heat_flux	ahfs	SHFLX	shtfl		shfx
Geopotential Height	zg	m	geopotential_height	geopoth	Z3	hgt		h
Precipitation	pr	kg m-2 s-1	precipitation_flux	precip	PRECT	precip	precip	pr
Surface Runoff	mrro	kg m-2 s-1	runoff_flux	runoff	QRUNOFF
Total Soil Moisture Content	mrso	m	soil_moisture_content	ws	MRSO
Sea Level Pressure	psl	Pa	air_pressure_at_sea_level	slp	PSL	prmsl		slp
Snow Water Equivalent	snw	kg m-2	surface_snow_amount	sn	SNOWHLND
Air Temperature	ta	K	air_temperature	st	T	tmp		t
Daily Maximum Near-Surface Air Temperature	tasmax	K	air_temperature	t2max	TREFMXAV
Daily Minimum Near-Surface Air Temperature	tasmin	K	air_temperature	t2min	TREFMNAV
Near-Surface Air Temperature	tas	K	air_temperature	temp2	TREFHT	t2m	t_ref	t2m
Surface Temperature	ts	K	surface_temperature	tsurf	TS
Eastward Wind	ua	m s-1	eastward_wind	u	U	ugrd		u
Northward Wind	va	m s-1	northward_wind	v	V	vgrd		v

Coordinate Variables

	CMIP5 Variables and Units			Model Variables
Variable Description (long_name attribute)	Variable Name	Units	CF Standard name	ECHAM5	CAM4/CAM5.1	ESRL-GFSv2	AM3	GEOS-5
time	time	days since ?	time	time	time	time	time	time
latitude	lat	degrees_north	latitude	lat	lat	lat	grid_yt	lat
longitude	lon	degrees_east	longitude	lon	lon	lon	grid_xt	lon
pressure	plev	Pa	air_pressure	lev	level	lev		lev