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Level 1b Cloudnet product:

KNMI RACMO model

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Summary

Designation
racmo
Level
1b
Model contact
Product maintainer

Conversion software written by Andrew Openshaw
Institute
Royal Dutch Meteorological Institute (KNMI) and University of Reading
Description
Single-site output from the KNMI Regional Atmospheric Climate Model (RACMO), including radar propagation parameters calculated from the model variables.
Documentation
NetCDF data [PDF]
Conversion software [PDF]
Relevant publication(s)
None
Quicklooks
http://www.met.rdg.ac.uk/radar/cloudnet/quicklooks/
Suggested acknowledgement
We acknowledge the Cloudnet project (European Union contract EVK2-2000-00611) for providing the KNMI RACMO model data, which was produced by the Royal Dutch Meteorological Institute (KNMI) and University of Reading.

Dataset contents

Sample NetCDF file: 20040316_chilbolton_racmo.nc
Header of sample NetCDF file in ASCII: 20040316_chilbolton_racmo.cdl

The following is a description of the variables in this product, produced automatically from the metadata in the sample file (using the nc2html unix utility):

Dataset title: KNMI RACMO single-site output over Chilbolton

    Institution:KNMI

Dimensions and coordinate variables

time
Hours UTC
    Units:hours since 2004-03-16 00:00:00 +00:00
    Type:single-precision floating-point vector
level
Model level
    Units:dimensionless
    Type:signed two-byte integer vector
frequency
Microwave frequency
    Units:GHz
    Type:single-precision floating-point vector

Variables

latitude
Latitude of model gridpoint
    Units:degrees_N
    Type:single-precision floating-point scalar
longitude
Longitude of model gridpoint
    Units:degrees_E
    Type:single-precision floating-point scalar
horizontal_resolution
Horizontal resolution of model
    Units:km
    Type:single-precision floating-point scalar
forecast_time(time)
Time since initialization of forecast

    For each profile in the file this variable contains the time elapsed since the initialization time of the forecast from which it was taken. Note that the profiles in this file may be taken from more than one forecast.

    Units:hours
    Type:single-precision floating-point vector
pressure(time, level)
Pressure
    Units:Pa
    Type:single-precision floating-point array
uwind(time, level)
Zonal wind
    Units:m s-1
    Type:single-precision floating-point array
vwind(time, level)
Meridional wind
    Units:m s-1
    Type:single-precision floating-point array
omega(time, level)
Vertical wind in pressure coordinates
    Units:Pa s-1
    Type:single-precision floating-point array
temperature(time, level)
Temperature
    Units:K
    Type:single-precision floating-point array
q(time, level)
Specific humidity
    Units:dimensionless
    Type:single-precision floating-point array
ql(time, level)
Gridbox-mean liquid water mixing ratio
    Units:dimensionless
    Type:single-precision floating-point array
qi(time, level)
Gridbox-mean ice water mixing ratio
    Units:dimensionless
    Type:single-precision floating-point array
cloud_fraction(time, level)
Cloud fraction
    Units:dimensionless
    Type:single-precision floating-point array
sfc_pressure(time)
Surface pressure
    Units:Pa
    Type:single-precision floating-point vector
sfc_down_lat_heat_flx(time)
Latent heat flux
    Units:W m-2
    Type:single-precision floating-point vector
sfc_down_sens_heat_flx(time)
Sensible heat flux
    Units:W m-2
    Type:single-precision floating-point vector
sfc_down_sw(time)
Surface downwelling shortwave flux
    Units:W m-2
    Type:single-precision floating-point vector
sfc_down_lw(time)
Surface downwelling longwave flux
    Units:W m-2
    Type:single-precision floating-point vector
sfc_conv_rain(time)
Convective rainfall amount
    Units:kg m-2
    Type:single-precision floating-point vector
sfc_ls_rain(time)
Large-scale rainfall amount
    Units:kg m-2
    Type:single-precision floating-point vector
sfc_skin_temp(time)
Skin temperature
    Units:K
    Type:single-precision floating-point vector
sfc_ls_precip_fraction(time)
Large-scale precipitation fraction
    Units:dimensionless
    Type:single-precision floating-point vector
sfc_cloud_fraction(time)
Surface total cloud fraction
    Units:dimensionless
    Type:single-precision floating-point vector
height(time, level)
Height above ground

    The heights have been calculated using pressure, temperature and specific humidity.

    Units:m
    Type:single-precision floating-point array
rh(time, level)
Relative humidity

    With respect to liquid above 0 degrees C and with respect to ice below 0 degrees C. Calculated using Goff-Gratch formula.

    Units:dimensionless
    Type:single-precision floating-point array
wwind(time, level)
Vertical wind

    The vertical wind has been calculated from omega (Pa s-1), height and pressure using: w=omega*dz/dp

    Units:m s-1
    Type:single-precision floating-point array
gas_atten(frequency, time, level)
Two-way attenuation from the ground due to atmospheric gases
    Units:dB
    Type:single-precision floating-point array
specific_gas_atten(frequency, time, level)
Specific one-way attenuation due to atmospheric gases
    Units:dB km-1
    Type:single-precision floating-point array
specific_saturated_gas_atten(frequency, time, level)
Specific one-way attenuation due to atmospheric gases for saturated air (saturated with respect to ice below 0 degrees C)
    Units:dB km-1
    Type:single-precision floating-point array
specific_dry_gas_atten(frequency, time, level)
Specific one-way attenuation due to atmospheric gases for dry air (no water vapour)
    Units:dB km-1
    Type:single-precision floating-point array
K2(frequency, time, level)
Dielectric parameter (|K|^2) of liquid water
    Units:dB km-1
    Type:single-precision floating-point array
specific_liquid_atten(frequency, time, level)
Specific one-way attenuation due to liquid water, per unit liquid water content
    Units:(dB km-1)/(g m-3)
    Type:single-precision floating-point array
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