ERA5 Reanalysis Model Level Data

Surface or single level data are also available, containing 2D parameters such as precipitation, 2 meter temperature, top of atmosphere radiation and vertical integrals over the entire atmosphere. The IFS is coupled to a soil model, the parameters of which are also designated as surface parameters, and an ocean wave model. Generally, the data is available at an hourly frequency and consists of analyses and short (12 hour) forecasts, initialized twice daily from analyses at 06 and 18 UTC.

Most analyses parameters are also available from the forecasts. There are a number of forecast parameters, for example mean rates and accumulations, that are not available from the analyses. Improvements to ERA5, compared to ERA-Interim, include use of HadISST.2, reprocessed ECMWF climate data records (CDR), and implementation of RTTOV11 radiative transfer.

Variational bias corrections have not only been applied to satellite radiances, but also ozone retrievals, aircraft observations, surface pressure, and radiosonde profiles. Please note: DECS is producing a CF 1.6 compliant netCDF-4/HDF5 version of ERA5 for the CISL RDA at NCAR. The netCDF-4/HDF5 version is the default RDA ERA5 online data format.