National Centers for Environment Prediction Global Forecast System (NCEPGFS)
Information updated on July 30, 2009, 2:30 pm GMT
General Data Description
Since 2001, NCEP NWP forecasts (global spectral model) have been processed by Hualu Pan at NCEP/EMC and archived by Stephen Krueger at University of Utah to produce station-like column outputs at locations corresponding to the ARM and other field campaign sites. All data from Jan 2001 up to now have been re-processed by Fanglin Yang for easy access, for comparison with ARM observations, and for driving single column models and cloud resolving models.The archived forecasts include two runs, initialized at 00Z and 12Z, respectively, and each extends up to 48 hours. Because the vertical layer of the NWP model has been changing, the archived vertical profiles on model sigma layers have been projected on both standard isobaric layers ( 1000-25 hPa, at 25-hPa resolution) and standard heights (0-20 km, 250-m resolution). Outputs on original sigma levels are also provided.
The 48-hour forecasts are saved at a three-hour interval, and saved as past 3-hour means for fluxes (radiation, sensible and latent flux, wind stress), as accumulations for snow and rainfall, and as instantaneous values for state and tendency variables (temp and wind etc).
NCEP NWP Model Configuration
before and on 00Z29oct2002 | T170L42 (~75km resolution 2-layer soil model) |
12Z29oct2002 to 00Z31may2005 | T254L64 (~55km resolution, 2-layer soil model) |
since 12Z31may2005 | T382L64 (~33km resolution, 4-layer new soil model) |
Note the following from Fanglin Yang:
"To simplify the coding, I have set the model forecasts as if missing for the following times: 12Z29oct2002, 00Z30oct2002, 12Z30oct2002, 00Z31oct2002, 12Z31oct2002, and pretended that the T170L42 model was still used, so that the sigma-layer profiles for oct 2002 could all be written as 42 layers. The same trick was applied for output in May 2005 (12Z30may2005 forecast was set as missing)."
Data Stream Names
- ncepgfsatkflx - NCEP GFS: flux variables at Atqasuk
netCDF File Header Description (Data Object Design File) - ncepgfsatkpprof - NCEP GFS: vertical profiles of met quantities at standard pressures, at Atqasuk
netCDF File Header Description (Data Object Design File) - ncepgfsatksfc - NCEP GFS: surface variables at Atqasuk
netCDF File Header Description (Data Object Design File) - ncepgfsatksprof - NCEP GFS: vertical profiles of met quantities at sigma layers, at Atqasuk
netCDF File Header Description (Data Object Design File) - ncepgfsatkzprof - NCEP GFS: vertical profiles of met quantities at standard heights, at Atqasuk
netCDF File Header Description (Data Object Design File) - ncepgfsbrwflx - NCEP GFS: flux variables at Barrow
netCDF File Header Description (Data Object Design File) - ncepgfsbrwpprof - NCEP GFS: vertical profiles of met quantities at standard pressures, at Barrow
netCDF File Header Description (Data Object Design File) - ncepgfsbrwsfc - NCEP GFS: surface variables at Barrow
netCDF File Header Description (Data Object Design File) - ncepgfsbrwsprof - NCEP GFS: vertical profiles of met quantities at sigma layers, at Barrow
netCDF File Header Description (Data Object Design File) - ncepgfsbrwzprof - NCEP GFS: vertical profiles of met quantities at standard heights, at Barrow
netCDF File Header Description (Data Object Design File) - ncepgfsdarflx - NCEP GFS: flux variables at Darwin
netCDF File Header Description (Data Object Design File) - ncepgfsdarpprof - NCEP GFS: vertical profiles of met quantities at standard pressures, at Darwin
netCDF File Header Description (Data Object Design File) - ncepgfsdarsfc - NCEP GFS: surface variables at Darwin
netCDF File Header Description (Data Object Design File) - ncepgfsdarsprof - NCEP GFS: vertical profiles of met quantities at sigma layers, at Darwin
netCDF File Header Description (Data Object Design File) - ncepgfsdarzprof - NCEP GFS: vertical profiles of met quantities at standard heights, at Darwin
netCDF File Header Description (Data Object Design File) - ncepgfsflx - NCEP GFS: flux variables
netCDF File Header Description (Data Object Design File) - ncepgfsmanflx - NCEP GFS: flux variables at Manus
netCDF File Header Description (Data Object Design File) - ncepgfsmanpprof - NCEP GFS: vertical profiles of met quantities at standard pressures, at Manus
netCDF File Header Description (Data Object Design File) - ncepgfsmansfc - NCEP GFS: surface variables at Manus
netCDF File Header Description (Data Object Design File) - ncepgfsmansprof - NCEP GFS: vertical profiles of met quantities at sigma layers, at Manus
netCDF File Header Description (Data Object Design File) - ncepgfsmanzprof - NCEP GFS: vertical profiles of met quantities at standard heights, at Manus
netCDF File Header Description (Data Object Design File) - ncepgfsnauflx - NCEP GFS: surface variables at Nauru
netCDF File Header Description (Data Object Design File) - ncepgfsnaupprof - NCEP GFS: vertical profiles of met quantities at standard pressures, at Nauru
netCDF File Header Description (Data Object Design File) - ncepgfsnausfc - NCEP GFS: flux variables at Nauru
netCDF File Header Description (Data Object Design File) - ncepgfsnausprof - NCEP GFS: vertical profiles of met quantities at sigma layers, at Nauru
netCDF File Header Description (Data Object Design File) - ncepgfsnauzprof - NCEP GFS: vertical profiles of met quantities at standard heights, at Nauru
netCDF File Header Description (Data Object Design File) - ncepgfspprof - NCEP GFS: vertical profiles of met quantities at standard pressures
netCDF File Header Description (Data Object Design File) - ncepgfssfc - NCEP GFS: surface variables
netCDF File Header Description (Data Object Design File) - ncepgfssprof - NCEP GFS: vertical profiles of met quantities at sigma layers
netCDF File Header Description (Data Object Design File) - ncepgfszprof - NCEP GFS: vertical profiles of met quantities at standard heights
netCDF File Header Description (Data Object Design File)
Measurement Description
Surface variables (25 variables, for T170 and T254 with 2-layer soil model, before and on 05-31-2005)
netCDF varname | description |
pressure | model surface pressure for the station ( 0.001*Pa) |
pressure_tend | surface pressure tendency (Pa/sec) |
temp | model surface temperature (K) |
soil_moist1 | first layer soil volumetric water content, liquid+ice |
soil_moist2 | second layer soil volumetric water content, liquid+ice |
snowdepth | water equivalent snow depth (cm) |
soil_temp1 | soil temperature, first layer (K) |
soil_temp2 | soil temperature, second layer (K) |
soil_temp3 | soil temperature, deep layer, fixed for time (K) |
rough_len | model surface roughness length (cm) |
conv_a | model convective cloud fraction () |
conv_bpres | model convective cloud base pressure (1000*Pa) |
conv_tpres | model convective cloud top pressure (1000*Pa) |
albedo1 | surface albedo, UV+PAR, direct beam |
albedo2 | surface albedo, UV+PAR, diffuse beam |
albedo3 | surface albedo, NIR, direct beam |
albedo4 | surface albedo, NIR, diffuse beam |
sea_land_ice | sea(0) land(1) and ice(2) flag |
veg_frac | model vegetation fraction () |
f10m | model 10-meter to sigma level1 similarity profile ratio () |
canopy_water | canopy water content (m) |
veg_type | vegetation type 1-13 |
soil_type | soil type 1-9 () |
veg_frac1 | vegetation fraction for surface albedo with strong zenith-angle dependence |
veg_frac2 | vegetation fraction for surface albedo with weak zenith-angle dependence |
Surface variables (46 variables, for T382 with 4-layer soil model, from 06-01-2005 and on)
netCDF varname | description |
pressure | model surface pressure for the station ( 0.001*Pa) |
pressure_tend | surface pressure tendency (Pa/sec) |
temp | model surface temperature (K) |
soil_moist1 | first layer soil volumetric water content, liquid+ice |
soil_moist2 | second layer soil volumetric water content, liquid+ice | soil_moist3 | third layer soil volumetric water content, liquid+ice |
soil_moist4 | fourth layer soil volumetric water content, liquid+ice |
snowdepth | water equivalent snow depth (cm) |
soil_temp1 | soil temperature, first layer (K) |
soil_temp2 | soil temperature, second layer (K) |
soil_temp3 | soil temperature, third layer (K) |
soil_temp4 | soil temperature, fourth layer (K) |
soil_temp5 | soil temperature, deep layer, fixed for time (K) |
rough_len | model surface roughness length (cm) |
conv_a | model convective cloud fraction () |
conv_bpres | model convective cloud base pressure (1000*Pa) |
conv_tpres | model convective cloud top pressure (1000*Pa) |
albedo1 | surface albedo, UV+PAR, direct beam |
albedo2 | surface albedo, UV+PAR, diffuse beam |
albedo3 | surface albedo, NIR, direct beam |
albedo4 | surface albedo, NIR, diffuse beam |
sea_land_ice | sea(0) land(1) and ice(2) flag |
veg_frac | model vegetation fraction () |
f10m | model 10-meter to sigma level1 similarity profile ratio () |
canopy_water | canopy water content) (m) |
veg_type | vegetation type 1-13 |
soil_type | soil type 1-9 () |
veg_frac1 | vegetation fraction for surface albedo with strong zenith-angle dependence |
veg_frac2 | vegetation fraction for surface albedo with weak zenith-angle dependence |
ustar | frictional speed (m/s) |
fm | Fm for computing surface momentum flux |
fh | Fh for computing surface momentum flux |
ice_thickness | sea ice thickness (m) |
ice_fraction | sea ice fraction |
precip_cts | precipitation at model current time step (m) |
snow_rain | snow-rain flag (1=snow, 0=rain) |
snowdepth_ol | actual snow depth over land (mm) |
slc1 | first layer soil volumetric water content, liquid |
slc2 | second layer soil volumetric water content, liquid |
slc3 | third layer soil volumetric water content, liquid |
slc4 | fourth layer soil volumetric water content, liquid |
shd_min | observed minimum vegetation cover fraction |
shd_max | observed maximum vegetation cover fraction |
slope | slope type (integer 1-9) |
snow_albedo | maximum snow albedo |
orography | orography (m) |
!------------------------------------------------------------------------ ! The 9 Soil Types are: ! 1 ... loamy sand (coarse) ! 2 ... silty clay loam (medium) ! 3 ... light clay (fine) ! 4 ... sandy loam (coarse-medium) ! 5 ... sandy clay (coarse-fine) ! 6 ... clay loam (medium-fine) ! 7 ... sandy clay loam (coarse-med-fine) ! 8 ... loam (organic) ! 9 ... ice (use loamy sand property) !------------------------------------------------------------------------ ! The 13 vegetation types are: ! 1 ... broadleave-evergreen trees (tropical forest) ! 2 ... broadleave-deciduous trees ! 3 ... broadleave and needle leave trees (mixed forest) ! 4 ... needleleave-evergreen trees ! 5 ... needleleave-deciduous trees (larch) ! 6 ... broadleave trees with groundcover (savanna) ! 7 ... groundcover only (perenial) ! 8 ... broadleave shrubs with perenial groundcover ! 9 ... broadleave shrubs with bare soil ! 10 ... dwarf trees and shrubs with ground cover (trunda) ! 11 ... bare soil ! 12 ... cultivations (use parameters from type 7) ! 13 ... glacial !------------------------------------------------------------------------ ! The 9 Slope types after Zobler (1986) ! a prescribed coefficient for each slope type ranges between 0.1-1.0. ! It modifies the drainage out the bottom of the last ! soil layer. A larger surface slope implies larger drainage. !SLOPE CLASS PERCENT SLOPE ! 1 0-8 ! 2 8-30 ! 3 > 30 ! 4 0-30 ! 5 0-8 & > 30 ! 6 8-30 & > 30 ! 7 0-8, 8-30, > 30 ! 8 GLACIAL ICE ! 9 OCEAN/SEA !------------------------------------------------------------------------
[site]ncepgfs[fac]flxX1.c1
Flux type variables (29 variables)
netCDF varname | description |
land_sea | land(0) sea(1) mask, instantaneous |
u_stress | stress in zonal direction (N/m**2), 3-hr mean |
v_stress | stress in meridional direction) (N/m**2), 3-hr mean |
sens_heat | sensible heat flux (W/m**2), 3-hr mean |
lat_heat | latent heat flux (W/m**2), 3-hr mean |
lw_down_surf | downward long wave flux at surface (W/M**2), 3-hr mean |
lw_up_surf | upward long wave flux at surface (W/M**2), 3-hr mean |
lw_up_toa | upward long wave flux at toa (W/M**2), 3-hr mean |
sw_up_toa | upward short wave flux at toa (W/M**2), 3-hr mean |
sw_up_surf | upward short wave flux at surface (W/M**2), 3-hr mean |
sw_down_surf | downward short wave flux at surface (W/M**2), 3-hr mean |
high_a | high cloud fraction (), instantaneous |
mid_a | mid cloud fraction (), instantaneous |
low_a | low cloud fraction (), instantaneous |
precip | precipitation accumulated between outputs (kg/m**2), 3-hr accumulation |
conv_precip | conv precipitation accumulated between outputs (kg/m**2), 3-hr accumulation |
ground_hflx | ground heat flux (W/m**2) |
u10_wind | model derived 10-meter zonal wind (m/s), instantaneous |
v10_wind | model derived 10-meter meridional wind (m/s), instantaneous |
temp2 | model derived 2-meter temperature (K), instantaneous |
spec_h2 | model derived 2-meter specific humidity (g/g), instantaneous |
pres1 | surface pressure again (Pa), instantaneous |
temp_max | maximum temp between outputs (K), instantaneous |
temp_min | minimum temp between outputs (K), instantaneous |
u_grw | zonal stress due to gravity wave drag (W/m**2), 3-hr mean |
v_grw | meridional stress due to gravity wave drag (W/m**2), 3-hr mean |
hpbl | model diagnosed planetary boundary layer depth (m), instantaneous |
albedo | effective model albedo..derived, instantaneous |
pbl_a | pbl cloud fraction, instantaneous |
[site]ncepgfs[fac]sprofX1.c1
Vertical profiles on model sigma layers (12 variables)
netCDF varname | description |
pressure | pressure (0.001*Pa) |
u_wind | zonal wind velocity (m/s) |
v_wind | model meridional wind velocity (m/s) |
temp | temperature (K) |
spec_humidity | specific humidity (g/g) |
rh | relative humidity |
vert_vel | vertical velocity (0.001*Pa/sec) |
temp_tend | temperature tendency by advection (K/sec) |
wv_tend | water vapor tendency by advection (g/g/sec) |
cloud_water | cloud water+ice concentration (g/g) |
cloud_water_tend | cloud water+ice tendency by advection (g/g/sec) |
cloud_fraction | cloud fraction |
[site]ncepgfs[fac]pprofX1.c1 and [site]ncepgfs[fac]zprofX1.c1
Vertical profiles on standard pressures and heights (11 variables)
netCDF varname | NCEP description |
u_wind | zonal wind velocity (m/s) |
v_wind | model meridional wind velocity (m/s) |
temp | temperature (K) |
spec_humidity | specific humidity (g/g) |
rh | relative humidity |
vert_vel | vertical velocity (0.001*Pa/sec) |
temp_tend | temperature tendency by advection (K/sec) |
wv_tend | water vapor tendency by advection) (g/g/sec) |
cloud_water | cloud water+ice concentration (g/g) |
cloud_water_tend | cloud water+ice tendency by advection (g/g/sec) |
cloud_fraction | cloud fraction |
Temporal Coverage
GEC | available since 12/12/2005 |
GRW | available since 04/01/2009 |
HFE | available from 05/01/2008 to 12/31/2008 |
FKB | available from 03/10/2007 to 12/31/2007 |
NIM | available from 04/01/2005 to 12/31/2006 |
NSA Barrow | available since 01/01/2001 |
NSA Atqasuk | available since 12/01/2004 |
PYE | available from 04/01/2005 to 03/31/2006 |
SGP | available since 01/01/2001 |
TWP Darwin | available since 09/01/2002 |
TWP Manus | available since 01/01/2001 |
TWP Nauru | available since 01/01/2001 |
Area Covered
For NSA Atqasuk, NSA Barrow, SGP, GRW and all the TWP sites, the area covered is a single grid cell of the model. There are two grid points for PYE and nine (from 04/01/2005 to 11/30/2005) or twenty five (since 12/01/2005) grid points for NIM. There are six grid points for FKB and four grid points for China. The latitudes and longitudes are shown below.
GEC | Full GFS Domain |
GRW | (39N, 28E) Graciosa Island, Azores |
HFE | (31.37N, 120.25E) Taihu |
HFE | (39.69N, 117E) Xianghe |
HFE | (32.49N, 116.75E) Shouxian |
HFE | (39.01N, 100.69E) Zhanghe |
FKB | (48.55N, 8.41E) Heselbach |
FKB | (48.64N, 8.07E) Achern |
FKB | (48.64N, 8.81E) Deckenpfronn |
FKB | (48.60N, 8.20E) Hornisgrinde |
FKB | (48.44N, 7.55E) Voges Mountains |
FKB | (48.74N, 7.61E) Waltenheim |
NIM | (12.80N, 1.27E) since 04/01/2005 |
NIM | (12.80N, 2.27E) since 04/01/2005 |
NIM | (12.80N, 3.27E) since 04/01/2005 |
NIM | (13.80N, 1.27E) since 04/01/2005 |
NIM | (13.80N, 2.27E) since 04/01/2005 |
NIM | (13.80N, 3.27E) since 04/01/2005 |
NIM | (14.80N, 1.27E) since 04/01/2005 |
NIM | (14.80N, 2.27E) since 04/01/2005 |
NIM | (14.80N, 3.27E) since 04/01/2005 |
NIM | (11.80N, 0.27E) since 12/01/2005 |
NIM | (11.80N, 1.27E) since 12/01/2005 |
NIM | (11.80N, 2.27E) since 12/01/2005 |
NIM | (11.80N, 3.27E) since 12/01/2005 |
NIM | (11.80N, 4.27E) since 12/01/2005 |
NIM | (12.80N, 0.27E) since 12/01/2005 |
NIM | (12.80N, 4.27E) since 12/01/2005 |
NIM | (13.80N, 0.27E) since 12/01/2005 |
NIM | (13.80N, 4.27E) since 12/01/2005 |
NIM | (14.80N, 0.27E) since 12/01/2005 |
NIM | (14.80N, 4.27E) since 12/01/2005 |
NIM | (15.80N, 0.27E) since 12/01/2005 |
NIM | (15.80N, 1.27E) since 12/01/2005 |
NIM | (15.80N, 2.27E) since 12/01/2005 |
NIM | (15.80N, 3.27E) since 12/01/2005 |
NIM | (15.80N, 4.27E) since 12/01/2005 |
NSA Barrow | (71.23S, 156.62W) |
NSA Atqasuk | (70.47N, 157.41W) |
PYE | (38.09N, 122.96W) |
PYE | (38.20N, 123.30W) |
SGP CF | (36.61N, 97.49W) |
TWP Darwin | (13.43S, 130.89W) |
TWP Manus | ( 2.06S, 147.43E) |
TWP Nauru | ( 0.52S, 166.92E) |
Data Stream Inputs
grwncepgfsX1.00
hfebncepgfsX1.00
nimncepgfsX1.00
nsancepgfsatkX1.00
nsancepgfsbrwX1.00
pyencepgfsX1.00
sgpncepgfsX1.00
twpncepgfsdarX1.00
twpncepgfsmanX1.00
twpncepgfsnauX1.00
Notification Form Link
Related Links
Contacts
- ARM Mentor fanglin.yang@noaa.gov
- ARM Software Developer Min Liang
hualu.pan@noaa.gov
skrueger@met.utah.edu
Data Source
Data User Notes
Acronyms
EMC | Environmental Modeling Center |
FKB | Black Forest, Germany |
GEC | Global Earth Coverage |
GFS | Global Forecast System |
GRW | Graciosa Island, Azores |
HFE | China |
NCEP | National Centers for Environmental Prediction |
NIM | Niamey, Niger, Africa |
NSA | North Slope of Alaska |
NWP | Numerical Weather Prediction |
PYE | Point Reyes, California |
SGP | Southern Great Plains |
TWP | Tropical Western Pacific |