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WCRP and WWRP THORPEX YOTC (Year of Tropical Convection) Project

ds629.0
| DOI: 10.5065/D6R20ZDD
 

This historical dataset is recommended for ancillary use only and not as a primary research dataset. It has likely been superseded by a newer, improved dataset.

Abstract:

The realistic representation of tropical convection in our global atmospheric models is a long-standing grand challenge for numerical weather forecasts and global climate predictions. Our lack of fundamental knowledge and practical capabilities in this area leaves us disadvantaged in modeling and predicting prominent phenomena of the tropical atmosphere such as the ITCZ, ENSO, TBO, monsoons and their active or break periods, the MJO, subtropical stratus decks, near-surface ocean properties, easterly waves, tropical cyclones, bulk budgets of cloud microphysical quantities, and even the diurnal cycle. Furthermore, tropical weather and climate disturbances strongly influence stratospheric-tropospheric exchange as well as the extratropics, with the later mediated via poleward migration of synoptic systems or through initiating Rossby wave trains that can involve a range of processes and time scales.

To address the challenge of tropical convection, WCRP and WWRP/THORPEX propose a Year of coordinated observing, modeling and forecasting of organized tropical convection and its influences on predictability as a contribution to the United Nations Year of Planet Earth to complement the International Polar Year (IPY). This effort is intended to exploit the vast amounts of existing and emerging observations, the expanding computational resources and the development of new, high-resolution modeling frameworks, with the objective of advancing the characterization, diagnosis, modeling, parameterization and prediction of multiscale convective and dynamic interactions, including the two-way interaction between tropical and extra-tropical weather or climate. This activity and its ultimate success will be based on the coordination of a wide range of ongoing and planned international programmatic activities (e.g., GEWEX/CEOP/GCSS, AMY, EOS, GOOS), strong collaboration among the operational prediction, research laboratory and academic communities, and the construction of a comprehensive data base consisting of satellite data, in-situ data sets and global, high-resolution forecast and simulation model outputs relevant to tropical convection. The proposed timing, focus year approach and integrated framework of this effort is intended to leverage the most benefit from recent investments in Earth Science infrastructure as well as entrain a new generation of young scientists into tackling the outstanding problems in the field of weather and climate prediction.

It is recommended that potential users of YOTC peruse the Related RDA Datasets ds629.1-ds629.6 (please see below) which represent transformed versions of the raw ECMWF YOTC archive (ds629.0) by the Data Support Section. The transformed versions are archived on an N400 1600 by 800 regular Gaussian grid, starting from high resolution reduced Gaussian grids and spectral coefficients. In addition, horizontal winds have been added and computed from spectral vorticity and divergence.

Temporal Range:
2008-05-01 00:00 +0000 to 2010-04-30 18:00 +0000
Usage Restrictions:

Downloading/Accessing data from this dataset implies acceptance of ECMWF's Terms of Use

Variables:
Air Temperature Albedo Albedo Cloud Frequency
Cloud Liquid Water/Ice Convection Dew Point Temperature Evaporation
Geopotential Height Gravity Wave Heat Flux Humidity
Ice Extent Incoming Solar Radiation Longwave Radiation Maximum/Minimum Temperature
Outgoing Longwave Radiation Planetary Boundary Layer Height Precipitation Amount Runoff
Sea Level Pressure Sea Surface Temperature Shortwave Radiation Skin Temperature
Snow Snow Density Snow Depth Snow/Ice Temperature
Snow/Ice Temperature Snow Melt Soil Classification Soil Moisture/Water Content
Soil Temperature Sunshine Surface Pressure Surface Roughness
Surface Winds Temperature Tendency Terrain Elevation Total Precipitable Water
Tropospheric Ozone Upper Air Temperature Upper Level Winds Vegetation Cover
Vegetation Species Vertical Wind Velocity/Speed Vorticity Water Vapor
Wind Stress
Data Types:
Grid
Data Contributors:
ECMWF
European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts
Total Volume:
32.55 TB (Entire dataset) Volume details by dataset product
Data Formats:
Related RDA Datasets:
 - 
ECMWF's Operational Model Analysis, starting in 2011
 - 
WCRP and WWRP THORPEX YOTC (Year of Tropical Convection) Project, Single Parameter 6-Hourly Surface Analysis and Surface Forecast Time Series, Transformed to a Regular 1600 by 800 (N400) Gaussian Grid
 - 
WCRP and WWRP THORPEX YOTC (Year of Tropical Convection) Project, Single Parameter 6-Hourly Pressure Level Analysis Time Series, Transformed to a Regular 1600 by 800 (N400) Gaussian Grid
 - 
WCRP and WWRP THORPEX YOTC (Year of Tropical Convection) Project, Single Parameter 6-Hourly Pressure Level Forecast Time Series, Transformed to a Regular 1600 by 800 (N400) Gaussian Grid
 - 
WCRP and WWRP THORPEX YOTC (Year of Tropical Convection) Project, Single Parameter 6-Hourly Model Level Analysis Time Series, Transformed to a Regular 1600 by 800 (N400) Gaussian Grid
 - 
WCRP and WWRP THORPEX YOTC (Year of Tropical Convection) Project, Single Parameter 3-Hourly Surface Forecast Time Series, Transformed to a Regular 1600 by 800 (N400) Gaussian Grid
 - 
WCRP and WWRP THORPEX YOTC (Year of Tropical Convection) Project, Single Parameter 3-Hourly Pressure Level Forecast Time Series, Transformed to a Regular 1600 by 800 (N400) Gaussian Grid, Dynamical Parameters Only
More Details:
View a more detailed summary of the data, including specific date ranges and locations by parameter
Metadata Record:
Data License:
Citation counts are compiled through information provided by publicly-accessible APIs according to the guidelines developed through the https://makedatacount.org/ project. If journals do not provide citation information to these publicly-accessible services, then this citation information will not be included in RDA citation counts. Additionally citations that include dataset DOIs are the only types included in these counts, so legacy citations without DOIs, references found in publication acknowledgements, or references to a related publication that describes a dataset will not be included in these counts.