PD_ERA_REF_ANTARC: ICON simulation with Antarctic-refined resolution, present-day climate, ERA5 forcing

hdl:21.14106/5c3209774c56f7108214dd6bcff544c8108e6897

Koehler, Raphael; Handorf, Dörthe

Dataset
Summary
This dataset contains post-processed model output from the Antarctic-refined ICON simulation PD_ERA_REF_ANTARC, conducted as part of WP2 of the EU Horizon 2020 project PolarRES. The simulation uses ICON version 2.6.6 in atmosphere-only mode, forced with observed boundary conditions from ERA5 for the period 1985–2014. It employs a variable-resolution configuration with a global base grid (DOM01, R3B5, ~52.6 km) and a refined Antarctic domain (DOM03, R3B7, ~13.2 km) using two-way nesting. The refined domain covers latitudes south of 57°S. An intermediate-resolution nest (DOM02, R3B6, ~26.3 km) covering latitudes south of 50°S is used internally by the model but is not included within the data.

The dataset includes key atmospheric and surface variables at 6-hourly, daily, and monthly time scales. Output is available for both the global domain (DOM01) and the refined Antarctic domain (DOM03). Variables span temperature, wind, pressure, humidity, precipitation, and energy fluxes. Data were interpolated horizontally to a regular 0.5° × 0.5° lat-lon grid for DOM01 and to 0.125° × 0.125° for DOM03. 3D variables were vertically interpolated to 19 pressure levels.

Files are grouped by domain, temporal resolution, and variable type. High-frequency output (6-hourly and daily) is stored in 1-year files. If file size allows, monthly means and sums are generally provided in 30-year files (1985–2014). The data are suitable for analysing Antarctic processes, assessing the effects of polar resolution refinement, and for comparison with unrefined (PD_ERA_UNREF) and Arctic-refined (PD_ERA_REF_ARCTIC) simulations.

File names follow the convention:
ICON_rAa_<domain>_<frequency>_lonlat_<dimensions>_histERA5_<year_or_period>_<variable>.nc,
where rAa indicates the refined Antarctic simulation, <domain> refers to the model domain (DOM01 = global, DOM03 = refined Antarctic), <frequency> denotes the temporal resolution (6h, dm, mm, daysum, or monsum), and <dimensions> distinguishes surface (2d) and pressure level data (plev19).

The following section provides a brief overview of the different file formats and variable groupings.

6-hourly data (1-year files, DOM01 only):
Mean sea level pressure (pres_msl) on a 0.5° grid for each year from 1985 to 2014.

Daily sum data (1-year files, DOM01 and DOM03):
Daily accumulated total precipitation (tot_prec) for each year from 1985 to 2014.

Daily mean 2D data (1-year files, DOM01 and DOM03):
2-metre air temperature (t_2m) and mean sea level pressure (pres_msl) stored separately for each year.

Daily mean 3D data on 19 pressure levels (1-year files, DOM01 only):
Geopotential height (geopot), temperature (temp), zonal and meridional wind components (u, v), vertical pressure velocity (omega_calc), and vertical motion (wap_m).

Monthly mean 2D data (30-year files for DOM01 and DOM03):
Approximately 60 surface variables (e.g. near-surface temperature, winds, radiation fluxes, snow and ice properties) stored in one file per variable covering the entire period 1985–2014. Exception: For DOM03, the variable w_so (soil water content) is stored in 1-year files due to file size limitations.

Monthly mean 3D data on 19 pressure levels:
DOM01: Stored in 30-year files (1985–2014), one per variable.
DOM03: Stored in 1-year files, one per variable per year.

Monthly sum data (30-year files for DOM01 and DOM03):
Monthly accumulated precipitation (tot_prec) stored in single 30-year files per domain.
Project
PolarRES_ICONvR (PolarRES: Global variable-resolution ICON simulations with polar refinements)
Spatial Coverage
Longitude 0 to 359.88 Latitude -90 to 90 Altitude: 100000 Pa to 100 Pa
Temporal Coverage
1985-01-01 to 2014-12-31 (proleptic_gregorian)
Use constraints
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Data Catalog
World Data Center for Climate
Access constraints
registered users
Size
1.58 TiB (1736258032277 Byte)
Format
NetCDF
Status
completely archived
Creation Date
Future Review Date
2035-07-04
Download Permission
Please login to check permission and download options
Preview data headers
Cite as
[ Derived from parent entry - See data hierarchy tab ]
Koehler, Raphael; Handorf, Dörthe (2025). ERA5-based present-day ICON simulations with variable polar resolution. World Data Center for Climate (WDCC) at DKRZ. https://doi.org/10.26050/WDCC/PolarRES_ICON

BibTeX RIS
VariableUnit
air_pressure
CF
Pa
air_pressure_at_mean_sea_level
CF
Pa
air_temperature
CF
K
atmosphere_cloud_ice_content
CF
kg m-2
atmosphere_water_vapor_content
CF
kg m-2
cloud_area_fraction
CF
%
convective_precipitation_flux
CF
kg m-2 s-1
eastward_wind
CF
m s-1
ertel_potential_vorticity
CF
K m2 kg-1 s-1
geopotential
CF
m2 s-2
height
CF
m
lagrangian_tendency_of_air_pressure
CF
Pa/s
northward_wind
CF
m s-1
omega
CF
Pa/s
precipitation_amount
CF
kg m-2
precipitation_flux
CF
kg m-2 s-1
relative_humidity
CF
%
sea_ice_area_fraction
CF
1
sea_ice_thickness
CF
m
sea_surface_temperature
CF
K
snowfall_flux
CF
kg m-2 s-1
soil_moisture_content
CF
kg m-2
specific_humidity
CF
kg kg-1
surface_air_pressure
CF
Pa
surface_downward_eastward_stress
CF
N m-2
surface_downward_northward_stress
CF
N m-2
surface_net_downward_longwave_flux
CF
W m-2
surface_net_downward_longwave_flux_assuming_clear_sky
CF
W m-2
surface_net_downward_shortwave_flux
CF
W m-2
surface_net_downward_shortwave_flux_assuming_clear_sky
CF
W m-2
surface_roughness_length
CF
m
surface_snow_area_fraction
CF
%
surface_snow_thickness
CF
m
surface_temperature
CF
K
surface_upward_latent_heat_flux
CF
kg m-2 s-1
surface_upward_sensible_heat_flux
CF
W m-2
surface_upwelling_longwave_flux_in_air
CF
W m-2
surface_upwelling_longwave_flux_in_air_assuming_clear_sky
CF
W m-2
surface_upwelling_shortwave_flux_in_air
CF
W m-2
surface_upwelling_shortwave_flux_in_air_assuming_clear_sky
CF
W m-2
toa_incoming_shortwave_flux
CF
W m-2
toa_net_downward_shortwave_flux
CF
W m-2
toa_outgoing_longwave_flux
CF
W m-2
toa_outgoing_longwave_flux_assuming_clear_sky
CF
W m-2
toa_outgoing_shortwave_flux
CF
W m-2
toa_outgoing_shortwave_flux_assuming_clear_sky
CF
W m-2
upward_air_velocity
CF
m s-1
wind_speed
CF
m s-1

Parent

ERA5-based present-day ICON simulations with variable polar resolution
Details

Parent project(s)

PolarRES: Global variable-resolution ICON simulations with polar refinements

[Entry acronym: PolarRES_ICON_ANTARC] [Entry id: 5285908]