PD_ERA_REF_ARCTIC: ICON simulation with Arctic-refined resolution, present-day climate, ERA5 forcing

Koehler, Raphael; Handorf, Dörthe

PD_ERA_REF_ARCTIC: ICON simulation with Arctic-refined resolution, present-day climate, ERA5 forcing

hdl:21.14106/178d927d5337f0518b3343f06a61dd73e5101482

Koehler, Raphael; Handorf, Dörthe

Dataset

Summary: This dataset contains post-processed model output from the Arctic-refined ICON simulation PD_ERA_REF_ARCTIC, 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 Arctic domain (DOM03, R3B7, ~13.2 km) using two-way nesting. The refined domain covers latitudes north of 57°N. An intermediate-resolution nest (DOM02, R3B6, ~26.3 km) covering latitudes north of 50°N 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 Arctic 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 Arctic processes, assessing the effects of polar resolution refinement, and for comparison with unrefined (PD_ERA_UNREF) and Antarctic-refined (PD_ERA_REF_ANTARC) simulations.

File names follow the convention:
ICON_rA_<domain>_<frequency>_lonlat_<dimensions>_histERA5_<year_or_period>_<variable>.nc,
where rA indicates the refined Arctic simulation, <domain> refers to the model domain (DOM01 = global, DOM03 = refined Arctic), <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 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: 1.54 TiB (1694796249193 Byte)
Format: NetCDF
Status: completely archived
Creation Date: 2025-07-01
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

	Variable	Unit
	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	W m-2
	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_ARC] [Entry id: 5285907]