This page lists the variables in the NA-CORDEX archive, grouped by subject as described below. The "BC" columns indicate whether a bias-corrected version of the variable is available, and if so, which observational dataset was used as a reference.
LAND: Elevation and land-sea mask
CORE: Temperature and precipitation
ATMO: Humidity, pressure, and wind
SOLAR: Radiation and cloud cover
HYDRO: Surface water (snow, soil moisture, runoff, etc)
FIRE: Fire indexes calculated from gridMET-corrected data
MKS: Core variables in MKS units (required by CORDEX specs)
Except for the static variables in the LAND group, all variables are available at daily and longer frequencies. In addition, sub-daily data is available for some variables (precipitation in particular) for some models. Other variables not on this list (e.g. 3-D variables) may be available from the CORDEX archive on ESGF or directly from the modelers; inquire with the point of contact for each simulation for more information.
| Variable | Long Name | Units | BC | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daymet | gridMET | ||||
| LAND | orog | Surface Altitude | m | ||
| sftlf | Land Area Fraction | % | |||
| CORE | prec | Precipitation | mm/day | x | x |
| temp | Near-Surface Air Temperature | degC | |||
| tmax | Daily Maximum Near-Surface Air Temperature | degC | x | x | |
| tmin | Daily Minimum Near-Surface Air Temperature | degC | x | x | |
| tmean * | Near-Surface Air Temperature (approximate) | degC | x | x | |
| ATMO | hurs | Near-Surface Relative Humidity | % | x | x |
| huss | Near-Surface Specific Humidity | kg kg-1 | x | x | |
| ps | Surface Air Pressure | Pa | |||
| psl | Sea Level Pressure | Pa | |||
| sfcWind | Near-Surface Wind Speed | m s-1 | x | ||
| sfcWindmax | Daily Maximum Near-Surface Wind Speed | m s-1 | |||
| uas | Eastward Near-Surface Wind Velocity | m s-1 | x | ||
| vas | Northward Near-Surface Wind Velocity | m s-1 | x | ||
| zg500 | 500-mb Geopotential Height | m | |||
| SOLAR | clt | Total Cloud Fraction | % | ||
| rsds | Surface Downwelling Shortwave Radiation | W m-2 | x | x | |
| rsdt | TOA Incident Shortwave Radiation | W m-2 | |||
| rsus | Surface Upwelling Shortwave Radiation | W m-2 | |||
| rsut | TOA Outgoing Shortwave Radiation | W m-2 | |||
| sund | Duration of Sunshine | s | |||
| HYDRO | snw | Snow Amount | kg m-2 | ||
| snm | Surface Snow Melt | kg m-2 s-1 | |||
| snc | Snow Area Fraction | % | |||
| prhmax | Daily Maximum Hourly Precipitation Rate | kg m-2 s-1 | |||
| mrso | Total Soil Moisture Content | kg m-2 | |||
| mrro | Total Runoff | kg m-2 s-1 | |||
| mrros | Surface Runoff | kg m-2 s-1 | |||
| evspsbl | Evaporation | kg m-2 s-1 | |||
| FIRE | cfwi | Canadian Fire Weather Index | 1 | x | |
| hdw | Hot-Dry-Windy index | hPa m s-1 | x | ||
| kbdi | Keetch-Byram Drought Index | 1 | x | ||
| mffwi | Modified Fosberg Fire Weather Index | 1 | x | ||
| vpd | Vapor Pressure Deficit | hPa | x | ||
| fm1 | 1-Hour Fuel Moisture | % | x | ||
| fm10 | 10-Hour Fuel Moisture | % | x | ||
| fm100 | 100-Hour Fuel Moisture | % | x | ||
| fm1000 | 1000-Hour Fuel Moisture | % | x | ||
| erc_G | Energy Release Component (fuel model G) | 1 | x | ||
| erc_LAF | Energy Release Component (fuel model LAF)** | 1 | x | ||
| bi_G | Burning Index (fuel model G) | 1 | x | ||
| bi_LAF | Burning Index (fuel model LAF)** | 1 | x | sfdi_G | Severe Fire Danger Index (fuel model G) | 1 | x |
| sfdi_LAF | Severe Fire Danger Index (fuel model LAF)** | 1 | x | ||
| MKS | pr | Precipitation | kg m-2 s-1 | ||
| tas | Near-Surface Air Temperature | K | |||
| tasmax | Daily Maximum Near-Surface Air Temperature | K | |||
| tasmin | Daily Minimum Near-Surface Air Temperature | K | |||
* tmean = (tmin + tmax)/2
** LAF: the fuel model covering the Largest Area Fraction of the gridcell.
Impacts variables (core group, hurs,
huss, sfcWind, uas, vas, & rsds) are the most commonly used.
Static variables (land group: orog &
sftlf) have no time dimension.
Derived variables (tmean, hurs,
sfcWind, & fire group) are calculated from other variables.
Additional information such as sign conventions can be found in the CORDEX variables requirement table.