Global FLEXPART-ERA5 simulations using 30 million atmospheric parcels since 1980

Abstract

This database compiles the outputs of the global experiment performed with the Lagrangian particle dispersion model FLEXPART since 1980. The experiment was conducted using the ERA5 reanalysis data provided by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) and homogeneously dividing the atmosphere into 30 million particles. The database can be used to investigate global moisture and heat transport and to establish sink-source relationships.

Input data

The data employed for FLEXPART running was the ERA5 reanalysis dataset from the ECMWF (Hersbach et al., 2020). To feed the model, the input data was downloaded and pre-processed by using the software Flex_extract v7.1 (Tipka et al., 2020).

The original available ERA5 resolution is 0.1-degree and 1-hour. For this experiment, ERA5 input data was retrieved for the global area (90ᵒS to 90ᵒN and 180ᵒW to 180ᵒE) at a 0.5-degree horizontal resolution for 137 level from the surface to 1 hPa and a 3-hour temporal resolution (00, 03, 06, 09, 12, 15,18 and 21 UTC).

The data is stored in individual GRIB files for each time step, following the name criteria "EAYYMMDDHH". The size of each file is approximately 530 MB. The variables included in each file are: temperature, specific humidity, u- and v-wind components, Eta-coordinate vertical velocity, divergence, specific cloud liquid water content, specific cloud ice water content, and the logarithm of surface pressure on model levels; and 2m temperature an dew-point temperature, 10m u and v wind component, geopotential, land-sea mask, mean sea level pressure, snow depth, the standard deviation of orography, surface pressure, total cloud cover, convective precipitation, large-scale precipitation, surface sensitive heat flux, eastward and northward turbulent surface stress and surface net solar radiation at the surface level.

Software and running

The software used for the simulations is the Lagrangrian particle dispersion model FLEXPART on version 10.4 (Pisso et al., 2019). The software is configured for a global experiment, and the simulations were obtained from 1980 to the present with a temporal resolution of 3-h. For the experiment, 30 million particles were homogeneously distributed on the global area, and their trajectories were followed according to the model configuration specified in the COMMAND and RELEASES files. The complete period is distributed in individual annual experiments, with each annual experiment obtained continuously running the model from October of the previous year to December of that year.

Outputs characteristics

The outputs were stored in individual GRIB files for each time step, with the file name following the naming convention "partposit_YYYYMMDDHH". Each file has a size of 1,76 GB, and the total size of the annual experiment is 6 TB. Each file contains information about each particle of the experiment: the particle identification number (particle ID), the particle's position (latitude, longitude, and altitude), topographic height, potential vorticity, specific humidity, air density, atmospheric boundary layer height, and temperature. The file corresponding to the 1st January 2023 at 00UTC is provided in this repository as an example. Due to the size of each file, the complete dataset is accessible by personal contact (see Data Access section). 

Post-process and applications

The dataset presented here allows for the analysis of moisture and heat transport in the atmosphere for any region of the world up to 3-h temporal resolution and different horizontal resolutions. The transport may be established between sources and sinks, both in a forward or backward tracking in time. Currently, two open-source post-processing options developed within the EPhyslab-UVigo group are available for the analysis of these data: TROVA (Fernadez-Alvarez et al., 2022) and LATTIN (Perez-Alarcón et al., 2024) with different moisture tracking calculation options, and the latter including tools for heat transport analysis. Both options allow different methodologies (those most widely used) for the moisture transport analysis. The studies can be configured for any region of the planet, specifying it by a NetCDF 2-D mask, and the moisture transport can be set for different time periods (from 1 to 15 days, being from 8 to 10 days the periods most commonly applied according to the mean residence time of water vapor in the atmosphere). For further discussion on the residence time of water vapor in the atmosphere and its application for Lagrangian studies see Gimeno et al. (2021) and Nieto and Gimeno (2019).

Example of application

J. C. Fernández-Álvarez,  M. Vázquez, A. Pérez-Alarcón, R. Nieto, L. Gimeno (2023) Comparison of moisture sources and sinks estimated with different versions of FLEXPART and FLEXPART-WRF models forced with ECMWF reanalysis data, Journal of Hydrometeorology, doi: 10.1175/JHM-D-22-0018.1.

A. Pérez-Alarcón, R. Sorí, M. Stojanovic, M. Vázquez, R.M. Trigo, R. Nieto, L. Gimeno (2024) Assessing the Increasing Frequency of Heat Waves in Cuba and Contributing Mechanisms, Earth Systems and Environment, DOI: 10.1007/s41748-024-00443-8

Validation

The moisture transport analysis provided by this dataset was validated by Fernández-Alvarez et al. (2023) through an in-depth comparison with different versions of the model, horizontal resolutions and input data, including the ERA-Interim reanalysis from the ECMWF, which has been widely used for this purpose over the past decades.

Data Access

Data access is available by contacting the EPhysLab group via:  rnieto[at]uvigo.gal  or  l.gimeno[at]uvigo.gal