[CF-metadata] Geyer and Ruane standard names

From: Jonathan Gregory <j.m.gregory>
Date: Sat, 18 Mar 2006 16:55:02 +0000

Dear Beate and Alex

I've been through our emails and postings, and I think this is the current
status. I hope I haven't missed anything!

The following are already in the table and don't need to be added:

soil_moisture_content:kg m-2
water_vapor_content_of_atmosphere_layer:kg m-2
soil_porosity:1
tendency_of_specific_humidity_due_to_advection:kg kg-1 sec-1
tendency_of_air_temperature_due_to_advection:K s-1
tendency_of_atmosphere_water_vapor_content_due_to_convection:kg m-2 s-1
tendency_of_atmosphere_water_vapor_content:kg m-2 s-1

The following are new names we have agreed on. In some cases you didn't respond
to a minor change I suggested, and I have assumed there is no problem. I
propose that these should be added next week (starting Monday 27th) if no-one
objects.

air_temperature_at_cloud_top:K
atmosphere_dry_energy_content:J m-2
atmosphere_dry_static_energy_content:J m-2
atmosphere_mass_per_unit_area:kg m-2
convective_cloud_base_height:m
convective_cloud_top_height:m
downward_dry_static_energy_flux_due_to_diffusion:W m-2
downward_heat_flux_at_ground_level_in_snow:W m-2
downward_heat_flux_at_ground_level_in_soil:W m-2
downward_water_vapor_flux_in_air_due_to_diffusion:kg m-2 s-1
dry_energy_content_of_atmosphere_layer:J m-2
dry_static_energy_content_of_atmosphere_layer:J m-2
eastward_atmosphere_water_vapor_transport_across_unit_distance:kg m-1 s-1
eastward_mass_flux_of_air:kg m-2 s-1
eastward_water_vapor_flux:kg m-2 s-1
eastward_water_vapor_transport_across_unit_distance_in_atmosphere_layer:kg m-1 s-1
enthalpy_content_of_atmosphere_layer:J m-2
kinetic_energy_content_of_atmosphere_layer:J m-2
liquid_water_content_of_soil_layer:kg m-2
mass_fraction_of_cloud_condensed_water_in_air:1
northward_atmosphere_water_vapor_transport_across_unit_distance:kg m-1 s-1
northward_mass_flux_of_air:kg m-2 s-1
northward_water_vapor_flux:kg m-2 s-1
northward_water_vapor_transport_across_unit_distance_in_atmosphere_layer:kg m-1 s-1
potential_energy_content_of_atmosphere_layer:J m-2
soil_hydraulic_conductivity_at_saturation:m s-1
specific_dry_energy_of_air:m2 s-2
specific_kinetic_energy_of_air:m2 s-2
surface_carbon_dioxide_mole_flux:mol s-2 s-1
surface_cover:string (generalises land_cover)
surface_downwelling_photosynthetic_photon_flux_in_air:mol m-2 s-1
surface_net_upward_radiative_flux
surface_roughness_length_for_heat_in_air:m
surface_roughness_length_for_momentum_in_air:m
surface_snow_melt_and_sublimation_heat_flux:W m-2
surface_snow_sublimation_amount:kg m-2
surface_snow_sublimation_heat_flux:W m-2
surface_upwelling_photosynthetic_photon_flux_in_air:mol m-2 s-1
tendency_of_air_temperature_due_to_turbulence:K s-1
tendency_of_atmosphere_mass_per_unit_area:kg m-2 s-1
tendency_of_atmosphere_mass_per_unit_area_due_to_advection:kg m-2 s-1
tendency_of_atmosphere_water_vapor_content_due_to_advection:kg m-2 s-1
tendency_of_atmosphere_water_vapor_content_due_to_deep_convection:kg m-2 s-1
tendency_of_atmosphere_water_vapor_content_due_to_shallow_convection:kg m-2 s-1
tendency_of_dry_energy_content_of_atmosphere_layer:W m-2
tendency_of_dry_static_energy_content_of_atmosphere_layer:W m-2
tendency_of_mass_fraction_of_cloud_condensed_water_in_air_due_to_advection: s-1
tendency_of_water_vapor_content_of_atmosphere_layer:kg m-2 s-1
tendency_of_water_vapor_content_of_atmosphere_layer_due_to_convection:kg m-2 s-1
tendency_of_water_vapor_content_of_atmosphere_layer_due_to_deep_convection:kg m-2 s-1
tendency_of_water_vapor_content_of_atmosphere_layer_due_to_shallow_convection:kg m-2 s-1
upward_dry_static_energy_flux_due_to_diffusion:W m-2
upward_heat_flux_at_ground_level_in_snow:W m-2
upward_heat_flux_at_ground_level_in_soil:W m-2
upward_mass_flux_of_air:kg m-2 s-1
upward_water_vapor_flux_in_air_due_to_diffusion:kg m-2 s-1
volume_fraction_of_water_in_soil:1
water_evaporation_amount_from_canopy:kg m-2

At the same time we will add

tendency_of_atmosphere_water_content_due_to_advection:kg m-2 s-1
atmosphere_sleve_coordinate:1

and correct the units of large_scale_precipitation_flux to kg m-2 s-1.

The following existing names will be renamed (using aliases):

atmosphere_surface_drag_coefficient>surface_drag_coefficient_in_air
atmosphere_surface_drag_coefficient_of_heat>surface_drag_coefficient_for_heat_in_air
atmosphere_surface_drag_coefficient_of_momentum>surface_drag_coefficient_for_momentum_in_air

These issues are still outstanding:

> snow_basal_heat_flux, Snow basal heat flux, W m-2
Can this be called
upward|downward_heat_flux_at_ground_level_in_snow
The corresponding quantity _in_soil is the ground heat flux.

> atmosphere_eastward|northward_stress_due_to_diffusion:Pa
Are these momentum fluxes directed upwards or downward i.e. tending to
accelerate the atmosphere below or above the level on which they are given?
(I realise this is an ambiguity about the gravity-wave stresses too.) Since
stresses are tensors, they need two signed directions to specify them.

> soil_suction_at_saturation; Saturation soil suction; m
I am not sufficiently expert to define this. Could you please supply a
definition of soil suction?

> soil_texture; fraction of sand, clay and silt; 1
We have recently added a string-valued quantity soil_type to identify types
such as you list. It looks as if you would like to specify some parameter as
a function of soil type. Is it the mass fraction of the soil?

> stomatal resistance depends on vegetation type, it is not clear to me, how
> to include min and max into standard name:
> stomatal_resistance; Maximum stomatal resistance; s m-1
> stomatal_resistance; Minimum stomatal resistance; s m-1
I suppose this could be indicated by cell_methods "vegetation_type: maximum".
We have not got standard names for stomatal resistance and vegetation type.
Are you proposing these?

> surface_direct_downwelling_photosynthetic_radiative_flux; W m-2
> surface_diffuse_downwelling_photosynthetic_radiative_flux; W m-2
Is it correct that you mean the vertically downward component of the flux
directly from the sun in the first case, while the second means
surface_downwelling_photosynthetic_radiative_flux minus
surface_direct_downwelling_photosynthetic_radiative_flux?

> tendency_of_atmosphere_water_vapor_content_due_to_stable_convection:kg m-2 s-1
> tendency_of_atmosphere_water_vapor_content_due_to_turbulence:kg m-2 s-1
> tendency_of_water_vapor_content_of_atmosphere_layer_due_to_stable_convection:kg m-2 s-1
> tendency_of_water_vapor_content_of_atmosphere_layer_due_to_turbulence:kg m-2 s-1
Could you define what "turbulence" and "stable convection" mean, please?

You define both these quantities as "energy resulting from shift in
sigma-layer-definition with changing PS". What is the distinction between the
two of them? Perhaps the second is in a layer?
  atmosphere_phis:J m-2
  phis:J m-2
Is this a commonly used quantity that needs a standard name? It is obviously
a model quantity, not an observational one, but it should have a name if it
is being compared among models. However, we would need to give it a more
self-explanatory name than "phi_s". Could you please describe it in some more
detail?

In these quantities
  baseflow_amount:kg m-2
  runoff_excluding_baseflow_amount:kg m-2
does "baseflow" mean the flow in rivers which comes from groundwater? You
define baseflow as "surface runoff plus layer runoff minus baseflow", which
seems contradictory, and the second quantity appears to exclude baseflow a
second time. I haven't grasped the distinctions you are making - could you
clarify, please?

The following come in pairs. What is the distinction between the two varieties?
Is the shortwave absorption for upwelling or downwelling or both, the last
being the difference between incoming and outgoing TOA SW? How do you define
the longwave absorption, given that the atmosphere emits as well as absorbing?
By the energy released by convection do you mean the latent heat released by
condensation during convection (corresponding to large-scale)? In condensation
do you include freezing?
  rate_of_absorption_of_shortwave_energy:W m-2
  atmosphere_rate_of_absorption_of_shortwave_energy:W m-2
  rate_of_absorption_of_longwave_energy:W m-2
  atmosphere_rate_of_absorption_of_longwave_energy:W m-2
  rate_of_energy_released_by_deep_convection:W m-2
  atmosphere_rate_of_energy_released_by_deep_convection:W m-2
  rate_of_energy_released_by_shallow_convection:W m-2
  atmosphere_rate_of_energy_released_by_shallow_convection:W m-2
  rate_of_energy_released_by_large_scale_condensation:W m-2
  atmosphere_rate_of_energy_released_by_large_scale_condensation:W m-2
I am wondering whether we can use the word "power" in names for these
quantities instead of "rate of X" where X is a kind of energy conversion.
Power (strictly per unit area) is the correct physical term, of course, but
not often used in meteorology.

I'm not clear which "energy" is referred to in
  energy_of_atmosphere_layer:J m-2
  horizontal_energy_transport_in_air:W m-2
  horizontal_atmosphere_energy_transport:W m-2
Is it the moist energy? (See 1st December posting.)

What energy is being referred to in these quantities?
  eastward_energy_flux_in_air; W m-1
  upward_energy_flux_in_air; W m-1
  northward_energy_flux_in_air; W m-1

We have atmosphere_energy_content in the table at present, but it is not
really defined what it means. What do you mean by it in
  tendency_of_atmosphere_energy_content:W m-2

For these
  horizontal_enthalpy_transport_in_air:W m-2
  horizontal_geopotential_energy_transport_in_air:W m-2
  horizontal_kinetic_energy_transport_in_air:W m-2
we already have
  tendency_of_atmosphere_enthalpy_content_due_to_advection:W m-2
  tendency_of_atmosphere_potential_energy_content_due_to_advection:W m-2
  tendency_of_atmosphere_kinetic_energy_content_due_to_advection:W m-2
Are they what you want? If so, what is the difference between these and the set
  horizontal_atmosphere_enthalpy_transport:W m-2
  horizontal_atmosphere_geopotential_energy_transport:W m-2
  horizontal_atmosphere_kinetic_energy_transport:W m-2
You describe this set as "mass weighted" but I am unclear what distinction
is being made, since both sets of quantities are in W m-2.

Best wishes

Jonathan
Received on Sat Mar 18 2006 - 09:55:02 GMT