ECMWF ERA interim derived atmospheric mass, moisture and energy budget products

As observations and atmospheric reanalyses have improved, the diagnostics that can be computed with confidence also increase. Accordingly, a new formulation of the energetics of the atmosphere is laid out, with a view to advancing diagnostic studies of Earth’s energy budget and flows. It is utilized to produce assessments of the vertically integrated divergences in both the atmosphere and ocean. Careful conservation of mass is required, with special attention given to the hydrological cycle and redistribution of mass associated with precipitation and evaporation, and a new method for ensuring this is developed. It guarantees that the atmospheric divergence is associated with moisture and precipitation, unlike previous methods. A new term, identified as associated with the enthalpy of precipitation, is included in a preliminary way. It is sensitive to the formulation, and the use of temperature in degrees Celsius instead of Kelvin greatly reduces errors and produces the extra term with values up to about 65 W/m2. New results for 2000 to 2017 are presented for the vertical-mean and annual-mean diabatic atmospheric heating, atmospheric moistening, and total atmospheric energy divergence. Results for the atmospheric divergence are combined with top-of-atmosphere radiation observations to deduce total surface energy fluxes.

These data files are monthly and span from 1979 to 2017, smoothed at T-106 resolution. The data format is NetCDF. A full dataset description is available at https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/clim/31/16/jcli-d-17-0838.1.xml