Grids

High-fidelity 4D data representing Contrail forcing index values on axes of latitude, longitude, altitude, and time.

Data format

Grids are in NetCDF4 format.

These grids cover the whole globe as a quarter-degree grid, in which latitude and longitude steps are 0.25 degrees. Each grid is forecasted for a full hour (UTC).

Contrail forcing index values range from 0 to 4, from no significant warming to severe contrail warming.

Grid dimensions

Name Type Description
longitude float32 -180 to +180 (inclusive), as configured in the request. Grid resolution is 0.25 degrees.
latitude float32 -90 to +90 (inclusive), as configured in the request. Grid resolution is 0.25 degrees.
flight_level int16 [270, 280, 290, 300, 310, 320, 330, 340, 350, 360, 370, 380, 390, 400, 410, 420, 430, 440], as configured in the request, in hectofeet. Flight levels are derived from pressure levels.
time datetime64[ns] The requested real world forecast date and time, in UTC.
forecast_reference_time datetime64[ns] Date and time at which the forecast was computed, rather than the time of forecast itself, in UTC.

Contrail forcing index values

contrails (float32): (longitude, latitude, flight_level, time) continuous contrail forcing index values from [0 - 4].

Severity values can be interpreted as:

Value Interpretation
0 None
1 Low (light)
2 Moderate
3 High (severe)
4 Extreme

References