Querying ECCO variables and descriptions

What is a ShortName?

On NASA Earthdata, ECCO output is organized into datasets, each consisting of a few related variables. (For example, the “sea surface height” dataset contains three sea surface height variables, each with different corrections applied, as well as a variable containing one of the correction amounts.) Each dataset is identified by a “ShortName”, which is a quick way to identify and locate the dataset on Earthdata search and in the Common Metadata Repository (CMR). The ShortName for the monthly sea surface height dataset on the native LLC90 grid is ECCO_L4_SSH_LLC0090GRID_MONTHLY_V4R4.

But…what if you don’t know the ShortName already? Find your data with ecco_access

Earthdata datasets are identified by ShortNames, but you might not know the ShortName of the variable or category of variables that you are seeking. One way to find the ShortName is to consult these ECCO variable lists. But the “query” in ecco_access functions does not have to be a ShortName; it can also be a text string representing a variable name, or a word or phrase in the variable description.

For example, perhaps you are looking to open the dataset that has native grid monthly sea ice concentration in 2007. If the query is not identified as a ShortName, then a text search of the variable lists is conducted using query, grid, and time_res. Then of the identified matches, the user is asked to select one.

import numpy as np
import xarray as xr
from os.path import join,expanduser
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import ecco_access as ea

# identify user's home directory
user_home_dir = expanduser('~')

# query variable lists for "ice" and open the selected result as an xarray dataset
ds_seaice_conc = ea.ecco_podaac_to_xrdataset('ice',grid='native',time_res='monthly',\
                                               StartDate='2007-01',EndDate='2007-12',\
                                               mode='download_ifspace',\
                                               download_root_dir=\
                                                 join(user_home_dir,'Downloads','ECCO_V4r4_PODAAC'),\
                                               max_avail_frac=0.5)

ShortName Options for query "ice":
                  Variable Name     Description (units)

Option 1: ECCO_L4_SSH_LLC0090GRID_MONTHLY_V4R4    *native grid,monthly means*
                  SSH               Dynamic sea surface height anomaly. Suitable for
                                    comparisons with altimetry sea surface height data
                                    products that apply the inverse barometer
                                    correction. (m)
                  SSHIBC            The inverted barometer correction to sea surface
                                    height due to atmospheric pressure loading. (m)
                  SSHNOIBC          Sea surface height anomaly without the inverted
                                    barometer correction. Suitable for comparisons
                                    with altimetry sea surface height data products
                                    that do NOT apply the inverse barometer
                                    correction. (m)
                  ETAN              Model sea level anomaly, without corrections for
                                    global mean density changes, inverted barometer
                                    effect, or volume displacement due to submerged
                                    sea-ice and snow. (m)

Option 2: ECCO_L4_STRESS_LLC0090GRID_MONTHLY_V4R4    *native grid,monthly means*
                  EXFtaux           Wind stress in the model +x direction (N/m^2)
                  EXFtauy           Wind stress in the model +y direction (N/m^2)
                  oceTAUX           Ocean surface stress in the model +x direction,
                                    due to wind and sea-ice (N/m^2)
                  oceTAUY           Ocean surface stress in the model +y direction,
                                    due to wind and sea-ice (N/m^2)

Option 3: ECCO_L4_HEAT_FLUX_LLC0090GRID_MONTHLY_V4R4    *native grid,monthly means*
                  EXFhl             Open ocean air-sea latent heat flux (W/m^2)
                  EXFhs             Open ocean air-sea sensible heat flux (W/m^2)
                  EXFlwdn           Downward longwave radiative flux (W/m^2)
                  EXFswdn           Downwelling shortwave radiative flux (W/m^2)
                  EXFqnet           Open ocean net air-sea heat flux (W/m^2)
                  oceQnet           Net heat flux into the ocean surface (W/m^2)
                  SIatmQnt          Net upward heat flux to the atmosphere (W/m^2)
                  TFLUX             Rate of change of ocean heat content per m^2
                                    accounting for mass (e.g. freshwater) fluxes
                                    (W/m^2)
                  EXFswnet          Open ocean net shortwave radiative flux (W/m^2)
                  EXFlwnet          Net open ocean longwave radiative flux (W/m^2)
                  oceQsw            Net shortwave radiative flux across the ocean
                                    surface (W/m^2)
                  SIaaflux          Conservative ocean and sea-ice advective heat flux
                                    adjustment, associated with temperature difference
                                    between sea surface temperature and sea-ice,
                                    excluding latent heat of fusion (W/m^2)

Option 4: ECCO_L4_FRESH_FLUX_LLC0090GRID_MONTHLY_V4R4    *native grid,monthly means*
                  EXFpreci          Precipitation rate (m/s)
                  EXFevap           Open ocean evaporation rate (m/s)
                  EXFroff           River runoff (m/s)
                  SIsnPrcp          Snow precipitation on sea-ice (kg/(m^2 s))
                  EXFempmr          Open ocean net surface freshwater flux from
                                    precipitation, evaporation, and runoff (m/s)
                  oceFWflx          Net freshwater flux into the ocean (kg/(m^2 s))
                  SIatmFW           Net freshwater flux into the open ocean, sea-ice,
                                    and snow (kg/(m^2 s))
                  SFLUX             Rate of change of total ocean salinity per m^2
                                    accounting for mass fluxes (g/(m^2 s))
                  SIacSubl          Freshwater flux to the atmosphere due to
                                    sublimation-deposition of snow or ice (kg/(m^2 s))
                  SIrsSubl          Residual sublimation freshwater flux (kg/(m^2 s))
                  SIfwThru          Precipitation through sea-ice (kg/(m^2 s))

Option 5: ECCO_L4_SEA_ICE_CONC_THICKNESS_LLC0090GRID_MONTHLY_V4R4    *native grid,monthly means*
                  SIarea            Sea-ice concentration (fraction between 0 and 1)
                  SIheff            Area-averaged sea-ice thickness (m)
                  SIhsnow           Area-averaged snow thickness (m)
                  sIceLoad          Average sea-ice and snow mass per unit area
                                    (kg/m^2)

Option 6: ECCO_L4_SEA_ICE_VELOCITY_LLC0090GRID_MONTHLY_V4R4    *native grid,monthly means*
                  SIuice            Sea-ice velocity in the model +x direction (m/s)
                  SIvice            Sea-ice velocity in the model +y direction (m/s)

Option 7: ECCO_L4_SEA_ICE_HORIZ_VOLUME_FLUX_LLC0090GRID_MONTHLY_V4R4    *native grid,monthly means*
                  ADVxHEFF          Lateral advective flux of sea-ice thickness in the
                                    model +x direction (m^3/s)
                  ADVyHEFF          Lateral advective flux of sea-ice thickness in the
                                    model +y direction (m^3/s)
                  DFxEHEFF          Lateral diffusive flux of sea-ice thickness in the
                                    model +x direction (m^3/s)
                  DFyEHEFF          Lateral diffusive flux of sea-ice thickness in the
                                    model +y direction (m^3/s)
                  ADVxSNOW          Lateral advective flux of snow thickness in the
                                    model +x direction (m^3/s)
                  ADVySNOW          Lateral advective flux of snow thickness in the
                                    model +y direction (m^3/s)
                  DFxESNOW          Lateral diffusive flux of snow thickness in the
                                    model +x direction (m^3/s)
                  DFyESNOW          Lateral diffusive flux of snow thickness in the
                                    model +y direction (m^3/s)

Option 8: ECCO_L4_SEA_ICE_SALT_PLUME_FLUX_LLC0090GRID_MONTHLY_V4R4    *native grid,monthly means*
                  oceSPflx          Net salt flux into the ocean due to brine
                                    rejection (g/(m^2 s))
                  oceSPDep          Salt plume depth (m)

Please select option [1-8]:  5

Using dataset with ShortName: ECCO_L4_SEA_ICE_CONC_THICKNESS_LLC0090GRID_MONTHLY_V4R4
Creating download directory /home/jpluser/Downloads/ECCO_V4r4_PODAAC/ECCO_L4_SEA_ICE_CONC_THICKNESS_LLC0090GRID_MONTHLY_V4R4
Size of files to be downloaded to instance is 0.06 GB,
which is 0.3% of the 20.008 GB available storage.
Proceeding with file downloads via NASA Earthdata URLs
DL Progress: 100%|#########################| 12/12 [00:04<00:00,  2.56it/s]

=====================================
total downloaded: 64.66 Mb
avg download speed: 13.73 Mb/s
Time spent = 4.708296537399292 seconds

We select option 5, corresponding to ShortName ECCO_L4_SEA_ICE_CONC_THICKNESS_LLC0090GRID_MONTHLY_V4R4. Let’s look at the dataset contents.

ds_seaice_conc

<xarray.Dataset> Size: 25MB
Dimensions:    (time: 12, tile: 13, j: 90, i: 90, i_g: 90, j_g: 90, nv: 2, nb: 4)
Coordinates: (12/13)
  * i          (i) int32 360B 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ... 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89
  * i_g        (i_g) int32 360B 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ... 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89
  * j          (j) int32 360B 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ... 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89
  * j_g        (j_g) int32 360B 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ... 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89
  * tile       (tile) int32 52B 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
  * time       (time) datetime64[ns] 96B 2007-01-16T12:00:00 ... 2007-12-16T1...
    ...         ...
    YC         (tile, j, i) float32 421kB dask.array<chunksize=(13, 90, 90), meta=np.ndarray>
    XG         (tile, j_g, i_g) float32 421kB dask.array<chunksize=(13, 90, 90), meta=np.ndarray>
    YG         (tile, j_g, i_g) float32 421kB dask.array<chunksize=(13, 90, 90), meta=np.ndarray>
    time_bnds  (time, nv) datetime64[ns] 192B dask.array<chunksize=(1, 2), meta=np.ndarray>
    XC_bnds    (tile, j, i, nb) float32 2MB dask.array<chunksize=(13, 90, 90, 4), meta=np.ndarray>
    YC_bnds    (tile, j, i, nb) float32 2MB dask.array<chunksize=(13, 90, 90, 4), meta=np.ndarray>
Dimensions without coordinates: nv, nb
Data variables:
    SIarea     (time, tile, j, i) float32 5MB dask.array<chunksize=(1, 13, 90, 90), meta=np.ndarray>
    SIheff     (time, tile, j, i) float32 5MB dask.array<chunksize=(1, 13, 90, 90), meta=np.ndarray>
    SIhsnow    (time, tile, j, i) float32 5MB dask.array<chunksize=(1, 13, 90, 90), meta=np.ndarray>
    sIceLoad   (time, tile, j, i) float32 5MB dask.array<chunksize=(1, 13, 90, 90), meta=np.ndarray>
Attributes: (12/57)
    acknowledgement:              This research was carried out by the Jet Pr...
    author:                       Ian Fenty and Ou Wang
    cdm_data_type:                Grid
    comment:                      Fields provided on the curvilinear lat-lon-...
    Conventions:                  CF-1.8, ACDD-1.3
    coordinates_comment:          Note: the global 'coordinates' attribute de...
    ...                           ...
    time_coverage_duration:       P1M
    time_coverage_end:            2007-02-01T00:00:00
    time_coverage_resolution:     P1M
    time_coverage_start:          2007-01-01T00:00:00
    title:                        ECCO Sea-Ice and Snow Concentration and Thi...
    uuid:                         e6cdf192-400d-11eb-93b5-0cc47a3f49c3

xarray.Dataset

• Dimensions:
  • time: 12
  • tile: 13
  • j: 90
  • i: 90
  • i_g: 90
  • j_g: 90
  • nv: 2
  • nb: 4
• Coordinates: (13)
  • i
    (i)
    int32
    0 1 2 3 4 5 6 ... 84 85 86 87 88 89

    axis :

    X

    long_name :

    grid index in x for variables at tracer and 'v' locations

    swap_dim :

    XC

    comment :

    In the Arakawa C-grid system, tracer (e.g., THETA) and 'v' variables (e.g., VVEL) have the same x coordinate on the model grid.

    coverage_content_type :

    coordinate

    array([ 0,  1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  8,  9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17,
           18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35,
           36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53,
           54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71,
           72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89],
          dtype=int32)

  • i_g
    (i_g)
    int32
    0 1 2 3 4 5 6 ... 84 85 86 87 88 89

    axis :

    X

    long_name :

    grid index in x for variables at 'u' and 'g' locations

    c_grid_axis_shift :

    -0.5

    swap_dim :

    XG

    comment :

    In the Arakawa C-grid system, 'u' (e.g., UVEL) and 'g' variables (e.g., XG) have the same x coordinate on the model grid.

    coverage_content_type :

    coordinate

    array([ 0,  1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  8,  9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17,
           18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35,
           36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53,
           54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71,
           72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89],
          dtype=int32)

  • j
    (j)
    int32
    0 1 2 3 4 5 6 ... 84 85 86 87 88 89

    axis :

    Y

    long_name :

    grid index in y for variables at tracer and 'u' locations

    swap_dim :

    YC

    comment :

    In the Arakawa C-grid system, tracer (e.g., THETA) and 'u' variables (e.g., UVEL) have the same y coordinate on the model grid.

    coverage_content_type :

    coordinate

    array([ 0,  1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  8,  9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17,
           18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35,
           36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53,
           54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71,
           72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89],
          dtype=int32)

  • j_g
    (j_g)
    int32
    0 1 2 3 4 5 6 ... 84 85 86 87 88 89

    axis :

    Y

    long_name :

    grid index in y for variables at 'v' and 'g' locations

    c_grid_axis_shift :

    -0.5

    swap_dim :

    YG

    comment :

    In the Arakawa C-grid system, 'v' (e.g., VVEL) and 'g' variables (e.g., XG) have the same y coordinate.

    coverage_content_type :

    coordinate

    array([ 0,  1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  8,  9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17,
           18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35,
           36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53,
           54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71,
           72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89],
          dtype=int32)

  • tile
    (tile)
    int32
    0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

    long_name :

    lat-lon-cap tile index

    comment :

    The ECCO V4 horizontal model grid is divided into 13 tiles of 90x90 cells for convenience.

    coverage_content_type :

    coordinate

    array([ 0,  1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  8,  9, 10, 11, 12], dtype=int32)

  • time
    (time)
    datetime64[ns]
    2007-01-16T12:00:00 ... 2007-12-...

    long_name :

    center time of averaging period

    axis :

    T

    bounds :

    time_bnds

    coverage_content_type :

    coordinate

    standard_name :

    time

    array(['2007-01-16T12:00:00.000000000', '2007-02-15T00:00:00.000000000',
           '2007-03-16T12:00:00.000000000', '2007-04-16T00:00:00.000000000',
           '2007-05-16T12:00:00.000000000', '2007-06-16T00:00:00.000000000',
           '2007-07-16T12:00:00.000000000', '2007-08-16T12:00:00.000000000',
           '2007-09-16T00:00:00.000000000', '2007-10-16T12:00:00.000000000',
           '2007-11-16T00:00:00.000000000', '2007-12-16T12:00:00.000000000'],
          dtype='datetime64[ns]')

  • XC
    (tile, j, i)
    float32
    dask.array<chunksize=(13, 90, 90), meta=np.ndarray>

    long_name :

    longitude of tracer grid cell center

    units :

    degrees_east

    coordinate :

    YC XC

    bounds :

    XC_bnds

    comment :

    nonuniform grid spacing

    coverage_content_type :

    coordinate

    standard_name :

    longitude

    Array Chunk Bytes 411.33 kiB 411.33 kiB Shape (13, 90, 90) (13, 90, 90) Dask graph 1 chunks in 2 graph layers Data type float32 numpy.ndarray

  • YC
    (tile, j, i)
    float32
    dask.array<chunksize=(13, 90, 90), meta=np.ndarray>

    long_name :

    latitude of tracer grid cell center

    units :

    degrees_north

    coordinate :

    YC XC

    bounds :

    YC_bnds

    comment :

    nonuniform grid spacing

    coverage_content_type :

    coordinate

    standard_name :

    latitude

    Array Chunk Bytes 411.33 kiB 411.33 kiB Shape (13, 90, 90) (13, 90, 90) Dask graph 1 chunks in 2 graph layers Data type float32 numpy.ndarray

  • XG
    (tile, j_g, i_g)
    float32
    dask.array<chunksize=(13, 90, 90), meta=np.ndarray>

    long_name :

    longitude of 'southwest' corner of tracer grid cell

    units :

    degrees_east

    coordinate :

    YG XG

    comment :

    Nonuniform grid spacing. Note: 'southwest' does not correspond to geographic orientation but is used for convenience to describe the computational grid. See MITgcm dcoumentation for details.

    coverage_content_type :

    coordinate

    standard_name :

    longitude

    Array Chunk Bytes 411.33 kiB 411.33 kiB Shape (13, 90, 90) (13, 90, 90) Dask graph 1 chunks in 2 graph layers Data type float32 numpy.ndarray

  • YG
    (tile, j_g, i_g)
    float32
    dask.array<chunksize=(13, 90, 90), meta=np.ndarray>

    long_name :

    latitude of 'southwest' corner of tracer grid cell

    units :

    degrees_north

    coordinate :

    YG XG

    comment :

    Nonuniform grid spacing. Note: 'southwest' does not correspond to geographic orientation but is used for convenience to describe the computational grid. See MITgcm dcoumentation for details.

    coverage_content_type :

    coordinate

    standard_name :

    latitude

    Array Chunk Bytes 411.33 kiB 411.33 kiB Shape (13, 90, 90) (13, 90, 90) Dask graph 1 chunks in 2 graph layers Data type float32 numpy.ndarray

  • time_bnds
    (time, nv)
    datetime64[ns]
    dask.array<chunksize=(1, 2), meta=np.ndarray>

    comment :

    Start and end times of averaging period.

    coverage_content_type :

    coordinate

    long_name :

    time bounds of averaging period

    Array Chunk Bytes 192 B 16 B Shape (12, 2) (1, 2) Dask graph 12 chunks in 25 graph layers Data type datetime64[ns] numpy.ndarray

  • XC_bnds
    (tile, j, i, nb)
    float32
    dask.array<chunksize=(13, 90, 90, 4), meta=np.ndarray>

    comment :

    Bounds array follows CF conventions. XC_bnds[i,j,0] = 'southwest' corner (j-1, i-1), XC_bnds[i,j,1] = 'southeast' corner (j-1, i+1), XC_bnds[i,j,2] = 'northeast' corner (j+1, i+1), XC_bnds[i,j,3] = 'northwest' corner (j+1, i-1). Note: 'southwest', 'southeast', northwest', and 'northeast' do not correspond to geographic orientation but are used for convenience to describe the computational grid. See MITgcm dcoumentation for details.

    coverage_content_type :

    coordinate

    long_name :

    longitudes of tracer grid cell corners

    Array Chunk Bytes 1.61 MiB 1.61 MiB Shape (13, 90, 90, 4) (13, 90, 90, 4) Dask graph 1 chunks in 2 graph layers Data type float32 numpy.ndarray

  • YC_bnds
    (tile, j, i, nb)
    float32
    dask.array<chunksize=(13, 90, 90, 4), meta=np.ndarray>

    comment :

    Bounds array follows CF conventions. YC_bnds[i,j,0] = 'southwest' corner (j-1, i-1), YC_bnds[i,j,1] = 'southeast' corner (j-1, i+1), YC_bnds[i,j,2] = 'northeast' corner (j+1, i+1), YC_bnds[i,j,3] = 'northwest' corner (j+1, i-1). Note: 'southwest', 'southeast', northwest', and 'northeast' do not correspond to geographic orientation but are used for convenience to describe the computational grid. See MITgcm dcoumentation for details.

    coverage_content_type :

    coordinate

    long_name :

    latitudes of tracer grid cell corners

    Array Chunk Bytes 1.61 MiB 1.61 MiB Shape (13, 90, 90, 4) (13, 90, 90, 4) Dask graph 1 chunks in 2 graph layers Data type float32 numpy.ndarray

• Data variables: (4)
  • SIarea
    (time, tile, j, i)
    float32
    dask.array<chunksize=(1, 13, 90, 90), meta=np.ndarray>

    long_name :

    Sea-ice concentration

    units :

    1

    coverage_content_type :

    modelResult

    standard_name :

    sea_ice_area_fraction

    comment :

    Fraction of ocean grid cell covered with sea-ice [0 to 1]. CF Standard Name Table v73: 'Area fraction' is the fraction of a grid cell's horizontal area that has some characteristic of interest. It is evaluated as the area of interest divided by the grid cell area. It may be expressed as a fraction, a percentage, or any other dimensionless representation of a fraction. Sea ice area fraction is area of the sea surface occupied by sea ice. It is also called 'sea ice concentration'. 'Sea ice' means all ice floating in the sea which has formed from freezing sea water, rather than by other processes such as calving of land ice to form icebergs. https://cfconventions.org/Data/cf-standard-names/73/build/cf-standard-name-table.html. Defined using CF Standard Name Table v73: 'Area fraction' is the fraction of a grid cell's horizontal area that has some characteristic of interest. It is evaluated as the area of interest divided by the grid cell area. It may be expressed as a fraction, a percentage, or any other dimensionless representation of a fraction. Sea ice area fraction is area of the sea surface occupied by sea ice. It is also called 'sea ice concentration'. 'Sea ice' means all ice floating in the sea which has formed from freezing sea water and precipitation, rather than by other processes such as calving of land ice to form icebergs. https://cfconventions.org/Data/cf-standard-names/73/build/cf-standard-name-table.html

    valid_min :

    0.0

    valid_max :

    0.9700000286102295

    Array Chunk Bytes 4.82 MiB 411.33 kiB Shape (12, 13, 90, 90) (1, 13, 90, 90) Dask graph 12 chunks in 25 graph layers Data type float32 numpy.ndarray

  • SIheff
    (time, tile, j, i)
    float32
    dask.array<chunksize=(1, 13, 90, 90), meta=np.ndarray>

    long_name :

    Area-averaged sea-ice thickness

    units :

    m

    coverage_content_type :

    modelResult

    standard_name :

    sea_ice_thickness

    comment :

    Sea-ice thickness averaged over the entire model grid cell, including open water where sea-ice thickness is zero. Note: sea-ice thickness over the ICE-COVERED fraction of the grid cell is SIheff/SIarea

    valid_min :

    0.0

    valid_max :

    7.816245079040527

    Array Chunk Bytes 4.82 MiB 411.33 kiB Shape (12, 13, 90, 90) (1, 13, 90, 90) Dask graph 12 chunks in 25 graph layers Data type float32 numpy.ndarray

  • SIhsnow
    (time, tile, j, i)
    float32
    dask.array<chunksize=(1, 13, 90, 90), meta=np.ndarray>

    long_name :

    Area-averaged snow thickness

    units :

    m

    coverage_content_type :

    modelResult

    standard_name :

    surface_snow_thickness

    comment :

    Snow thickness averaged over the entire model grid cell, including open water where snow thickness is zero. Note: snow thickness over the ICE-COVERED fraction of the grid cell is SIhsnow/SIarea

    valid_min :

    -0.00038744235644117

    valid_max :

    2.2215447425842285

    Array Chunk Bytes 4.82 MiB 411.33 kiB Shape (12, 13, 90, 90) (1, 13, 90, 90) Dask graph 12 chunks in 25 graph layers Data type float32 numpy.ndarray

  • sIceLoad
    (time, tile, j, i)
    float32
    dask.array<chunksize=(1, 13, 90, 90), meta=np.ndarray>

    long_name :

    Average sea-ice and snow mass per unit area

    units :

    kg m-2

    coverage_content_type :

    modelResult

    standard_name :

    sea_ice_and_surface_snow_amount

    comment :

    Total mass of sea-ice and snow in a model grid cell averaged over model grid cell area. Note: sIceLoad is used to correct model sea level anomaly, ETAN, to calculate dynamic sea surface height, SSH, and sea surface height without the inverted barometer (IB correction), SSHNOIBC. In the model, sea-ice is treated as floating above the sea level with ETAN tracing the location of the ocean-ice interface. Consequently, sea-ice growth in the model lowers ETAN and sea-ice melting raises ETAN. Dynamic sea surface height is obtained by correcting ETAN by the weight of ice and snow directly above following Archimedes’ principle.

    valid_min :

    -0.00011736128362827003

    valid_max :

    7323.06005859375

    Array Chunk Bytes 4.82 MiB 411.33 kiB Shape (12, 13, 90, 90) (1, 13, 90, 90) Dask graph 12 chunks in 25 graph layers Data type float32 numpy.ndarray

• Indexes: (6)
  • i
    PandasIndex

    PandasIndex(Index([ 0,  1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  8,  9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17,
           18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35,
           36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53,
           54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71,
           72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89],
          dtype='int32', name='i'))

  • i_g
    PandasIndex

    PandasIndex(Index([ 0,  1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  8,  9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17,
           18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35,
           36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53,
           54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71,
           72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89],
          dtype='int32', name='i_g'))

  • j
    PandasIndex

    PandasIndex(Index([ 0,  1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  8,  9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17,
           18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35,
           36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53,
           54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71,
           72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89],
          dtype='int32', name='j'))

  • j_g
    PandasIndex

    PandasIndex(Index([ 0,  1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  8,  9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17,
           18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35,
           36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53,
           54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71,
           72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89],
          dtype='int32', name='j_g'))

  • tile
    PandasIndex

    PandasIndex(Index([0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12], dtype='int32', name='tile'))

  • time
    PandasIndex

    PandasIndex(DatetimeIndex(['2007-01-16 12:00:00', '2007-02-15 00:00:00',
                   '2007-03-16 12:00:00', '2007-04-16 00:00:00',
                   '2007-05-16 12:00:00', '2007-06-16 00:00:00',
                   '2007-07-16 12:00:00', '2007-08-16 12:00:00',
                   '2007-09-16 00:00:00', '2007-10-16 12:00:00',
                   '2007-11-16 00:00:00', '2007-12-16 12:00:00'],
                  dtype='datetime64[ns]', name='time', freq=None))

• Attributes: (57)

  acknowledgement :

  This research was carried out by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, managed by the California Institute of Technology under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

  author :

  Ian Fenty and Ou Wang

  cdm_data_type :

  Grid

  comment :

  Fields provided on the curvilinear lat-lon-cap 90 (llc90) native grid used in the ECCO model.

  Conventions :

  CF-1.8, ACDD-1.3

  coordinates_comment :

  Note: the global 'coordinates' attribute describes auxillary coordinates.

  creator_email :

  ecco-group@mit.edu

  creator_institution :

  NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)

  creator_name :

  ECCO Consortium

  creator_type :

  group

  creator_url :

  https://ecco-group.org

  date_created :

  2020-12-16T18:16:41

  date_issued :

  2020-12-16T18:16:41

  date_metadata_modified :

  2021-03-15T21:55:37

  date_modified :

  2021-03-15T21:55:37

  geospatial_bounds_crs :

  EPSG:4326

  geospatial_lat_max :

  90.0

  geospatial_lat_min :

  -90.0

  geospatial_lat_resolution :

  variable

  geospatial_lat_units :

  degrees_north

  geospatial_lon_max :

  180.0

  geospatial_lon_min :

  -180.0

  geospatial_lon_resolution :

  variable

  geospatial_lon_units :

  degrees_east

  history :

  Inaugural release of an ECCO Central Estimate solution to PO.DAAC

  id :

  10.5067/ECL5M-ICO44

  institution :

  NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)

  instrument_vocabulary :

  GCMD instrument keywords

  keywords :

  EARTH SCIENCE > CRYOSPHERE > SEA ICE > SEA ICE CONCENTRATION > ICE FRACTION, EARTH SCIENCE SERVICES > MODELS > EARTH SCIENCE REANALYSES/ASSIMILATION MODELS, EARTH SCIENCE > CRYOSPHERE > SEA ICE > SNOW DEPTH, EARTH SCIENCE > CRYOSPHERE > SEA ICE > ICE DEPTH/THICKNESS, EARTH SCIENCE > CRYOSPHERE > SEA ICE > SEA ICE CONCENTRATION

  keywords_vocabulary :

  NASA Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Science Keywords

  license :

  Public Domain

  metadata_link :

  https://cmr.earthdata.nasa.gov/search/collections.umm_json?ShortName=ECCO_L4_SEA_ICE_CONC_THICKNESS_LLC0090GRID_MONTHLY_V4R4

  naming_authority :

  gov.nasa.jpl

  platform :

  ERS-1/2, TOPEX/Poseidon, Geosat Follow-On (GFO), ENVISAT, Jason-1, Jason-2, CryoSat-2, SARAL/AltiKa, Jason-3, AVHRR, Aquarius, SSM/I, SSMIS, GRACE, DTU17MDT, Argo, WOCE, GO-SHIP, MEOP, Ice Tethered Profilers (ITP)

  platform_vocabulary :

  GCMD platform keywords

  processing_level :

  L4

  product_name :

  SEA_ICE_CONC_THICKNESS_mon_mean_2007-01_ECCO_V4r4_native_llc0090.nc

  product_time_coverage_end :

  2018-01-01T00:00:00

  product_time_coverage_start :

  1992-01-01T12:00:00

  product_version :

  Version 4, Release 4

  program :

  NASA Physical Oceanography, Cryosphere, Modeling, Analysis, and Prediction (MAP)

  project :

  Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean (ECCO)

  publisher_email :

  podaac@podaac.jpl.nasa.gov

  publisher_institution :

  PO.DAAC

  publisher_name :

  Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center (PO.DAAC)

  publisher_type :

  institution

  publisher_url :

  https://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov

  references :

  ECCO Consortium, Fukumori, I., Wang, O., Fenty, I., Forget, G., Heimbach, P., & Ponte, R. M. 2020. Synopsis of the ECCO Central Production Global Ocean and Sea-Ice State Estimate (Version 4 Release 4). doi:10.5281/zenodo.3765928

  source :

  The ECCO V4r4 state estimate was produced by fitting a free-running solution of the MITgcm (checkpoint 66g) to satellite and in situ observational data in a least squares sense using the adjoint method

  standard_name_vocabulary :

  NetCDF Climate and Forecast (CF) Metadata Convention

  summary :

  This dataset provides monthly-averaged sea-ice and snow concentration, thickness, and pressure loading on the lat-lon-cap 90 (llc90) native model grid from the ECCO Version 4 Release 4 (V4r4) ocean and sea-ice state estimate. Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean (ECCO) state estimates are dynamically and kinematically-consistent reconstructions of the three-dimensional, time-evolving ocean, sea-ice, and surface atmospheric states. ECCO V4r4 is a free-running solution of a global, nominally 1-degree configuration of the MIT general circulation model (MITgcm) that has been fit to observations in a least-squares sense. Observational data constraints used in V4r4 include sea surface height (SSH) from satellite altimeters [ERS-1/2, TOPEX/Poseidon, GFO, ENVISAT, Jason-1,2,3, CryoSat-2, and SARAL/AltiKa]; sea surface temperature (SST) from satellite radiometers [AVHRR], sea surface salinity (SSS) from the Aquarius satellite radiometer/scatterometer, ocean bottom pressure (OBP) from the GRACE satellite gravimeter; sea-ice concentration from satellite radiometers [SSM/I and SSMIS], and in-situ ocean temperature and salinity measured with conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) sensors and expendable bathythermographs (XBTs) from several programs [e.g., WOCE, GO-SHIP, Argo, and others] and platforms [e.g., research vessels, gliders, moorings, ice-tethered profilers, and instrumented pinnipeds]. V4r4 covers the period 1992-01-01T12:00:00 to 2018-01-01T00:00:00.

  time_coverage_duration :

  P1M

  time_coverage_end :

  2007-02-01T00:00:00

  time_coverage_resolution :

  P1M

  time_coverage_start :

  2007-01-01T00:00:00

  title :

  ECCO Sea-Ice and Snow Concentration and Thickness - Monthly Mean llc90 Grid (Version 4 Release 4)

  uuid :

  e6cdf192-400d-11eb-93b5-0cc47a3f49c3

Now plot the sea ice concentration/fraction in tile 6 (which approximately covers the Arctic Ocean), during Sep 2007 which at the time was a record minimum for Arctic sea ice.

ds_seaice_conc.SIarea.isel(time=8,tile=6).plot(cmap='cool')

<matplotlib.collections.QuadMesh at 0x7f141c2bd940>