ERA5-Land daily data

This dataset is a collection of daily averages derived from ECMWF’s ERA5-Land hourly data from 1950 to present. It uses the standard UTC day as a base for averages and accumulations, i.e., the day starts at 00:00 UTC and ends at 23:59 UTC on all pixels irrespective of the latitude and the local time.

For instantaneous variables, e.g. the 2 meter temperature (t2m), the operation applied is the Xarray .resample("D").mean() method.

For accumulated variables, e.g. the total precipitation (tp), each daily value is the total accumulated over that UTC day, from 00:00 to 24:00 UTC. In ERA5-Land, the value at 00:00 UTC holds the total accumulated over the previous 24 hours, so the total for day D is taken directly from the 00:00 UTC value of day D+1.

📊 Chunking Specifications

The dataset employs a spatio-temporal chunking scheme of 75 days × 15° latitude × 30° longitude. This corresponds to an array chunk shape of 75 (valid_time) × 150 (latitude) × 300 (longitude).

How to download the data

This Python snippet includes the token directly in the URL.

1import xarray as xr
2
3xr.open_dataset(
4    # Replace the API key placeholder with your actual key
5    "https://edh:<your API key>@data.earthdatahub.destine.eu/era5/era5-land-daily-utc-v1.zarr",
6    chunks={},
7    engine="zarr",
8    zarr_format=3,
9)

Variables

Short NameUnitsDescription
asn
(0 - 1)

Snow albedo

cl
(0 - 1)

Lake cover

cvh
(0 - 1)

High vegetation cover

cvl
(0 - 1)

Low vegetation cover

d2m
K

2 metre dewpoint temperature

dl
m

Lake total depth

e
m of water equivalent

Evaporation

es
m of water equivalent

Snow evaporation

evabs
m of water equivalent

Evaporation from bare soil

evaow
m of water equivalent

Evaporation from open water surfaces excluding oceans

evatc
m of water equivalent

Evaporation from the top of canopy

evavt
m of water equivalent

Evaporation from vegetation transpiration

fal
(0 - 1)

Forecast albedo

glm
Proportion

Glacier mask

lai_hv
m2 m-2

Leaf area index, high vegetation

lai_lv
m2 m-2

Leaf area index, low vegetation

lblt
K

Lake bottom temperature

licd
m

Lake ice total depth

lict
K

Lake ice surface temperature

lmld
m

Lake mix-layer depth

lmlt
K

Lake mix-layer temperature

lshf
dimensionless

Lake shape factor

lsm
(0 - 1)

Land-sea mask

ltlt
K

Lake total layer temperature

pev
m

Potential evaporation

ro
m

Runoff

rsn
kg m-3

Snow density

sd
m of water equivalent

Snow depth

sde
m

Snow depth

sf
m of water equivalent

Snowfall

skt
K

Skin temperature

slhf
J m-2

Time-integrated surface latent heat net flux

slt
(Code table 4.213)

Soil type

smlt
m of water equivalent

Snowmelt

snowc
%

Snow cover

sp
Pa

Surface pressure

src
m of water equivalent

Skin reservoir content

sro
m

Surface runoff

sshf
J m-2

Time-integrated surface sensible heat net flux

ssr
J m-2

Surface net short-wave (solar) radiation

ssrd
J m-2

Surface short-wave (solar) radiation downwards

ssro
m

Sub-surface runoff

stl1
K

Soil temperature level 1

stl2
K

Soil temperature level 2

stl3
K

Soil temperature level 3

stl4
K

Soil temperature level 4

str
J m-2

Surface net long-wave (thermal) radiation

strd
J m-2

Surface long-wave (thermal) radiation downwards

swvl1
m3 m-3

Volumetric soil water layer 1

swvl2
m3 m-3

Volumetric soil water layer 2

swvl3
m3 m-3

Volumetric soil water layer 3

swvl4
m3 m-3

Volumetric soil water layer 4

t2m
K

2 metre temperature

tp
m

Total precipitation

tsn
K

Temperature of snow layer

tvh
(Code table 4.234)

Type of high vegetation

tvl
(Code table 4.234)

Type of low vegetation

u10
m s-1

10 metre U wind component

v10
m s-1

10 metre V wind component

z
m2 s-2

Geopotential

DestinE platform