ERA5 hourly data on single levels - atmosphere

This dataset is a curated subset of atmospheric quantities derived from ECMWF’s ERA5 hourly data on single levels.

Built upon the Climate Data Store (CDS) version of ERA5, this dataset is distributed as a Zarr archive. It is designed to offer a fast, highly accessible alternative for querying ERA5-Land global reanalysis data.

📊 Chunking Specifications

To optimize data access performance for regional and time-series analyses, the dataset employs a spatio-temporal chunking scheme of 45 days × 15° latitude × 15° longitude. This corresponds to an array chunk shape of 1080 (valid_time) × 60 (latitude) × 60 (longitude).

⚠️ Changelog

This dataset moved to Zarr v3 in July 2026 and needs zarr-python 3 or newer. The previous Zarr v2 version is no longer updated: please switch using the migration guide.

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 <your API key> with your actual key
5    "https://edh:<your API key>@data.earthdatahub.destine.eu/era5/era5-single-levels-atmosphere-v0.zarr",
6    chunks={},
7    engine="zarr",
8)

Variables

Short NameUnitsDescription
alnid
(0 - 1)

Near IR albedo for diffuse radiation (climatological)

alnip
(0 - 1)

Near IR albedo for direct radiation (climatological)

aluvd
(0 - 1)

UV visible albedo for diffuse radiation (climatological)

aluvp
(0 - 1)

UV visible albedo for direct radiation (climatological)

anor
radians

Angle of sub-gridscale orography

asn
(0 - 1)

Snow albedo

bld
J m-2

Time-integrated boundary layer dissipation

blh
m

Boundary layer height

cape
J kg-1

Convective available potential energy

cdir
J m-2

Surface direct short-wave radiation, clear sky

chnk
Numeric

Charnock

cin
J kg-1

Convective inhibition

cl
(0 - 1)

Lake cover

cp
m

Convective precipitation

crr
kg m-2 s-1

Convective rain rate

csf
m of water equivalent

Convective snowfall

csfr
kg m-2 s-1

Convective snowfall rate water equivalent

cvh
(0 - 1)

High vegetation cover

cvl
(0 - 1)

Low vegetation cover

d2m
K

2 metre dewpoint temperature

dctb
m

Duct base height

dl
m

Lake total depth

dndza
m-1

Mean vertical gradient of refractivity inside trapping layer

dndzn
m-1

Minimum vertical gradient of refractivity inside trapping layer

e
m of water equivalent

Evaporation

es
m of water equivalent

Snow evaporation

ewss
N m-2 s

Time-integrated eastward turbulent surface stress

fal
(0 - 1)

Forecast albedo

fdir
J m-2

Total sky direct short-wave (solar) radiation at surface

flsr
Numeric

Forecast logarithm of surface roughness for heat

fsr
m

Forecast surface roughness

gwd
J m-2

Gravity wave dissipation

hcc
(0 - 1)

High cloud cover

ie
kg m-2 s-1

Instantaneous moisture flux

iews
N m-2

Instantaneous eastward turbulent surface stress

ilspf
Proportion

Instantaneous large-scale surface precipitation fraction

inss
N m-2

Instantaneous northward turbulent surface stress

ishf
W m-2

Instantaneous surface sensible heat flux

isor
Numeric

Anisotropy of sub-gridscale orography

istl1
K

Ice temperature layer 1

istl2
K

Ice temperature layer 2

istl3
K

Ice temperature layer 3

istl4
K

Ice temperature layer 4

kx
K

K index

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

lcc
(0 - 1)

Low cloud cover

lgws
N m-2 s

Eastward gravity wave surface stress

licd
m

Lake ice total depth

lict
K

Lake ice surface temperature

lmld
m

Lake mix-layer depth

lmlt
K

Lake mix-layer temperature

lsf
m of water equivalent

Large-scale snowfall

lshf
dimensionless

Lake shape factor

lsm
(0 - 1)

Land-sea mask

lsp
m

Large-scale precipitation

lspf
s

Large-scale precipitation fraction

lsrr
kg m-2 s-1

Large scale rain rate

lssfr
kg m-2 s-1

Large scale snowfall rate water equivalent

ltlt
K

Lake total layer temperature

mcc
(0 - 1)

Medium cloud cover

mn2t
K

Minimum temperature at 2 metres since previous post-processing

mntpr
kg m-2 s-1

Minimum total precipitation rate since previous post-processing

msl
Pa

Mean sea level pressure

mx2t
K

Maximum temperature at 2 metres since previous post-processing

mxtpr
kg m-2 s-1

Maximum total precipitation rate since previous post-processing

pev
m

Potential evaporation

ptype
(Code table 4.201)

Precipitation type

ro
m

Runoff

rsn
kg m-3

Snow density

sd
m of water equivalent

Snow depth

sf
m of water equivalent

Snowfall

skt
K

Skin temperature

slhf
J m-2

Surface latent heat flux

slt
(Code table 4.213)

Soil type

smlt
m of water equivalent

Snowmelt

sp
Pa

Surface pressure

sro
m

Surface runoff

sshf
J m-2

Surface sensible heat flux

ssr
J m-2

Surface net short-wave (solar) radiation

ssrc
J m-2

Surface net short-wave (solar) radiation, clear sky

ssrd
J m-2

Surface short-wave (solar) radiation downwards

ssrdc
J m-2

Surface short-wave (solar) radiation downward clear-sky

ssro
m

Sub-surface runoff

sst
K

Sea surface temperature

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

strc
J m-2

Surface net long-wave (thermal) radiation, clear sky

strd
J m-2

Surface long-wave (thermal) radiation downwards

strdc
J m-2

Surface long-wave (thermal) radiation downward clear-sky

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

tcc
(0 - 1)

Total cloud cover

tciw
kg m-2

Total column cloud ice water

tclw
kg m-2

Total column cloud liquid water

tcrw
kg m-2

Total column rain water

tcsw
kg m-2

Total column snow water

tcwv
kg m-2

Total column vertically-integrated water vapour

tisr
J m-2

TOA incident short-wave (solar) radiation

tp
m

Total precipitation

tsn
K

Temperature of snow layer

tsr
J m-2

Top net short-wave (solar) radiation

tsrc
J m-2

Top net short-wave (solar) radiation, clear sky

ttr
J m-2

Top net long-wave (thermal) radiation

ttrc
J m-2

Top net long-wave (thermal) radiation, clear sky

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

u100
m s-1

100 metre U wind component

u10n
m s-1

10 metre u-component of neutral wind

uvb
J m-2

Downward UV radiation at the surface

v10
m s-1

10 metre V wind component

v100
m s-1

100 metre V wind component

v10n
m s-1

10 metre v-component of neutral wind

viiwd
kg m-2 s-1

Vertical integral of divergence of cloud frozen water flux

viiwe
kg m-1 s-1

Vertical integral of eastward cloud frozen water flux

viiwn
kg m-1 s-1

Vertical integral of northward cloud frozen water flux

vilwd
kg m-2 s-1

Vertical integral of divergence of cloud liquid water flux

vilwe
kg m-1 s-1

Vertical integral of eastward cloud liquid water flux

vilwn
kg m-1 s-1

Vertical integral of northward cloud liquid water flux

z
m2 s-2

Geopotential

zust
m s-1

Friction velocity

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