NA-CORDEX-CMIP6
d103294
The NA-CORDEX-CMIP6 dataset contains output from high-resolution regional climate model (RCM) simulations over North America for use in impacts, decision-making, and climate science. These simulations downscale global simulations from the CMIP6 archive to 12 km spatial resolution for 150 years (1950-2100) under two future scenarios, SSP 2-4.5 and SSP 3-7.0. Five GCMs are downscaled: CESM2, EC-Earth-Veg, MPI-ESM1-2-HR, NorESM2-MM, and ACCESS-ESM-1-5. In addition to a suite of impacts-relevant variables, the dataset contains variables for hydrology, solar energy, and wind energy; AFWA diagnostics for severe weather; thermal indices; and tropospheric variables on synoptic levels, all at sub-daily, daily, and monthly frequencies. Detail: NA-CORDEX is the North American contribution to the international CORDEX (COordinated Regional Downscaling EXperiment) program, which is sponsored by WCRP (the World Climate Research Program), to provide coordinated regional climate downscaling for improved regional climate change adaptation and impact assessment. NA-CORDEX-CMIP6 advances the resolution of the NA-CORDEX archive from 25-50 km CMIP5-era simulations to 12 km downscaling of CMIP6-era GCMs. Historical simulations span 1953-2014 (beginning in 1953 to allow adequate land-surface spin-up), and future simulations run 2015-2099. An evaluation run driven by the ERA5 reanalysis running 1980-2023 is also available. Model configuration: Simulations use the WRF regional atmospheric model over a 708 by 674 gridpoint domain with 38 vertical levels and a 50 hPa model top. Greenhouse gases and aerosols are prescribed according to SSP2-4.5 and SSP3-7.0. The land surface model is Noah-MP, using four vertical soil levels and USGS land-use categorization. The configuration also includes a single-level urban canopy model and a 1-dimensional lake model. Full configuration details and the software suite used for post-processing are available at https://github.com/NCAR/NA-CORDEX-CMIP6. Diagnostics and derived indices: Most extreme-weather diagnostics are computed online during the WRF simulations using the built-in AFWA diagnostics package. Additional heat indices (UTCI and WBGT) were calculated during post-processing using the Python package "thermofeel". For wind-energy applications, zonal and meridional wind components are provided at 50, 100, and 150 m above ground level. Variables are supplied at hourly frequency where possible, and 6-hourly otherwise.
dataset
https://gdex.ucar.edu/datasets/d103294/
protocol: https
name: Dataset Description
description: Related Link
function: information
https://gdex.ucar.edu/datasets/d103294/dataaccess/
protocol: https
name: Data Access
description: Related Link
function: download
climatologyMeteorologyAtmosphere
dataset
revision
2021-03-30
WRF > Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model
revision
2026-08-19
EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ALTITUDE > GEOPOTENTIAL HEIGHT
EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE > SEA LEVEL PRESSURE
EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE > SURFACE PRESSURE
EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC RADIATION > LONGWAVE RADIATION > DOWNWELLING LONGWAVE RADIATION
EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC RADIATION > LONGWAVE RADIATION > UPWELLING LONGWAVE RADIATION
EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC RADIATION > SHORTWAVE RADIATION > DOWNWELLING SHORTWAVE RADIATION
EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE > ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE INDICES > HEAT INDEX
EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE > ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE INDICES > WIND CHILL INDEX
EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE > SURFACE TEMPERATURE > AIR TEMPERATURE
EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE > SURFACE TEMPERATURE > MAXIMUM/MINIMUM TEMPERATURE > 24 HOUR MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE
EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE > SURFACE TEMPERATURE > MAXIMUM/MINIMUM TEMPERATURE > 24 HOUR MINIMUM TEMPERATURE
EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE > UPPER AIR TEMPERATURE
EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC WATER VAPOR > WATER VAPOR INDICATORS > HUMIDITY > RELATIVE HUMIDITY
EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC WATER VAPOR > WATER VAPOR INDICATORS > HUMIDITY > SPECIFIC HUMIDITY
EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC WATER VAPOR > WATER VAPOR INDICATORS > TOTAL PRECIPITABLE WATER
EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC WATER VAPOR > WATER VAPOR PROCESSES > EVAPORATION
EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC WINDS > SURFACE WINDS > U/V WIND COMPONENTS
EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC WINDS > SURFACE WINDS > WIND SPEED
EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC WINDS > UPPER LEVEL WINDS > BOUNDARY LAYER WINDS
EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC WINDS > UPPER LEVEL WINDS > U/V WIND COMPONENTS
EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > CLOUDS > CLOUD PROPERTIES > CLOUD FRACTION
EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > PRECIPITATION > LIQUID PRECIPITATION > RAIN > FREEZING RAIN
EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > PRECIPITATION > PRECIPITATION RATE
EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > PRECIPITATION > SNOW WATER EQUIVALENT
EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > WEATHER EVENTS > Stability/Severe Weather Indices > CONVECTIVE AVAILABLE POTENTIAL ENERGY (CAPE)
EARTH SCIENCE > CRYOSPHERE > SNOW/ICE > SNOW MELT
EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > SOILS > SOIL MOISTURE/WATER CONTENT
EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > SURFACE THERMAL PROPERTIES > HEAT FLUX > LATENT HEAT FLUX
EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > SURFACE THERMAL PROPERTIES > HEAT FLUX > SENSIBLE HEAT FLUX
EARTH SCIENCE > TERRESTRIAL HYDROSPHERE > SNOW/ICE > SNOW MELT
EARTH SCIENCE > TERRESTRIAL HYDROSPHERE > SURFACE WATER > SURFACE WATER PROCESSES/MEASUREMENTS > RUNOFF
revision
2026-08-19
178.64725553372818
-13.0703780859792
78.06666450672051
5.907999999999994
1953-01-01T0000+00
2100-01-01T0000+00
publication
2026-08-21
notPlanned
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
None
pointOfContact
NSF NCAR Geoscience Data Exchange
name: NSF NCAR Geoscience Data Exchange
description: The Geoscience Data Exchange (GDEX), managed by the Computational and Information Systems Laboratory (CISL) at NSF NCAR, contains a large collection of meteorological, atmospheric composition, and oceanographic observations, and operational and reanalysis model outputs, integrated with NSF NCAR High Performance Compute services to support atmospheric and geosciences research.
function: download
pointOfContact
2026-08-22T04:04:43Z