WXP
User's Guide
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Vertical Levels

When a program uses upper air data (observed or forecasted), a vertical level needs to be specified. This value can also be set with the level resource.

Specifying Vertical Levels

The menu lists standard pressure levels but other levels can also accessed. A specific level can be entered with its value and units:

Value Description
Special Levels
snd Entire vertical column or whole sounding
sfc Surface level
sfc[100] surface level with 100 mb above surface layer average (parcel trajectory)
frz Freezing level
lcl Lifted condensation level (LCL)
sea Sea surface
sl Sea level
mwnd Maximum wind level
trop Tropopause level
whole Whole atmosphere
top_frz Top most freezing level
gscld_bot Grid scale cloud bottom
gscld_top Grid scale cloud top
blcld_bot Boundary layer cloud bottom
blcld_top Boundary layer cloud top
blcld_lyr Boundary layer cloud layer
lcld_bot Bottom of low cloud layer
lcld_top Top of low cloud layer
lcld_lyr Low cloud layer
cld_ceil Cloud ceiling
mcld_bot Bottom of middle cloud layer
mcld_top Top of middle cloud layer
mcld_lyr Middle cloud layer
hcld_bot Bottom of high cloud layer
hcld_top Top of high cloud layer
hcld_lyr High cloud layer
conv_bot Bottom of convective cloud layer
conv_top Top of convective cloud layer
conv_lyr Convective cloud layer
wbzero Wetbulb zero level
maxepot Maximum equiv potential temp level
equilib Equilibrium level
pbl Planetary boundary layer
sccld_bot Shallow convection cloud bottom
sccld_top Shallow convection cloud top
dccld_bot Deep convection cloud bottom
dccld_top Deep convection cloud top
sclw_bot Supercooled liquid water layer bottom
sclw_top Supercooled liquid water layer top
Pressure Levels
430mb 430 mb level (pressure)
sfc[100]-500 Surface to 500 mb trajectory with 100 mb mean layer average
850-500mb 850-500 mb layer
sfc-850mb surface to 850 mb layer
p430 430 mb pressure level
p850-500 850-500 mb layer
Pressure Above Ground Levels
10mb_ag 10 mb above ground level
10-40mb_ag 10-40 mb above ground layer
Potential Temperature Levels
310k 310 K potential temperature level (isentropic)
310-330k 310-330 K isentropic layer
k310 310 K isentropic level
k310-330 310-330 K isentropic layer
Height Levels
2000m 2000 meter level (height)
2000ft 2000 foot level
2000-5000m 2000-5000 meter layer
2000-5000ft 2000-5000 foot layer
h2000 2000 meter level
h2000-5000 2000-5000 meter layer
Height Above Ground Levels
50m_ag 50 meters above ground level
50ft_ag 50 foot above ground level
50cm_bg 50 cm below ground level
50-200m_ag 50-200 meters above ground layer
50-200ft_ag 50-200 foot above ground layer
50-200cm_ag 50-200 cm below ground layer
Other Levels
97sig .97 sigma level
97-91sig .97-.91 sigma layer
97eta .97 eta level
97-91eta .97-.91 eta layer
1pv Potential vorticity level
1hyb First hybrid level
2lev 2nd level
2-5lev 2nd-5th level layer
Miscellaneous Levels
level use the value of the level resource (used in var files)
miss missing level, take first available

Updated January 2021

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