[GRIB table for the NCEP operational files as of 10-21-96]

TABLE 2. PARAMETERS & UNITS1 & 2

Version 2 (PDS Octet 9)

VALUE   PARAMETER                            UNITS     ABBREV.
          
000 Reserved
001 Pressure                                 Pa        PRES
002 Pressure reduced to MSL                  Pa        PRMSL
003 Pressure tendency                        Pa/s      PTEND
004
005 ICAO Standard Atmosphere Reference Hgt   M         ICAHT
006 Geopotential                             m2/s2     GP
007 Geopotential height                      gpm       HGT
008 Geometric height                         m         DIST
009 Standard deviation of height             m         HSTDV
010 Total ozone                              Dobson    TOZNE
011 Temperature                              K         TMP
012 Virtual temperature                      K         VTMP
013 Potential temperature                    K         POT
014 Pseudo-adiabatic potential temperature   K         EPOT
    or equivalent potential temperature
015 Maximum temperature                      K         T MAX
016 Minimum temperature                      K         T MIN
017 Dew point temperature                    K         DPT
018 Dew point depression (or deficit)        K         DEPR
019 Lapse rate                               K/m       LAPR
020 Visibility                               m         VIS

021 Radar Spectra (1)                        -         RDSP1
022 Radar Spectra (2)                        -         RDSP2
023 Radar Spectra (3)                        -         RDSP3
024 Parcel lifted index (to 500 hPa)         K         PLI
025 Temperature anomaly                      K         TMP A
026 Pressure anomaly                         Pa        PRESA
027 Geopotential height anomaly              gpm       GP A
028 Wave Spectra (1)                         -         WVSP1
029 Wave Spectra (2)                         -         WVSP2
030 Wave Spectra (3)                         -         WVSP3
031 Wind direction (from which blowing)      deg true  WDIR
032 Wind speed                               m/s       WIND
033 u-component of wind                      m/s       U GRD
034 v-component of wind                      m/s       V GRD
035 Stream function                          m2/s      STRM

1 See notes at the end of the table
2 Abbreviations were added to Table 2 during the most recent edit.


036 Velocity potential                       m2/s      V POT
037 Montgomery stream function               m2/s2     MNTSF
038 Sigma coord. vertical velocity           /s        SGCVV
039 Pressure Vertical velocity               Pa/s      V VEL
040 Geometric Vertical velocity              m/s       DZDT
041 Absolute vorticity                       /s        ABS V
042 Absolute divergence                      /s        ABS D
043 Relative vorticity                       /s        REL V
044 Relative divergence                      /s        REL D
045 Vertical u-component shear               /s        VUCSH
046 Vertical v-component shear               /s        VVCSH
047 Direction of current                     deg true  DIR C
048 Speed of current                         m/s       SP C
049 u-component of current                   m/s       UOGRD
050 v-component of current                   m/s       VOGRD
051 Specific humidity                        kg/kg     SPF H
052 Relative humidity                        %         R H
053 Humidity mixing ratio                    kg/kg     MIXR
054 Precipitable water                       kg/m2     P WAT
055 Vapor pressure                           Pa        VAPP
056 Saturation deficit                       Pa        SAT D
057 Evaporation                              kg/m2     EVP
058 Cloud Ice                                kg/m2     C ICE
059 Precipitation rate                       kg/m2/s   PRATE
060 Thunderstorm probability                 %         TSTM
061 Total precipitation                      kg/m2     A PCP
062 Large scale precipitation (non-conv.)    kg/m2     NCPCP
063 Convective precipitation                 kg/m2     ACPCP
064 Snowfall rate water equivalent           kg/m2/s   SRWEQ
065 Water equiv. of accum. snow depth        kg/m2     WEASD
066 Snow depth                               m         SNO D
067 Mixed layer depth                        m         MIXHT
068 Transient thermocline depth              m         TTHDP
069 Main thermocline depth                   m         MTHD
070 Main thermocline anomaly                 m         MTH A
071 Total cloud cover                        %         T CDC
072 Convective cloud cover                   %         CDCON
073 Low cloud cover                          %         L CDC
074 Medium cloud cover                       %         M CDC
075 High cloud cover                         %         H CDC
076 Cloud water                              kg/m2     C WAT
077 Best lifted index (to 500 hPa)           K         BLI
078 Convective snow                          kg/m2     SNO C
079 Large scale snow                         kg/m2     SNO L
080 Water Temperature                        K         WTMP
081 Land-sea mask(land=1;sea=0)              fraction  LAND
     (see note)
082 Deviation of sea level from mean         m         DSL M
083 Surface roughness                        m         SFC R
084 Albedo                                   %         ALBDO
085 Soil temperature                         K         TSOIL
086 Soil moisture content                    kg/m2     SOIL M
087 Vegetation                               %         VEG
088 Salinity                                 kg/kg     SALTY
089 Density                                  kg/m3     DEN
090 Water runoff                             kg/m2     WATR
091 Ice concentration (ice=1;no ice=0)       fraction  ICE C
     (see note)     
092 Ice thickness                            m         ICETK
093 Direction of ice drift                   deg. true DICED
094 Speed of ice drift                       m/s       SICED
095 u-component of ice drift                 m/s       U ICE
096 v-component of ice drift                 m/s       V ICE
097 Ice growth rate                          m/s       ICE G
098 Ice divergence                           /s        ICE D
099 Snow melt                                kg/m2     SNO M
100 Significant height of combined wind      m         HTSGW
     waves and swell
101 Direction of wind waves (from which)     deg true  WVDIR
102 Significant height of wind waves         m         WVHGT
103 Mean period of wind waves                s         WVPER
104 Direction of swell waves                 deg true  SWDIR
105 Significant height of swell waves        m         SWELL
106 Mean period of swell waves               s         SWPER
107 Primary wave direction                   deg true  DIRPW
108 Primary wave mean period                 s         PERPW
109 Secondary wave direction                 deg true  DIRSW
110 Secondary wave mean period               s         PERSW
111 Net short-wave radiation (surface)       W/m2      NSWRS
112 Net long wave radiation (surface)        W/m2      NLWRS
113 Net short-wave radiation (top of atmos.) W/m2      NSWRT
114 Net long wave radiation (top of atmos.)  W/m2      NLWRT
115 Long wave radiation                      W/m2      LWAVR
116 Short wave radiation                     W/m2      SWAVR
117 Global radiation                         W/m2      G RAD
118 Brightness temperature                   K         BRTMP
119 Long-wave radiation                      W/srm2    LWRAD
120 Short-wave radiation                     W/srm2    SWRAD
121 Latent heat net flux                     W/m2      LHTFL
122 Sensible heat net flux                   W/m2      SHTFL
123 Boundary layer dissipation               W/m2      BLYDP
124 Momentum flux, u component               N/m2      U FLX
125 Momentum flux, v component               N/m2      V FLX
126 Wind mixing energy                       J         WMIXE
127 Image data                                         IMG D

128 - 254  Reserved for use by originating center

     NWS/NCEP usage as follows...

128 Mean Sea Level Pressure                  Pa        MSLSA
     (Standard Atmosphere Reduction)
129 Mean Sea Level Pressure                  Pa        MSLMA
     (MAPS System Reduction)
130 Mean Sea Level Pressure                  Pa        MSLET
     (ETA Model Reduction)

131 Surface lifted index                     K         LFT X
132 Best (4 layer) lifted index              K         4LFTX
133 K index                                  K         K X
134 Sweat index                              K         S X
135 Horizontal moisture divergence           kg/kg/s   MCONV
136 Vertical speed shear                     1/s       VW SH
137 3-hr pressure tendency                   Pa/s      TSLSA
     Std. Atmos. Reduction
138 Brunt-Vaisala frequency (squared)        1/s2      BVF 2
139 Potential vorticity (density weighted)   1/s/m     PV MW
140 Categorical rain  (yes=1; no=0)          non-dim   CRAIN
141 Categorical freezing rain  (yes=1; no=0) non-dim   CFRZR
142 Categorical ice pellets  (yes=1; no=0)   non-dim   CICEP
143 Categorical snow  (yes=1; no=0)          non-dim   CSNOW
144 Volumetric soil moisture content         fraction  SOILW
145 Potential evaporation rate               W/m**2    PEVPR
146 Cloud workfunction                       J/kg      CWORK
147 Zonal flux of gravity wave stress        N/m**2    U-GWD
148 Meridional flux of gravity wave stress   N/m**2    V-GWD
149 Potential vorticity                      m**2/s/kg PV
150 Covariance between meridional            m2/s2     COVMZ
     and zonal components of the wind.
     Defined as [uv]-[u][v], where
     "[]" indicates the mean over the
      indicated time span.
151 Covariance between temperature           K*m/s     COVTZ
     and zonal component of the wind.
     Defined as [uT]-[u][T], where
     "[]" indicates the mean over the
      indicated time span.
152 Covariance between temperature           K*m/s     COVTM
     and meridional component of the
     wind.  Defined as [vT]-[v][T], 
     where "[]" indicates the mean 
     over the indicated time span.
153 Cloud water                              Kg/kg     CLWMR
154 Ozone mixing ratio                       Kg/kg     O3MR
155 Ground Heat Flux                         W/m2      GFLUX
156 Convective inhibition                    J/kg      CIN
157 Convective Available Potential Energy    J/kg      CAPE
158 Turbulent Kinetic Energy                 J/kg      TKE
159 Condensation pressure of parcel          Pa        CONDP
     lifted from indicated surface
160 Clear Sky Upward Solar Flux              W/m2      CSUSF
161 Clear Sky Downward Solar Flux            W/m2      CSDSF
162 Clear Sky upward long wave flux          W/m2      CSULF
163 Clear Sky downward long wave flux        W/m2      CSDLF
164 Cloud forcing net solar flux             W/m2      CFNSF
165 Cloud forcing net long wave flux         W/m2      CFNLF
166 Visible beam downward solar flux         W/m2      VBDSF
167 Visible diffuse downward solar flux      W/m2      VDDSF
168 Near IR beam downward solar flux         W/m2      NBDSF
169 Near IR diffuse downward solar flux      W/m2      NDDSF
170
171
172 Momentum flux                            N/m2      M FLX
173 Mass point model surface                 non-dim   LMH
174 Velocity point model surface             non-dim   LMV
175 Model layer number (from bottom up)      non-dim   MLYNO
176 latitude (-90 to +90)                    deg       NLAT
177 east longitude (0-360)                   deg       ELON
178
179
180
181 x-gradient of log pressure               1/m       LPS X
182 y-gradient of log pressure               1/m       LPS Y
183 x-gradient of height                     m/m       HGT X
184 y-gradient of height                     m/m       HGT Y
185
186
187
188
189 Virtual potential temperature            K         VPTMP
190 Storm relative helicity                  m2/s2     HLCY
191 Probability from ensemble                numeric   PROB
192 Probability from ensemble normalized     numeric   PROBN
     with respect to climate expectancy
193 Probability of precipitation             %         POP
194 Probability of frozen precipitation      %         CPOFP
195 Probability of freezing precipitation    %         CPOZP
196 u-component of storm motion              m/s       USTM
197 v-component of storm motion              m/s       VSTM
198
199
200
201 Ice-free water surface                   %         ICWAT
202
203
204 downward short wave rad. flux            W/m2      DSWRF
205 downward long wave rad. flux             W/m2      DLWRF
206 Ultra violet index (1 hour integration   J/m2      UVI
    centered at solar noon)
207 Moisture availability                    %         MSTAV
208 Exchange coefficient                     (kg/m3)(m/s)  SFEXC
209 No. of mixed layers next to surface      integer   MIXLY
210
211 upward short wave rad. flux              W/m2      USWRF
212 upward long wave rad. flux               W/m2      ULWRF
213 Amount of non-convective cloud           %         CDLYR
214 Convective Precipitation rate            kg/m2/s   CPRAT
215 Temperature tendency by all physics      K/s       TTDIA
216 Temperature tendency by all radiation    K/s       TTRAD
217 Temperature tendency by non-radiation    K/s       TTPHY
    physics
218 precip.index(0.0-1.00)(see note)         fraction  PREIX
219 Std. dev. of IR T over 1x1 deg area      K         TSD1D
220 Natural log of surface pressure          ln(kPa)   NLGSP
221 Planetary boundary layer height          m         HPBL
222 5-wave geopotential height               gpm       5WAVH
223 Plant canopy surface water               kg/m2     C WAT
224
225
226 Blackadar's mixing length scale          m         BMIXL
227 Asymptotic mixing length scale           m         AMIXL
228 Potential evaporation                    kg/m2     PEVAP
229 Snow phase-change heat flux              W/m2      SNOHF
230
231 Convective cloud mass flux               Pa/s      MFLUX
232 Downward total radiation flux            W/m2      DTRF
233 Upward total radiation flux              W/m2      UTRF
234 Baseflow-groundwater runoff              kg/m2     BGRUN
235 Storm surface runoff                     kg/m2     SSRUN
236
237 Total ozone                              Kg/m2     03TOT
238 Snow cover                               percent   SNO C
239 Snow temperature                         K         SNO T
240
241 Large scale condensat. heat rate         K/s       LRGHR
242 Deep convective heating rate             K/s       CNVHR
243 Deep convective moistening rate          kg/kg/s   CNVMR
244 Shallow convective heating rate          K/s       SHAHR
245 Shallow convective moistening rate       kg/kg/s   SHAMR
246 Vertical diffusion heating rate          K/s       VDFHR
247 Vertical diffusion zonal acceleration    m/s2      VDFUA
248 Vertical diffusion meridional accel      m/s2      VDFVA
249 Vertical diffusion moistening rate       kg/kg/s   VDFMR
250 Solar radiative heating rate             K/s       SWHR
251 long wave radiative heating rate         K/s       LWHR
252 Drag coefficient                         non-dim   CD
253 Friction velocity                        m/s       FRICV
254 Richardson number                        non-dim.  RI
255 Missing



Notes:

1)   By convention, downward net fluxes of radiation or other quantities
     are assigned negative values; upward net fluxes of radiation or other
     quantities are assigned positive values.
2)   Unidirectional flux values, where the direction of flow is indicated
     in the name of the parameter (e.g., 204,205,211,212), shall all have
     positive values irrespective of the direction of flow.  Net (vertical)
     fluxes shall be calculated by subtracting the downward flux values
     from the upward flux values.
3)   The u and v components of vector quantities are defined with
     reference to GDS Octet 17 and Table 7.  However, if the GDS is
     not included in a message, then any wind components are assumed
     to be resolved relative to the grid specified in the PDS with u and v
     defined as positive in the direction of increasing x and y (or i and j)
     coordinates respectively.
4)   Provision is made for three types of spectra:
     1)  Direction and Frequency
     2)  Direction and radial number
     3)  Radial number and radial number
               
5)   Parameters 81 and 91 show the units as "fraction", thus allowing for
     a range of coverage. It is up to the user to employ the D (power of
     ten) scaling to assure that the necessary precision is retained in the
     numeric values.
6)   Precipitation index (#218) defined as the fraction of satellite
     observed pixels with temperatures <235K over 1.0x1.0 box, centered
     at the gridpoint.


Note: If the value is highlighted, then either the Operational or
      Reanalysis grib table has this entry as UNDEFINED.

      If the parameter is highlighted, then the Operational and
      Reanalysis grib tables have different entries.

      Both grib tables will continue to be modified.  Please consult the 
      current GRIB table(s). The above comparison was done 10-23-96.

      latest operational table:

   ftp://ftp.ncep.noaa.gov/pub/nws/nmc/docs/gribed1/sect1.wp6
      (wordperfect6)
   ftp://ftp.ncep.noaa.gov/pub/nws/nmc/docs/gribed1/sect1.ps
      (postscript)

     latest Reanalysis table is not available by anonymous FTP,
       a public-access copy (updated every n-months) is available at

   ftp://ftp.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/wd51we/wgrib/kpds5.v21.Z
      (compressed text)


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