BackForward Variable: Integrated Water Vapour (IWV)

Definition
Full name Integrated Water Vapour (IWV)
Definition Total amount of water vapour present in a vertical atmospheric column.
Measuring Units kg.m-2 Uncertainty Units kg.m-2
Horizontal Res Units km Vertical Res Units
Stability Units kg.m-2 (Stability /decade)

 

Comment: Taking into account the density of liquid water, the IWV expressed in kg/m2 is equivalent to the Total Precipitable Water (TPW) expressed in mm of liquid water. Strictly speaking, however, not all the water vapour is actually precipitable.
Last modified:
Applied in OSCAR/Space Gap Analysis: Yes
Classification
  • Domain: Atmosphere
    • Sub-domain: Basic atmospheric
      • Variable: Integrated Water Vapour (IWV)
        • Measured in Layers:
          • TC
  • Cross-cutting themes:

Requirements defined for Integrated Water Vapour (IWV)  (6)

This tables shows all related requirements. For more operations/filtering, please consult the full list of Requirements
Note: In reading the values, goal is marked blue, breakthrough green and threshold orange

Id Variable Layer App Area Uncertainty Stability / decade Hor Res Ver Res Obs Cyc Timeliness Coverage Conf Level Val Date Source
114 Integrated Water Vapour (IWV) TC Climate-AOPC (deprecated) 1 kg.m-2
1.4 kg.m-2
3 kg.m-2 		50 km
100 km
200 km 		3 h
4 h
6 h 		7 d
14 d
60 d 		Global firm 2007-07-19 AOPC
304 Integrated Water Vapour (IWV) TC Global NWP 1 kg.m-2
2 kg.m-2
5 kg.m-2 		15 km
50 km
250 km 		60 min
6 h
12 h 		6 min
30 min
6 h 		Global firm 2009-02-10 John Eyre
380 Integrated Water Vapour (IWV) TC High Res NWP 1 kg.m-2
2 kg.m-2
5 kg.m-2 		0.5 km
5 km
20 km 		15 min
60 min
6 h 		15 min
30 min
2 h 		Global firm 2010-02-01 T Montmerle
449 Integrated Water Vapour (IWV) TC Nowcasting / VSRF 1 kg.m-2
2 kg.m-2
5 kg.m-2 		5 km
10 km
50 km 		15 min
30 min
60 min 		5 min
10 min
30 min 		Global firm 2013-04-03 P. Ambrosetti
115 Integrated Water Vapour (IWV) TrC Climate-AOPC (deprecated) 1 kg.m-2
1.4 kg.m-2
3 kg.m-2 		10 km
25 km
200 km 		3 h
4 h
6 h 		7 d
14 d
60 d 		Global reasonable 2007-07-19 AOPC
817 Integrated Water Vapour (IWV) TC Climate Monitoring (GCOS) 25 km 4 h Global reasonable 2019-09-27 GCOS-200: The Global Observing System for Climate: Implementation Needs (Published 2016)