Geopotential Height | Interval Values of Geopotential Height | Water Vapor Mixing Ratio | Layer Thickness

Various Meteorological API Parameters

Geopotential Height

Gives the geopotential height in meters or decameters at the indicated level. The geopotential height differs from geometric height (elevation above sea level) and takes into account the variation of gravity with latitude and elevation.

geopotential_height_<level>:<unit>

Available levels (global): 1000hPa, 950hPa, 925hPa, 900hPa, 850hPa, 800hPa, 700hPa, 500hPa, 300hPa, 250hPa, 200hPa, 150hPa, 100hPa, 70hPa, 50hPa, 10hPa
Available flight levels: FL10 - FL900 (continuously)

Available units: m, dam

Examples

MetX chart showing geopotential at 500 hPa level (shading and isonlines):

Current situation:
https://api.meteomatics.com/2023-03-20T00:00:00Z--2023-03-23T00:00:00Z:PT1H/geopotential_height_500hPa:m/46.5468,7.9826/html
The geopotential height at 500 hPa at the "Jungfrau" in csv format

https://api.meteomatics.com/now/t_500hPa:C,gh_500hPa:m/46.5468,7.9826/csv
```
validdate;t_500hPa:C;gh_500hPa:m
2018-01-01T00:00:00Z;-22.1;5539.3
```

Interval Values of Geopotential Height

Gives the mean, maximum or minimum geopotential at the indicated flight level over the indicated duration.

geopotential_height_<measure>_<level>_<interval>:<unit>

Available flight levels: FL10 - FL900 (continuously)

Available measures: mean, min, max

Available intervals: 1h, 3h, 6h, 12h, 24h

Available units: m, dam

Examples

Create a time series for the maximum geopotential at FL100 for Los Angeles using 3 hour intervals.
Current situation:
https://api.meteomatics.com/2023-03-20T00:00:00Z--2023-03-23T00:00:00Z:PT3H/geopotential_height_max_FL100_3h:m/34.0522,118.2437/html?source=mix

Water Vapor Mixing Ratio

Gives the mixing ratio of water vapor and dry air at the indicated level in kg water vapor per kg dry air.

mixing_ratio_<level>:kgkg

Available levels (global): 1000hPa, 950hPa, 925hPa, 900hPa, 850hPa, 800hPa, 700hPa, 500hPa, 300hPa

Available flight levels: FL10 - FL605 (continuously)

Examples

Query the current mixing ratio for a random coordinate:
https://api.meteomatics.com/2023-03-20T00:00:00Z--2023-03-23T00:00:00Z:PT1H/mixing_ratio_700hPa:kgkg/47.4245,9.3767/html?model=mix

Layer Thickness

Layer thickness is a measure of how warm or cold a layer of the atmosphere is, usually a layer in the lowest 5 km (17,000 feet) of the troposphere; high values mean warm air, and low values mean cold air. Rain and snow are equally likely when the 500-1000 hPa thickness is about 5225 gpm (or 522 dam). Rain is rare when the 500-1000 hPa thickness is less than 5190 gpm. Snow is extremely rare when the 500-1000 hPa thickness is greater than 5395 gpm.

layer_thickness_<upper_level>_<lower_level>:<unit>

Available level combinations:
- layer_thickness_500hPa_1000hPa:<unit>
- layer_thickness_500hPa_700hPa:<unit>
- layer_thickness_700hPa_1000hPa:<unit>
- layer_thickness_700hPa_850hPa:<unit>
- layer_thickness_850hPa_1000hPa:<unit>
Available units: m, dam

Example

The different layer_thickness combinations in comparison:

http://api.meteomatics.com/todayT06ZP3D:PT1H/layer_thickness_500hPa_1000hPa:dam,layer_thickness_850hPa_1000hPa:dam,layer_thickness_700hPa_1000hPa:dam,layer_thickness_700hPa_850hPa:dam,layer_thickness_500hPa_700hPa:dam/45,5/html