BITMAP: Tracks of western disturbances transiting over Pakistan and north India in ERA-Interim reanalysis data (1979-2015)

This dataset contains tracks generated using a bespoke tracking algorithm developed within the BITMAP (Better understanding of Interregional Teleconnections for prediction in the Monsoon And Poles) project, identifying and linking upper-tropospheric vortices (described in Hunt et al, 2018, QJRMS - see linked documentation), using data derived from the ERA-Interim reanalysis data. Similar datasets were produced using various model output from the WCRP CMIP5 programme, available within the parent dataset collection.

Western disturbances (WDs) are upper-level vortices that can significantly impact the weather over Pakistan and north India. This is a catalogue of the tracks of WDs passing through the region (specifically 20-36.5N, 60-80E) on the 450-300 hPa. This differs from those tracks from the CMIP5 data which were carried out on the 500 hPa layer. See linked documentation for details of the algorithms used.

BITMAP was an Indo-UK-German project (NERC grant award NE/P006795/1) to develop better understanding of processes linking the Arctic and Asian monsoon, leading to better prospects for prediction on short, seasonal and decadal scales in both regions. Recent work had suggested that the pole-to-equator temperature difference is an essential ingredient driving variations in the monsoon. For further details on the project itself see the linked Project record.

Date (Publication): 2019-02-05T12:12:24

Date (Creation): 2019-02-05T12:12:24

Citation identifier: https://catalogue.ceda.ac.uk/uuid/233cf64c54e946e0bb691a07970ec245

Citation identifier: Centre for Environmental Data Analysis (CEDA) / 233cf64c54e946e0bb691a07970ec245

Citation identifier: doi / http://dx.doi.org/10.5285/233cf64c54e946e0bb691a07970ec245

Point of contact

Organisation name	Individual name	Electronic mail address	Role
Unavailable	Hunt, Kieran	Unavailable	Author
Unavailable	Turner, Andrew G.	Unavailable	Author
Unavailable	Shaffrey, Len C.	Unavailable	Author
Centre for Environmental Data Analysis (CEDA)		support@ceda.ac.uk	Custodian
Centre for Environmental Data Analysis (CEDA)		support@ceda.ac.uk	Owner
Centre for Environmental Data Analysis (CEDA)		support@ceda.ac.uk	Distributor
Unavailable	Turner, Andrew G.	Unavailable	Principal investigator
Centre for Environmental Data Analysis (CEDA)		support@ceda.ac.uk	pointofContact
Unavailable	Turner, Andrew G.	Unavailable	pointofContact
Centre for Environmental Data Analysis (CEDA)		support@ceda.ac.uk	Publisher

Maintenance and update frequency: Not planned

Update scope: Dataset

Keywords

BITMAP
India
Western disturbances
Vortices

GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0

atmospheric conditions

Access constraints: Other restrictions

Other constraints: Access to these data is available to any registered CEDA user. Please Login or Register for a CEDA account to gain access.

Use constraints: Other restrictions

Other constraints: Under the following licence http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/, appropriate use of these data may fall under any use. This message is intended as guidance, always read the full licence. When using these data you must cite them correctly using the citation given on the CEDA Data Catalogue record.

Spatial representation type: Grid

Language: English

Topic category

Climatology, meteorology, atmosphere

Begin date: 1979-01-01T00:00:00

End date: 2015-12-31T23:59:59

Unique resource identifier: WGS 84

Distribution format

Name	Version
Data are BADC-CSV formatted.

Distributor contact

Organisation name	Individual name	Electronic mail address	Role
Centre for Environmental Data Analysis (CEDA)		support@ceda.ac.uk	Distributor

OnLine resource

Protocol	Linkage	Name
	https://catalogue.ceda.ac.uk/uuid/233cf64c54e946e0bb691a07970ec245	CEDA Data Catalogue Page

OnLine resource

Protocol	Linkage	Name
	http://data.ceda.ac.uk/badc/deposited2018/bitmap/data/era-interim-derived-wd-tracks	DOWNLOAD

OnLine resource

Protocol	Linkage	Name
	https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.3200	Hunt, K. M., Turner, A. G. and Shaffrey, L. C. (2018), The evolution, seasonality and impacts of western disturbances. Q.J.R. Meteorol. Soc., 144: 278-290. doi:10.1002/qj.3200

Hierarchy level: Dataset

Conformance result

Title: Commission Regulation (EU) No 1089/2010 of 23 November 2010 implementing Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards interoperability of spatial data sets and services

Date (Publication): 2010-12-08

Statement: Data produced and prepared for archiving by the authors before supplying to the Centre of Environmental Data Analysis (CEDA) for use by the research community.

Metadata

File identifier: 233cf64c54e946e0bb691a07970ec245 XML

Metadata language: English

Character set: UTF8

Parent identifier: BITMAP: Tracks of western disturbances (1979-2015)
b1f266c25cf2445f8b87d874f6ac830a

Hierarchy level: Dataset

Date stamp: 2026-02-05T03:16:03

Metadata standard name: UK GEMINI

Metadata standard version: 2.3

Metadata author

Organisation name	Individual name	Electronic mail address	Role
Centre for Environmental Data Analysis (CEDA)		support@ceda.ac.uk	Point of contact

Overviews

Spatial extent

Provided by

Access to the catalogue

Read here the full details and access to the data.

Simple

Conformance result

Metadata

Overviews

Spatial extent

Keywords

Provided by

Share on social sites