metpy.constants

This is a collection of meteorologically significant constants.

Earth

Name Abbr. Units Description
earth_avg_radius Re m Avg. radius of the Earth
earth_gravity g m s^-2 Avg. gravity acceleration on Earth
earth_avg_angular_vel omega rad s^-1 Avg. angular velocity of Earth
earth_sfc_avg_dist_sun d m Avg. distance of the Earth from the Sun
earth_solar_irradiance S W m^-2 Avg. solar irradiance of Earth
earth_max_declination delta degrees Max. solar declination angle of Earth
earth_orbit_eccentricity   None Avg. eccentricity of Earth’s orbit

Water

Name Abbr. Units Description
water_molecular_weight Mw g mol^-1 Molecular weight of water
water_gas_constant Rv J (K kg)^-1 Gas constant for water vapor
density_water rho_l kg m^-3 Nominal density of liquid water at 0C
wv_specific_heat_press Cp_v J (K kg)^-1 Specific heat at constant pressure for water vapor
wv_specific_heat_vol Cv_v J (K kg)^-1 Specific heat at constant volume for water vapor
water_specific_heat Cp_l J (K kg)^-1 Specific heat of liquid water at 0C
water_heat_vaporization Lv J kg^-1 Latent heat of vaporization for liquid water at 0C
water_heat_fusion Lf J kg^-1 Latent heat of fusion for liquid water at 0C
ice_specific_heat Cp_i J (K kg)^-1 Specific heat of ice at 0C
density_ice rho_i kg m^-3 Density of ice at 0C

Dry Air

Name Abbr. Units Description
dry_air_molecular_weight Md g / mol Nominal molecular weight of dry air at the surface of th Earth
dry_air_gas_constant Rd J (K kg)^-1 Gas constant for dry air at the surface of the Earth
dry_air_spec_heat_press Cp_d J (K kg)^-1 Specific heat at constant pressure for dry air
dry_air_spec_heat_vol Cv_d J (K kg)^-1 Specific heat at constant volume for dry air
dry_air_density_stp rho_d kg m^-3 Density of dry air at 0C and 1000mb

General Meteorology Constants

Name Abbr. Units Description
pot_temp_ref_press P0 Pa Reference pressure for potential temperature
poisson_exponent kappa None Exponent in Poisson’s equation (Rd/Cp_d)
dry_adiabatic_lapse_rate gamma_d K km^-1 The dry adiabatic lapse rate
molecular_weight_ratio epsilon None Ratio of molecular weight of water to that of dry air