An Hourly Dataset of Moisture Budget Components Over the Indian Subcontinent (1940–2024)
Akash Singh Raghuvanshi, Ankit Agarwal
Abstract
A gridded dataset of atmospheric moisture budget components constructed from ERA5 reanalysis over the Indian subcontinent and surrounding ocean regions for the period 1940-2024, referred to as ERA5moistIN. Available at 0.25 degree spatial and hourly temporal resolution, the dataset includes seven components of the column integrated moisture budget: change in storage, horizontal and vertical advection, horizontal and vertical convergence, and associated moisture flux convergence terms. These components are derived from pressure level variables including specific humidity and zonal, meridional, and vertical wind components using central finite difference methods and vertical integration, along with surface pressure. Validation against ERA5 single level outputs, such as total column water vapor and vertically integrated moisture divergence, demonstrates physical consistency and reliability. The diagnostic framework can be adapted to other reanalysis datasets and climate model outputs with minor code changes and is applicable to any region. ERA5moistIN supports high resolution analysis of moisture processes and is suitable for applications including monsoon studies, extreme event attribution, model evaluation, and predictive tool development.