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CMIP7 Pressure coordinates have various long_names #3093

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CMIP7 Pressure coordinates have various long_names#3093
@bettina-gier

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@bettina-gier
bettina-gier
opened on May 29, 2026

Using the data in ESMValGroup/ESMValTool#4439 to run the recipe_ref_ozone.yml with fake CMIP7 and ESACCI-OZONE data @hb326 and me got an error when trying to calculate the bias plot:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/work/bd0854/b309137/esmval/ESMValTool/esmvaltool/diag_scripts/monitor/multi_datasets.py", line 2401, in <module>
    main(config)
  File "/work/bd0854/b309137/esmval/ESMValTool/esmvaltool/diag_scripts/monitor/multi_datasets.py", line 2396, in main
    MultiDatasets(cfg).compute()
  File "/work/bd0854/b309137/esmval/ESMValTool/esmvaltool/diag_scripts/monitor/multi_datasets.py", line 2384, in compute
    plot_function(datasets)
  File "/work/bd0854/b309137/esmval/ESMValTool/esmvaltool/diag_scripts/monitor/multi_datasets.py", line 2239, in create_2d_plot
    fig = self._plot_2d_data_3_panel(
          ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/work/bd0854/b309137/esmval/ESMValTool/esmvaltool/diag_scripts/monitor/multi_datasets.py", line 1844, in _plot_2d_data_3_panel
    dataset_bottom = self._get_bias_dataset(dataset_left, dataset_right)
                     ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/work/bd0854/b309137/esmval/ESMValTool/esmvaltool/diag_scripts/monitor/multi_datasets.py", line 1338, in _get_bias_dataset
    bias_cube = dataset_1["cube"] - dataset_2["cube"]
                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  File "/work/bd0854/b309137/esmval/ESMValTool/.pixi/envs/esmvalcore-dev/lib/python3.12/site-packages/iris/cube.py", line 4507, in __sub__
    return iris.analysis.maths.subtract(self, other)
           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/work/bd0854/b309137/esmval/ESMValTool/.pixi/envs/esmvalcore-dev/lib/python3.12/site-packages/iris/common/lenient.py", line 127, in lenient_client_inner
    result = func(*args, **kwargs)
             ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/work/bd0854/b309137/esmval/ESMValTool/.pixi/envs/esmvalcore-dev/lib/python3.12/site-packages/iris/analysis/maths.py", line 313, in subtract
    return _add_subtract_common(
           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/work/bd0854/b309137/esmval/ESMValTool/.pixi/envs/esmvalcore-dev/lib/python3.12/site-packages/iris/analysis/maths.py", line 359, in _add_subtract_common
    result = _binary_op_common(
             ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/work/bd0854/b309137/esmval/ESMValTool/.pixi/envs/esmvalcore-dev/lib/python3.12/site-packages/iris/analysis/maths.py", line 857, in _binary_op_common
    resolver = Resolve(cube, other)
               ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/work/bd0854/b309137/esmval/ESMValTool/.pixi/envs/esmvalcore-dev/lib/python3.12/site-packages/iris/common/resolve.py", line 334, in __init__
    self(lhs, rhs)
  File "/work/bd0854/b309137/esmval/ESMValTool/.pixi/envs/esmvalcore-dev/lib/python3.12/site-packages/iris/common/resolve.py", line 388, in __call__
    self._metadata_mapping()
  File "/work/bd0854/b309137/esmval/ESMValTool/.pixi/envs/esmvalcore-dev/lib/python3.12/site-packages/iris/common/resolve.py", line 1223, in _metadata_mapping
    self._free_mapping(
  File "/work/bd0854/b309137/esmval/ESMValTool/.pixi/envs/esmvalcore-dev/lib/python3.12/site-packages/iris/common/resolve.py", line 1097, in _free_mapping
    raise ValueError(emsg)
ValueError: Insufficient matching coordinate metadata to resolve cubes, cannot map dimension (0,) of the RHS cube 'mole_fraction_of_ozone_in_air' to the LHS cube 'mole_fraction_of_ozone_in_air'.

printing the pressure coordinate metadata shows

DimCoordMetadata(standard_name=air_pressure, long_name=Pressure Levels (19), var_name=plev, units=hPa, attributes={'positive': 'down'}, climatological=False, circular=False)
DimCoordMetadata(standard_name=air_pressure, long_name=pressure, var_name=plev, units=hPa, attributes={'positive': 'down'}, climatological=False, circular=False)

Looking at the CMIP7 tables, this will be occuring for many 3D variables with distinct long_name for each possible pressure level coordinate, which will make it harder to do calculations with OBS and the CMIP7 vars.

ESMValCore/esmvalcore/cmor/tables/cmip7/tables/CMIP7_coordinate.json

Lines 1562 to 1941 in d756912

"plev19": {
"axis": "Z",
"bounds_values": "",
"climatology": "",
"formula": "",
"generic_level_name": "",
"long_name": "Pressure Levels (19)",
"must_have_bounds": "no",
"out_name": "plev",
"positive": "down",
"requested": [
"100000.0",
"92500.0",
"85000.0",
"70000.0",
"60000.0",
"50000.0",
"40000.0",
"30000.0",
"25000.0",
"20000.0",
"15000.0",
"10000.0",
"7000.0",
"5000.0",
"3000.0",
"2000.0",
"1000.0",
"500.0",
"100.0"
],
"requested_bounds": "",
"standard_name": "air_pressure",
"stored_direction": "decreasing",
"tolerance": "1",
"type": "double",
"units": "Pa",
"valid_max": "",
"valid_min": "",
"value": "",
"z_bounds_factors": "",
"z_factors": ""
},
"plev27": {
"axis": "Z",
"bounds_values": "",
"climatology": "",
"formula": "",
"generic_level_name": "",
"long_name": "Pressure Levels (27)",
"must_have_bounds": "no",
"out_name": "plev",
"positive": "down",
"requested": [
"100000.0",
"97500.0",
"95000.0",
"92500.0",
"90000.0",
"87500.0",
"85000.0",
"82500.0",
"80000.0",
"77500.0",
"75000.0",
"70000.0",
"65000.0",
"60000.0",
"55000.0",
"50000.0",
"45000.0",
"40000.0",
"35000.0",
"30000.0",
"25000.0",
"22500.0",
"20000.0",
"17500.0",
"15000.0",
"12500.0",
"10000.0"
],
"requested_bounds": "",
"standard_name": "air_pressure",
"stored_direction": "decreasing",
"tolerance": "1",
"type": "double",
"units": "Pa",
"valid_max": "",
"valid_min": "",
"value": "",
"z_bounds_factors": "",
"z_factors": ""
},
"plev3": {
"axis": "Z",
"bounds_values": "",
"climatology": "",
"formula": "",
"generic_level_name": "",
"long_name": "Pressure Levels (3)",
"must_have_bounds": "no",
"out_name": "plev",
"positive": "down",
"requested": [
"85000.0",
"50000.0",
"25000.0"
],
"requested_bounds": "",
"standard_name": "air_pressure",
"stored_direction": "decreasing",
"tolerance": "1",
"type": "double",
"units": "Pa",
"valid_max": "",
"valid_min": "",
"value": "",
"z_bounds_factors": "",
"z_factors": ""
},
"plev39": {
"axis": "Z",
"bounds_values": "",
"climatology": "",
"formula": "",
"generic_level_name": "",
"long_name": "Pressure Levels (39)",
"must_have_bounds": "no",
"out_name": "plev",
"positive": "down",
"requested": [
"100000.0",
"92500.0",
"85000.0",
"70000.0",
"60000.0",
"50000.0",
"40000.0",
"30000.0",
"25000.0",
"20000.0",
"17000.0",
"15000.0",
"13000.0",
"11500.0",
"10000.0",
"9000.0",
"8000.0",
"7000.0",
"5000.0",
"3000.0",
"2000.0",
"1500.0",
"1000.0",
"700.0",
"500.0",
"300.0",
"200.0",
"150.0",
"100.0",
"70.0",
"50.0",
"40.0",
"30.0",
"20.0",
"15.0",
"10.0",
"7.0",
"5.0",
"3.0"
],
"requested_bounds": "",
"standard_name": "air_pressure",
"stored_direction": "decreasing",
"tolerance": "1",
"type": "double",
"units": "Pa",
"valid_max": "",
"valid_min": "",
"value": "",
"z_bounds_factors": "",
"z_factors": ""
},
"plev4": {
"axis": "Z",
"bounds_values": "",
"climatology": "",
"formula": "",
"generic_level_name": "",
"long_name": "Pressure Levels (4)",
"must_have_bounds": "no",
"out_name": "plev",
"positive": "down",
"requested": [
"92500.0",
"85000.0",
"50000.0",
"25000.0"
],
"requested_bounds": "",
"standard_name": "air_pressure",
"stored_direction": "decreasing",
"tolerance": "1",
"type": "double",
"units": "Pa",
"valid_max": "",
"valid_min": "",
"value": "",
"z_bounds_factors": "",
"z_factors": ""
},
"plev5u": {
"axis": "Z",
"bounds_values": "",
"climatology": "",
"formula": "",
"generic_level_name": "",
"long_name": "Pressure Levels (5 UTLS)",
"must_have_bounds": "no",
"out_name": "plev",
"positive": "down",
"requested": [
"25000.0",
"22500.0",
"20000.0",
"17500.0",
"15000.0"
],
"requested_bounds": "",
"standard_name": "air_pressure",
"stored_direction": "decreasing",
"tolerance": "1",
"type": "double",
"units": "Pa",
"valid_max": "",
"valid_min": "",
"value": "",
"z_bounds_factors": "",
"z_factors": ""
},
"plev6": {
"axis": "Z",
"bounds_values": "",
"climatology": "",
"formula": "",
"generic_level_name": "",
"long_name": "Pressure Levels (6 boundary layer)",
"must_have_bounds": "no",
"out_name": "plev",
"positive": "down",
"requested": [
"95000.0",
"90000.0",
"85000.0",
"80000.0",
"75000.0",
"70000.0"
],
"requested_bounds": "",
"standard_name": "air_pressure",
"stored_direction": "decreasing",
"tolerance": "1",
"type": "double",
"units": "Pa",
"valid_max": "",
"valid_min": "",
"value": "",
"z_bounds_factors": "",
"z_factors": ""
},
"plev7c": {
"axis": "Z",
"bounds_values": "",
"climatology": "",
"formula": "",
"generic_level_name": "",
"long_name": "Pressure Levels (7 for ISCCP)",
"must_have_bounds": "yes",
"out_name": "plev",
"positive": "down",
"requested": [
"90000.0",
"74000.0",
"62000.0",
"50000.0",
"37500.0",
"24500.0",
"9000.0"
],
"requested_bounds": [
"100000.0",
"80000.0",
"80000.0",
"68000.0",
"68000.0",
"56000.0",
"56000.0",
"44000.0",
"44000.0",
"31000.0",
"31000.0",
"18000.0",
"18000.0",
"0.0"
],
"standard_name": "air_pressure",
"stored_direction": "decreasing",
"tolerance": "1",
"type": "double",
"units": "Pa",
"valid_max": "",
"valid_min": "",
"value": "",
"z_bounds_factors": "",
"z_factors": ""
},
"plev7h": {
"axis": "Z",
"bounds_values": "",
"climatology": "",
"formula": "",
"generic_level_name": "",
"long_name": "Pressure Levels (7 Tropospheric)",
"must_have_bounds": "no",
"out_name": "plev",
"positive": "down",
"requested": [
"92500.0",
"85000.0",
"70000.0",
"60000.0",
"50000.0",
"25000.0",
"5000.0"
],
"requested_bounds": "",
"standard_name": "air_pressure",
"stored_direction": "decreasing",
"tolerance": "1",
"type": "double",
"units": "Pa",
"valid_max": "",
"valid_min": "",
"value": "",
"z_bounds_factors": "",
"z_factors": ""
},
"plev8": {
"axis": "Z",
"bounds_values": "",
"climatology": "",
"formula": "",
"generic_level_name": "",
"long_name": "Pressure Levels (8)",
"must_have_bounds": "no",
"out_name": "plev",
"positive": "down",
"requested": [
"100000.0",
"85000.0",
"70000.0",
"50000.0",
"25000.0",
"10000.0",
"5000.0",
"1000.0"
],
"requested_bounds": "",
"standard_name": "air_pressure",
"stored_direction": "decreasing",
"tolerance": "1",
"type": "double",
"units": "Pa",
"valid_max": "",
"valid_min": "",
"value": "",
"z_bounds_factors": "",
"z_factors": ""
},

How should we tackle this for ESMValTool? Remove the long_name/set it to plain "pressure" in the preprocessor? That specific recipe uses extract_levels, could just add it to any vertical level preprocessor? Have an auxilliary function to be used in diagnostic for equalising coordinate metadata?

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