I am trying to calculate IVT from ERA5 data. But my values are not matching with other published papers. The values in the paper are in the range of 100-1000 but i am getting the values which are less than 1. I think i am making mistakes in the unit. Please see the following equation and units.
As per several papers the equation of IVT is as follows:
where q is the specific humidity (kg kg−1); u and v are the zonal and meridional componentsof wind (m s−1); g is the acceleration due to gravity (m s−2).
The unit of IVT is given as kg m-1 s-1. I don't understand how we are getting this unit?
You are integrating over pressure which has units of kg m-1 s-2
So that gives [m-1 s2] [m s-1] [kg m-1 s-2] = kg m-1 s-1
However I've flagged to close as this is not a question about programming, should be posted to an alternative SO site.