- Created by Kathy Maskell, last modified by Ruth Coughlan on Jan 31, 2024
Access test data for the NCAR/UCAR Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model
About this Dataset
ECMWF has provided a static 3-days test dataset to run WRF model based on vtable.txt (see below).
Data can be accessed from: ftp://ftp.ecmwf.int/public/wrf
The data provided
- 0.1 degree resolution (~9km)
- from the deterministic (HRES) model:
- runs 00/12
- hourly time steps to step 90, 3-hourly to step 144, and 6-hourly to step 240.
- runs 06/18
- hourly time steps to step 90
- runs 00/12
- Table of the parameters included
More information
Further documentation about WRF
Dedicated user guide for WRF-ARW and for HWRF
The files are provided in a compressed tar.gz format, one per run. If you decompress the tar file, you will get 1 file per step ready to be used by WRF. This is the name format:
ECMWF_<DATE>_<BASE_TIME>_<3_DIGIT_STEP>_<AREA>.grb
For example, the file ECMWF_20180601_0000_europe.tar.gz contains:
ECMWF_20180601_0000_000_europe.grb ECMWF_20180601_0000_001_europe.grb ECMWF_20180601_0000_002_europe.grb ECMWF_20180601_0000_003_europe.grb ...
In case you need to manipulate the GRIB files, we recommend ecCodes. In particular you can use the grib_copy tool.
Access ECMWF WRF Test Data
In order to download anonymously, please connect using anonymous (or ftp) and no password:
Examples:
$ ftp ftp.ecmwf.int
Connected to ftp.ecmwf.int (136.156.208.195).
Name (ftp.ecmwf.int): anonymous
230 Anonymous user logged in
Remote system type is UNIX.
Using binary mode to transfer files.
ftp> ls
227 Entering Passive Mode (136,156,208,195,117,70)
150 Accepted data connection
drwxr-xr-x 20 0 0 20 Jan 4 14:40 public
226-Options: -l
226 1 matches total
ftp> cd public/wrf
250 OK. Current directory is /public/wrf
Or to download a file directly:
wget ftp://anonymous@bolftp.ecmwf.int/public/wrf/name-of-the-file.extension
Parameter ID | Parameter Name | Levels Provided | Name | Units |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 129 | GH | 100, 250, 500, 850, 1000 hPa | Geopotential Height | m |
| 130 | TT | 100, 250, 500, 850, 1000 hPa | Temperature | K |
| 131 | UU | 100, 250, 500, 850, 1000 hPa | U component of wind velocity | m/s |
| 132 | VV | 100, 250, 500, 850, 1000 hPa | V component of wind velocity | m/s |
| 157 | RH | 100, 250, 500, 850, 1000 hPa | Relative Humidity | % |
| 165 | 10U | Surface (10m) | U component of wind velocity | m/s |
| 166 | 10V | Surface (10m) | V component of wind velocity | m/s |
| 167 | 2T | Surface (2m) | 2m Temperature | K |
| 168 | 2D | Surface (2m) | 2m Dewpoint Temperature | K |
| 172 | LSM | Surface | Land Sea Mask | 0/1 Flag |
| 134 | SP | Surface | Surface Pressure | Pa |
| 151 | MSL | Surface | Mean Sea Level Pressure | Pa |
| 235 | SKT | Surface | Skin Temperature | K |
| 31 | CI | Surface | Sea Ice Fraction | fraction |
| 34 | SST | Surface | Sea Surface Temperature | K |
| 33 | RSN | Surface | Snow Density | kg/m3 |
| 141 | SD | Surface | Snow Depth | m of water equivalent |
| 139 | STL1 | Surface | Soil Temperature 0-7cm | K |
| 170 | STL2 | Surface | Soil Temperature 7-28cm | K |
| 183 | STL3 | Surface | Soil Temperature 28-100cm | K |
| 236 | STL4 | Surface | Soil Temperature 100-255cm | K |
| 39 | SWVL1 | Surface | Soil Moisture 0-7cm | m3 / m3 |
| 40 | SWVL2 | Surface | Soil Moisture 7-28cm | m3 / m3 |
| 41 | SWVL3 | Surface | Soil Moisture 28-100cm | m3 / m3 |
| 42 | SWVL4 | Surface | Soil Moisture 100-255cm | m3 / m3 |
The MARS retrieval scripts (for those with MARS archive access):
retrieve,
class = od,
stream = oper,
type = fc,
expver = 0001,
date = 20180601,
time = 00/12,
step = 0/1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12/13/14/15/16/17/18/19/20/21/22/23/24/25/26/27/28/29/30/31/32/33/34/35/36/37/38/39/40/41/42/43/44/45/46/47/48/49/50/51/52/53/54/55/56/57/58/59/60/61/62/63/64/65/66/67/68/69/70/71/72/73/74/75/76/77/78/79/80/81/82/83/84/85/86/87/88/89/90/93/96/99/102/105/108/111/114/117/120/123/126/129/132/135/138/141/144/150/156/162/168/174/180/186/192/198/204/210/216/222/228/234/240,
area = 73.5/-27/33/45, #europe N/W/S/E area
levtype = pl,
levelist = 1000/850/500/250/100/50,
param = 129.128/130.128/157.128/131.128/132.128,
grid = 0.1/0.1,
target = "ECMWF_PL_[DATE]_[TIME]_europe.grb"
retrieve,
class = od,
stream = oper,
type = fc,
expver = 0001,
date = 20180601,
time = 00/12,
step = 0/1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12/13/14/15/16/17/18/19/20/21/22/23/24/25/26/27/28/29/30/31/32/33/34/35/36/37/38/39/40/41/42/43/44/45/46/47/48/49/50/51/52/53/54/55/56/57/58/59/60/61/62/63/64/65/66/67/68/69/70/71/72/73/74/75/76/77/78/79/80/81/82/83/84/85/86/87/88/89/90/93/96/99/102/105/108/111/114/117/120/123/126/129/132/135/138/141/144/150/156/162/168/174/180/186/192/198/204/210/216/222/228/234/240,
area = 73.5/-27/33/45, #europe N/W/S/E area
levtype = sfc,
param = 129.128/165.128/166.128/167.128/168.128/172.128/134.128/151.128/235.128/31.128/34.128/141.128/139.128/170.128/183.128/236.128/39.128/40.128/41.128/42.128/33.128,
grid = 0.1/0.1,
target = "ECMWF_SFC_[DATE]_[TIME]_europe.grb"
Support level for this dataset
This data is provided as a 'self-serve' - documentation is provided, but no support service.
However, if the data seems broken or corrupt, please report it via our support portal and we will respond during normal office hours.