TO UPDATE - currently contains 2017 data!
This list describes the status of some feedback and requests put forward by users during the User Voice Corner feedback session at the ECMWF UEF meeting held in June 20172018. Items are included here mainly to provide some useful clarification and/or an update where significant progress has already been made. Many more items are being worked on or considered for future action.
- Model Climate (M-Climate): quantiles archived in MARS
These are now archived, indeed all quantiles 0,1,2,..100 are saved for all lead time ranges and all parameters for which we compute the EFI and SOT. See here for an example of how to retrieve. Users should ideally download this quantile data directly rather than downloading all the re-forecasts and computing quantiles locally. The latter approach imposes a very heavy load on MARS, which can slow down access for all users.
- Additional parameters (7-day anomalies) and time periods for the Extended-range forecasts (also known as Monthly forecast)
Weekly anomalies are now available in ecCharts for multiple 7-day periods up to day 45. In the ecCharts layers filter box type "extended" to see the options. New parameters are also now available.
- Stratospheric levels from ENS and Extended range forecasts
The following stratospheric levels are available in MARS for both ENS and Extended Range forecasts: 100, 50, 10mb. Such levels are included in the Real-Time Catalogue for ENS while for the Extended range forecast the highest pressure level is 200 hPa. We are currently reviewing the Real-Time Catalogue for the Extended range forecasts with a view to adding more stratospheric levels.
- Personalise settings in user's profile on www.ecmwf.int (default location for ENS meteograms)
The Dashboard facility should be used for this purpose (see here for help).
- "Stepping back" on the new "Web Charts" interface
A new link has been provided to get back from chart display to thumbnail display. It is in the top left corner of the page (small arrow with the word "Charts").
- Additional precipitation and wind speed thresholds for probability charts
ECMWF strategy has been to provide the user with the option to tailor their probability requirements within ecCharts. In the ecCharts layers filter box type "probability". Note that weighted and multi-parameter probabilities are also catered for here. Saving related products to the dashboard facilitates quick recall (see here)
- Speed of ecCharts
Work continues to improve the situation - hardware and software upgrades are imminent. Note also that local issues, which ECMWF has no control over, can complicate performance levels. It is probably unreasonable for users to expect to reach the same performance levels as on their own dedicated workstations, though as indicated we are constantly striving to speed up the service.
- Clickable vertical soundings from the ENS
ECMWF is actively working on this addition to ecCharts, with a schedule for implementation of mid-2018, subject to technical hurdles being overcome.
- Spaghetti plots
While plotting Spaghetti charts, users faced instances when the plots time out or are extremely slow. This issue has been fixed.
- Precipitation type meteograms
These are now available in ecCharts for any site in the world (introduced in late Nov 2017). Also available is an ENS map product showing most probable precipitation type.
- Updating a saved ecCharts product
Users can load up an existing product, modify it, "save as" with a different name, then delete the old product.
- Resolution of disseminated HRES
Several references are made to model cycle 46r1; this is the new IFS model version that should go live in summer 2019.
- Re-analyses and Re-forecasts - big demand
The ERA5 re-analysis data, from 1978 until 2019, went live in January 2019. Resolution is 31km compared to 80km for ERA-Interim. Late in 2019 ERA5 re-analysis data from 1950-1978 will also be released. Re-forecasts, which currently use ERA-Interim analyses as the basis for their initialisation, will start using ERA5 analyses for this purpose with cycle 46r1.
- Can 1 year of re-forecasts be made available immediately with each new cycle?
This is technically not possible at present with current supercomputer resources. It is also important to stress that model changes between cycles are not usually that great, and so model characteristics do not commonly change that much. This means that old re-forecasts are not as redundant as they might appear.
- Can the IFS model issue issue of snow on the ground not melting quickly enough be fixed?
This is an active area of research; a new 5 layer snow scheme, which has delivered interesting impacts over and downwind of the Himalayas, is undergoing further testing.
- Dissatisfaction in some quarters with the ECMWF method of computing CAPE
In response to this being repeatedly voiced, ECMWF set up a short collaborative project with ESSL (the European Severe Storms Laboratory) to investigate computation of CAPE and other ECMWF convective indices. This is work in progress, but some noteworthy changes are expected to be implemented in cycle 46r1.
- Winds over mountains underestimated
The Verification team have been tasked with investigating and documenting this issue.
- Can ECMWF improve its visibility diagnostic ?
Dynamic aerosol-moisture interaction is an important missing link. Work on the atmospheric composition version of the IFS (C-IFS) should in the long term (years) help address this issue. In the meantime we continue to investigate cases and document findings.
- Winds wanted at more near-surface levels, for wind energy applications
The utility of providing data for other levels, in addition to the 100m level data already disseminated, has been studied; the conclusion was that "200m winds" were sufficiently differentto justify inclusion, so these will be made available for HRES and ENS with cycle 46r1. 50m winds provided little extra information, partly because of lack of ENS levels near the surface, and so will not be added.
- More aviation-related indices wanted
ECMWF has been prototyping turbulence and icing diagnostics, but these will not be introduced in 2019.
- Can ECMWF make ecCharts refresh faster?
This long-standing problem is being addressed via new cloud and map-drawing technologies (one component is similar to the tiles used by google maps). The first update for users is expected late in 2019.
- Request for variables on the "PV=1.5" level
These will be added in cycle 46r1.
- Users want more fire and drought-related products
Work on fire products continues as part of a substantial EU-funded fire forecasting initiative, based at ECMWF. Consideration is being given to creating drought-related EFI-style indices, perhaps utilising soil moisture.
- Better MARS documentation wanted
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- Faster MARS access wanted
ECMWF has increased capacity with new disk technology. Some data, for example re-analyses, can be accessed more quickly via another route - the CDS (Climate Data Store). Users are encouraged to use this channel wherever possible.Lat/lon datasets are available at 0.1 degrees. This decision was taken because of coding issues with some of the surface data in grib1 format. Users can get the original model data from MARS by defining the grid as O1280.