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 2018. 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. Several references References are made below to model cycle 46r1; this is the new IFS model version that should go live in summer 2019.
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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.
- Provide 06Z and 18Z BC forecast runs, and 1-hourly IFS data where available
ECMWF tabled a motion to council in late June 2018. seeking approval for these to be disseminated for a fee. This motion was passed and the data was first made available in September 2018.
- Can the IFS model issue issue of snow on the ground not melting quickly enough be fixed ?
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In response to this being repeatedly voiced, ECMWF has 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 Why are winds over mountains underestimated ?
The Verification team have been tasked with investigating and documenting this issue.
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Dynamic aerosol-moisture interaction is an important missing link. Work Parallel 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.
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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 different to justify inclusion, so these will be made available for HRES and ENS with cycle 46r1 (u,v,speed). 50m winds provided little extra information, partly because of lack of ENS levels near the surface, and so will not be added.
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- Request for variables on the "PV=1.5" level
These will Will be added in cycle 46r1: variables will mirror those already available for the PV=2 level.
- 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 moistureResource limitations preclude work on drought-related products at the current time.
- Better MARS documentation wanted
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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.
- Provide 06Z and 18Z BC forecast runs, and 1-hourly IFS data where available
ECMWF tabled a motion to council in late June 2018. seeking approval for these to be disseminated for a fee. This motion was passed and the data was first made available in September 2018.