Dear User,

Welcome to the March edition (Nr. 8) of the Data Support News!

As ever, we're pleased to share recent developments to help you stay ahead of key changes. A copy of each update is also shared in the ECMWF Forum and in our Data & Charts blog for future reference.

IFS 50r1 test data is available!

The Release Candidate Phase for IFS Cycle 50r1 is officially underway, giving users the opportunity to prepare and validate cycle changes before the operational upgrade.

Please note that all users receiving real-time data must test before the final implementation day!

What can you test?

Evaluate new & modified parameters, file name changes, updated metadata, and any format adjustments - and assess the impact on your ingestion, archiving, and visualisation workflows.

How to get started?

Key Reminders

  • Test data is for internal use only - not for live services or external sharing (including Social Media channels)
  • Dissemination timing during testing may differ from operational delivery
  • Parameters and configurations may still evolve during the RCP testing period

Thank you to all those who have tested their data for the upcoming cycle implementation!

OpenIFS is now available under the Apache 2.0 open-source licence

We're excited to share that OpenIFS is now available under the Apache 2.0 open-source licence - a significant step forward in making ECMWF's modelling capabilities more widely accessible!

Please note that the supporting OpenIFS Data Hub service — which provides initial and boundary condition data for model experiments — is intended for research and educational use within ECMWF Member and Co-operating States, and is not available for commercial use or service provision. Full details are available on the OpenIFS Data Hub Confluence page.

Users seeking support are encouraged to use the ECMWF Forum, where the wider community can contribute and respond.

UEF 2026: Extreme Temperature Theme

We would love to see more of our users at this year's Using ECMWF's Forecasts (UEF) workshop — and there's still time to get involved!

UEF2026 takes place in person at ECMWF's Reading site from 1–4 June 2026. The event is open to all ECMWF forecast users and provides an opportunity to present your work, share feedback on forecast performance, and connect with ECMWF staff, Member and Co-operating State representatives, and users from around the world.

This year's theme is Extreme Temperature Forecasts, with a focus on heatwave and cold wave events.

Call for Abstracts — deadline extended to 10 April 2026

Oral and poster contributions are invited across four thematic areas, and workshop proposals are also welcome. Submissions on innovative uses or practical experiences with ECMWF forecasts are encouraged, and UEF particularly values contributions from all sectors and regions.

We'd especially love to hear from users who work with our data day-to-day — your perspective is exactly what makes UEF valuable for the whole community.

Submit your abstract and find full details at: https://events.ecmwf.int/event/524/

Register for in-person attendance or there is also an option to join online. There are no registration fees, though participants are expected to cover their own travel and accommodation.

PREd and TPREd snippets expanded to include all real-time data catalogue products

For those with access to the Product Requirements Editor (PREd) or the test PREd, snippets have been updated to include all products from the real-time data catalogue, making it easier to build new data requirements using ready-made templates.

To use snippets, simply hover over the <> icon in the requirements interface and search for the dataset you're interested in. Don't forget to add your area if you're interested in a sub-area of the globe!

Further information is available in the documentation.

Code for Earth - Don't miss the Call for Participation!

Are you passionate about data, software development, or interested in machine learning?

Then don't miss Code for Earth, an exciting innovation activity led by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). We're calling on developers, data enthusiasts, and experts from Earth sciences (weather, climate, atmosphere), computer science, and software engineering to choose from 16 unique challenges in this year's edition. Whether you're into data visualization, machine learning, open source software development, or interested in tack ling challenges within the Africa stream - there's a challenge for you!

Watch the Q&A webinars on the Code for Earth YouTube channel to get helpful tips on preparing a strong proposal. We look forward to receiving your ideas by 9 April 2026.

On eligibility and participation rules, see the Code for Earth Terms & Conditions - Article 3 (Participation).

Support guidelines available for Service Agreements

With a growing number of users and support queries, we have prepared guidelines on what to expect from support. This includes an overview of what is typically office-hours support, and what is under 24/7 support.

We hope you've found these news items useful over the past year and would welcome your feedback on what improvements we could make. If you'd like to share this information, please feel free to raise a ticket in the ECMWF Support Portal.

Best wishes,

--

ECMWF Data Support Team
European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts
Reading, UK | Bologna, Italy | Bonn, Germany
ECMWF Support Portal | ecmwf.int

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