Dear Colleagues,
Please note that the HRES Stand Alone Wave model (HRES-SAW : [https://www.ecmwf.int/en/forecasts/datasets/set-ii]) will be discontinued on 7 January 2020 after the 00 UTC run, as previously announced.
From this date onwards, you will need to acquire the equivalent products from the fully-coupled HRES WAve Model (HRES-WAM) product set. You can find additional information on how to change dissemination or your MARS retrievals at the following link:
How to access HRES-WAM (WAve Model) test data
ECMWF has implemented several changes which will improve access to its products by the WMO National Meteorological and Hydrological Services. All the static web charts and the ENSgrams on the ECMWF website are now available free of charge to all WMO Members. Additionally, the cost of the web products licence has also been reduced, and a new data licence with a lower fee has been introduced.
We would like to take this opportunity to present these changes and more on the products and licenses currently available to WMO National Meteorological and Hydrological Services in a short webinar, conducted in English. As we understand our audience may come from all over the world, this webinar will be held on Tuesday 5 November at two different times:
- Tuesday 5 November 9:00 UTC
- Tuesday 5 November 16:00 UTC
You may distribute this invitation to whoever you think could be interested. The webinar will be broadcast in Bluejeans, a videoconferencing system that does not require any installation of extra software to join. We recommend connecting at least 15 minutes before the start, using the following link:
ECMWF is pleased to announce that new, experimental "Point Rainfall" products are being introduced onto the ecCharts platform on Wednesday 17 April.
There is a new section in the Forecast User Guide to describe the products and how to use them (here).
At the June 2018 UEF meeting at ECMWF, during the "User Voice Corner" feedback session, users raised a number of issues. At the following link we itemise the main ones and provide an update on related ECMWF activities:
ECMWF is now actively planning the implementation of the new cycle 46r1 version of the integrated forecasting system (IFS).
IFS cycle 46r1 is an upgrade with contributions from many of our scientific streams, including major changes in data assimilation, in the use of observations, and in modelling. Major changes in IFS cycle 46r1 are the introduction of the continuous Data Assimilation scheme and the upgrade to a 50 members Ensemble Data Assimilation system. The new cycle does not contain changes of resolutions.
The implementation of cycle 46r1 is planned for early June 2019.
A dedicated information page for this change is available at
https://confluence.ecmwf.int/display/FCST/Implementation+of+IFS+cycle+46r1
Please note that we are planning two live-streamed seminars, the first one describing the scientific changes in the new cycle and the second one to cover its meteorological impact. Details are available at the above link.
The "Known IFS forecasting issues" web page, and the online "Forecast User Guide" have both just been updated by ECMWF. The changes relate in part to model cycle 45r1 which went live in early June.
The User Guide includes new sections, which describe how to use (a) new Lightning diagnostics, and (b) the new Vertical Profiles tool within ecCharts.
ECMWF informed all ecCharts users on the latest update to this service.
Highlight of the June 2018 update is the addition of ENS vertical profiles. New layers for ENS, and HRES have also been added and other improvements made.
Full details of this update are available at ecCharts updates - June 2018
A new web-based ECMWF Forecast User Guide has been released today:
To read more about this: "In Focus" news item
To see the guide: Forecast User Guide - Introduction
We are pleased to inform you that ECMWF is making good progress with the forthcoming implementation of cycle 45r1 of the Integrated Forecasting System (IFS). The cycle is now entering the release candidate phase. Test data are available through the dissemination. Details of the meteorological and technical changes in this cycle, together with information about the forecast performance (including scorecards), can be found at: https://confluence.ecmwf.int/display/FCST/Implementation+of+IFS+cycle+45r1 The implementation of the new cycle is scheduled for Tuesday 5 June 2018. The first operational run using the new cycle will be the 06 UTC analysis and forecast in the Boundary Conditions Optional Programme on 5 June followed by the 12 UTC main assimilation and forecast. The monthly forecast extension to the ensemble will be run with the new IFS cycle for the first time the following Thursday 7 June 2018. Please note that there will be no further communication on the implementation of 45r1 unless the implementation date changes.
ECMWF's new Data Centre will be located in Bologna, Italy, by 2019. We are glad to announce a new dedicated wiki page containing user information on the migration of ECMWF's services to Bologna: https://confluence.ecmwf.int/display/UDOC/Bologna+-+New+Data+Centre May we encourage you to "watch" the above web page to obtain notification of further updates on the Computer users services in Bologna. We have also created a mailing list to keep you informed about the relocation in Bologna. To subscribe to or unsubscribe from this list, please send an email to bologna-data-centre-users-request at lists.ecmwf.int with the word subscribe or unsubscribe as Subject. Many of the systems and services currently available in Reading will be moved to Bologna. We have agreed to decommission a number of older software packages with the relocation to Bologna. The two main software packages not ported to Bologna will be SMS and EMOSLIB. We have started advertising MIR, in replacement of EMOSLIB and will contact SMS users about the migration to ecflow. See the above link for more details on the services to be decommissioned. If you have any queries about the migration of ECMWF's services to Bologna, please do contact our Service Desk at servicedesk @ ecmwf.int. Best regards, Dominique Lucas, for User Support
Dear Colleagues, ECMWF is preparing for the forthcoming implementation of the 45r1 version of the integrated forecasting system (IFS). IFS Cycle 45r1 is an upgrade with many scientific contributions, including changes in data assimilation, in the use of observations, and in modelling, e.g. the coupling of the ocean and atmospheric models in HRES. New lightning and CAPE fields are also available with this new cycle. The new cycle does not contain changes of resolutions. The implementation is planned for 5 June 2018. A dedicated information web page for this change has been prepared and is available at: https://confluence.ecmwf.int/display/FCST/Implementation+of+IFS+cycle+45r1 May we encourage you to "watch" the above web page to obtain notification of further updates. A mailing list has also been created to inform interested parties about operational changes taking place at ECMWF. To subscribe to or unsubscribe, please send an email to: forecast_changes-request@lists.ecmwf.int <mailto:forecast_changes-request@lists.ecmwf.int> with the word subscribe or unsubscribe as Subject. Best regards Dr. Alfred Hofstadler Acting Director of Forecasts
ECMWF reported on the status of some requests put forward by users during the User Voice Corner feedback session at the UEF meeting held in June 2017.
UEF 2017 - User Voice Corner (feedback session) follow up provides a detailed description of the current status.
ECMWF informed all ecCharts users on the latest update to this service.
Several new layers for ENS, ENS Extended and HRES have been added and other improvements made.
Full details of this update are available at ecCharts updates - November 2017
On the afternoon of November 1st ECMWF uncovered a technical problem that had been affecting the integrity of the some probability charts on the ECMWF web site (ecCharts output was not affected). This had happened for runs from all data times from 23rd October 12UTC.
The charts affected were the clickable probability charts from the ensemble (ENS), for max wind gust and for total precipitation.
On some charts the corruption was clear. On others it was not. Users must assume that all charts in these categories, for all areas, were incorrect.
We sincerely apologise to all users for this issue, which was discovered on the afternoon of 1st November. Following discovery we acted swiftly to rectify the problem and all output beginning with the 00UTC 2nd November runs is correct again.
During today (2nd November) ECMWF will be systematically over-writing all the corrupted charts, from the earlier data times, with corrected versions. We expect that this process will have completed by about 18UTC.
To meet the training needs of our Member and Co-operating States, ECMWF started at the beginning of 2017 a project aimed at producing a set of publicly available eLearning modules, initially on foundational material for our numerical weather prediction, software and product courses. eLearning has a number of potential benefits: it can expand the reach of training, and it can give learners flexibility in terms of when, where and how they want to learn. It is a flexible and student-driven kind of learning that relies on effective multimedia resources. It supports diverse learning styles and can complement traditional classroom teaching. eLearning leverages technology to create and design engaging and effective multimedia resources.
The new eLearning modules provide the background knowledge on which face-to-face courses at ECMWF can build. This will enable us to spend the course time on more complex material or to shorten training events to reduce costs for Member States. Other initiatives such as WMO Global Campus and future EUMETNET training programmes may also find the new ECMWF eLearning modules useful as resources to make available to their member states.
The modules are being created in collaboration with instructional designers who are working with ECMWF experts. The instructional design methodology used it that set out by Mayes & de Freitas (2004), which assumes that information is processed through two channels (auditory and visual) of limited capacity. In order to minimise overload, the learner filters, selects, organises and integrates the information presented in the resources. These assumptions and learning principles are guiding the creation of our eLearning modules.
A set of online modules covering NWP topics, software, ECMWF meteorological archive and Metview (visualisation) is now publicly available on ECMWF website!
Please visit (and forward the link to colleagues):
https://www.ecmwf.int/en/en/learning/education-material/elearning-online-resources
More modules will be added in the following months. We hope you find these resources useful!
Anna