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
Table of the parameters included

More information

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.

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

Vtable.txt

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"

ECMWF Service Status

ECMWF Real-time Catalogue

ECMWF Archive Catalogue

ECMWF Open Charts

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.