News

UEF 2019 Speakers' Corner

ECMWF user meeting puts emphasis on creativity and interaction

Creative and interactive sessions took pride of place in this year’s Using ECMWF’s Forecasts meeting, which took place at the Centre from 3 to 6 June. The meetings give ECMWF data users an opportunity to learn about the Centre’s plans, new products and services.
CAMS aerosol forecast for 00 UTC 14 July 2019

Upgrade improves global air quality forecasts

The global forecasting system of the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) was successfully upgraded on 9 July, making air quality forecasts more accurate and robust. CAMS is implemented by ECMWF on behalf of the EU.
ECMWF Annual Report 2018 web image

Annual Report 2018 published

The ECMWF Annual Report 2018 is now available online. The report reviews improvements in forecast performance, advances in research, the Centre’s contributions to Europe’s Copernicus Earth observation programme, and preparations for the new data centre in Italy.
NEXTGenIO workshop image

September workshop to review next-generation I/O in supercomputing

Registration is open for a workshop at ECMWF on 25 and 26 September to review progress in the development of new I/O techniques for supercomputing at the exascale.

Jean-Noël Thépaut

Jean-Noël Thépaut appointed as ECMWF’s new Director of Copernicus Services

Jean-Noël Thépaut has been appointed as ECMWF’s new Director of Copernicus Services from 1 October 2019, when Juan Garces de Marcilla steps down from the post. Jean-Noël has been a key player in the ECMWF team which has successfully implemented two of the EU’s Copernicus Earth observation services.
Dick Dee

Reanalysis pioneer Dick Dee bows out as ERA5 replaces ERA-Interim

Dick Dee, one of the key figures in the development of global weather and climate reanalysis at ECMWF, is leaving the Centre on 28 June on reaching retirement age, but only after overseeing the transition from the hugely successful ERA-Interim to the state-of-the-art ERA5 reanalysis.
Tropical storm Karl on 23 September 2016

Boost to research as ECMWF provides OpenIFS to Oxford-based volunteer computing project

OpenIFS at ECMWF has teamed up with the University of Oxford e-Research Centre to enable scientists to run the OpenIFS weather model on thousands of people’s home computers. The OpenIFS@home project was launched on 18 June.
Extra observations used in data assimilation

Forecasting system upgrade set to improve global weather forecasts

ECMWF is implementing a substantial upgrade of its Integrated Forecasting System today, 11 June 2019, which will significantly improve global medium-range weather forecasts. One of the key novelties in IFS Cycle 46r1 is that it makes data assimilation more continuous.
Snow-covered mountains in the Arctic

Year of Polar Prediction webinars on 24 and 25 June to focus on next phase

June 2019 marks the official start of the Year of Polar Prediction’s three-year Consolidation Phase. On 24 and 25 June, three webinars will highlight the achievements of the WMO’s Year of Polar Prediction to date and the challenges that lie ahead.
Aeolus in orbit with laser beam

Aeolus data impact tests confirm potential of new wind data for NWP

A first evaluation of data from the Aeolus satellite launched by the European Space Agency in August 2018 has confirmed that the mission’s ground-breaking laser technology can be used to obtain global wind profiles that are very useful to numerical weather prediction.
Richard Forbes at EC-Earth meeting May 2019

EC-Earth hones Earth system model for climate predictions and projections

More than 50 scientists from the European EC-Earth consortium met at ECMWF from 21 to 23 May to discuss how to develop the Earth system model they use to make climate predictions and projections. The EC-Earth model uses ECMWF’s Integrated Forecasting System for the atmosphere–land component.
Reproducible workflows Oct 2019 workshop logo

How to make Earth science workflows more reproducible

ECMWF will hold an international workshop from 14 to 16 October 2019 at its headquarters in Reading, UK, to investigate how workflows in Earth sciences can be made more reproducible.
Extra observations used in data assimilation

ECMWF holds webinars on June upgrade of its forecasting system

ECMWF upgrades its forecasting system on a regular basis, and one such upgrade is planned for 11 June 2019. Director of Forecasts Florian Pappenberger explained how the changes will improve forecasts in two webinars on 15 and 16 May 2019.
Webinar - Radiosondes and NWP - image

ECMWF holds webinar on use of radiosonde data in NWP

ECMWF held a webinar on the use of radiosonde data in numerical weather prediction on 30 April 2019. The webinar covered measurement techniques, the processing of radiosonde data and uncertainties in the data.
Six ECMWF scientists at the EGU General Assembly 2019

ECMWF scientists focus on Earth system at top geosciences meeting

More than 20 ECMWF scientists set out their latest findings on Earth system processes related to weather, climate and atmospheric composition at the European Geosciences Union General Assembly in Vienna, Austria, from 7 to 12 April 2019.
ECMWF Newsletter 159 cover

Spring 2019 Newsletter published

The spring 2019 issue of the ECMWF Newsletter is now available. As well as news about ECMWF staff and events, it features articles about new developments and the use that can be made of ECMWF products.
TIGGE/S2S workshop poster session April 2019

Scientists explore use of forecast databases for weather research

Scientists from across the world flocked to ECMWF from 2 to 5 April 2019 to discuss predictability, dynamics and applications research using ensemble forecast databases for the medium and sub-seasonal to seasonal range. The Centre is currently testing new forecast products for the sub-seasonal range.
Freja Vamborg

European State of the Climate 2018 unveiled in Vienna

The EU-funded Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) implemented by ECMWF presented the European State of the Climate 2018 report at a top geoscience meeting in Vienna on 9 April 2019. Freja Vamborg is the scientist who pulled the report together.
EUMETSAT Research Fellows hosted at ECMWF (as of March 2019)

EUMETSAT Fellows help improve ECMWF weather forecasts

With their high level of expertise in satellite products and operational weather prediction, EUMETSAT Research Fellows are a critical link between EUMETSAT and ECMWF, helping to ensure that Member States and society gain maximum benefit from European investments in space observations.