News

4D-Var diagram

25 years of 4D-Var: how machine learning can improve the use of observations

Twenty-five years ago, ECMWF introduced ‘4D-Var’ to the assimilation of observational data into its weather model. Changes worked on over the last few years include reducing the effects of model biases using machine learning techniques.
EUMETSAT's MTG-I1 satellite

New geostationary satellite to bring benefits for ECMWF’s forecasts

EUMETSAT is planning to launch a new geostationary satellite in December that provides more frequent and higher-resolution images than its predecessor and carries a new instrument to observe lightning flashes.
Mean daily river discharge 1980 to 2019 from GloFAS v4.0

Copernicus Emergency Management Service releases GloFAS v4.0 hydrological reanalysis

A new, substantially upgraded hydrological reanalysis dataset of the Global Flood Awareness System from 1980 to July 2022 has been produced by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission in collaboration with ECMWF and released as part of the Copernicus Emergency Management Service.
C3S forecast for December-January-February from November 2022

How models predict a possible outline of winter weather in Europe

ECMWF produces not just weather forecasts 15 days ahead but also forecasts for weeks and seasons ahead. The latter contribute to multi-centre predictions provided by the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service run by ECMWF.
ECMWF at COP27

ECMWF at the United Nations COP27 Climate Change Conference

ECMWF is making a wide-ranging contribution to 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27), joining high-level interventions at the UN-led Earth Information Day and an event presenting the Systematic Observations Financing Facility (SOFF). We are also involved in side events for the European Union’s Copernicus programme and Destination Earth initiative.
MOOC Machine Learning in Weather & Climate illustration

ECMWF launches Massive Open Online Course on Machine Learning in Weather and Climate

Registration is now open for a new Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on Machine Learning in Weather and Climate to be launched in January 2023.
ECMWF Newsletter 173

Autumn 2022 Newsletter published

The autumn 2022 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.
Cracks in Arctic sea ice

nextGEMS probes km-scale resolutions in the Integrated Forecasting System

ECMWF is testing what needs to be done to improve the realism of global km-scale weather simulations. As part of the nextGEMS project, it is looking into modelling sea ice cracks in the Arctic and fixing water and energy budget imbalances.
Tim Palmer

Symposium for Prof. Tim Palmer to take place on 5 and 6 December

On 5 and 6 December 2022, ECMWF and the University of Oxford will hold a symposium to celebrate the career of Tim Palmer, whose work has been profoundly linked to ECMWF’s ensemble prediction system.
Andy Brown at the Annual Seminar 2022

Annual Seminar challenges physics in the context of seamless prediction

In ECMWF’s first in-person Annual Seminar in three years, over 100 scientists and students came together from 12 to 16 September to look at the large range of physical processes and scales that have to be represented in seamless weather prediction.
ECMWF digital twin graphic

ECMWF’s contribution to Destination Earth gets under way

ECMWF has built up a team to work on digital twins of Earth as part of its contribution to the EU’s Destination Earth initiative. The new staff will work alongside existing ECMWF teams and with outside partners on developing these new capabilities.

Jean Bidlot

The contribution of ocean waves to weather forecasting

This year’s Annual Seminar is dedicated to ‘challenging physics in seamless prediction’. One of the speakers is Jean Bidlot, ECMWF’s expert for forecasting ocean waves and determining their feedback on the weather.
ECMWF at EMS 2022

ECMWF at the European Meteorological Society Annual Meeting

ECMWF is attending the Annual Meeting of the European Meteorological Society from 4 to 9 September 2022, presenting developments in Earth system modelling and probabilistic forecasting, as well as work from the EU Copernicus and Destination Earth initiatives.
Florian Pappenberger and Samantha Burgess

ECMWF Directors talk about European heatwaves

Europe has seen several heatwaves since June. ECMWF Directors point out that these were the result of different meteorological conditions, and that climate change plays a role in their impacts.
ECMWF news highlights Jan-Jul 2022

News highlights January to July 2022

ECMWF news highlights in the first seven months of 2022 include forecast updates; projects and workshops to drive forward weather science; and news from the EU-funded services implemented by ECMWF.
Cogs to symbolise CAMS automatic alert system

Atmospheric composition observations are checked automatically

ECMWF has extended the quality monitoring of observations used by the global forecasting system of the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service by adding an automatic alert system. CAMS is implemented by ECMWF on behalf of the European Commission.
ECMWF Newsletter 172 cover

Summer 2022 Newsletter published

The summer 2022 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.
Open data top image

ECMWF moves further towards open data

ECMWF has released a new data service charge model, which is an important step in our journey towards open data. Here we present this and other recent changes in our data services.
European heatwave mid-June 2022 - EFI

European heatwaves in June 2022

June 2022 saw two serious heatwaves in Europe, during which some all-time temperature records were broken, including for Biarritz in southwest France. The heatwaves were well predicted by ECMWF forecasts.