Service Agreements and Use Cases

Users can access data from the ECMWF Real-time Catalogue through the following options:

Valid Products

A selection of the valid products from the ECMWF Real-time Catalogue can be found via:

For access to a wider range of open and free valid forecast products, tailored to specific requirements, or to have Open data delivered to you, a Service Agreement for one or both of the below services is required:

  • Real-time Dissemination

  • Advanced Web Services

Non-Valid Products

A selection of non-valid products can be accessed via:

Access to a wider range of non-valid products are available within the ECMWF Archive. For access to this service, a Service Agreement will need to be signed for:

  • MARS Web API

Please note if you are accessing more than one or more of the above ECMWF services, you are required to sign individual Service Agreements for each, unless the service comes as part of a Gold Real-time Dissemination Service Package

Licensing

All data provided through the above services is governed by the Creative Commons CC-BY-4.0 licence unless labelled otherwise. This licence allows data redistribution and commercial use, provided that proper attribution is given. Attribution guidelines can be found in the ECMWF Terms of Use or the applicable Service Agreement.

Service Agreement 'Fee Waiver Scheme'

For users who are signing a Service Agreement to access valid or non-valid data, some may qualify for the 'Fee Waiver Scheme', which covers Service Charges associated with ECMWF’s data distribution services listed above.

Eligible user groups include, but are not limited to:

  • Research institutions

  • Humanitarian agencies

  • Non-governmental organisations (NGOs)

  • Other organisations operating for societal benefit

If you are unsure whether you qualify, please contact ECMWF Data Support via the ECMWF Support Portal.

General Use Cases

For all use cases below, to arrange access, unless otherwise stated please contact ECMWF Data Support via the ECMWF Support Portal.

1. Official Duty or Public Task Users

  • National Meteorological and Hydrological Service (NMHS) of ECMWF Member and Co-operating States and their authorised users:

    • Do not need to sign Service Agreements
    • Have full access to ECMWF products and services via their Computing Representative

  • NMHS of WMO Members:

    • May sign a Real-time Dissemination Service Agreement if they require more data than is available through ECMWF Open Data or other free and open datasets and are eligible for a 50% Fee Waiver on both Volume Band and Service Pack Charges, provided that:

      • No commercial activities are conducted, and

      • Activities do not compete with the private sector, even if part of national governmental obligations.

    • Access to Advanced Web Service have no associated Service Charges for NMHS of WMO Members. This applies to one access account only, further accounts will incur Service Charges.

 2. Commercial Users

Commercial users requiring more complex or tailored valid data than provided through ECMWF Open Data and/or who wish to have data sent to a data end point of their choosing can:

  • Sign a Real-time Dissemination Service Agreement directly with ECMWF, or

  • Obtain ECMWF data via NMHS of a Member State via a Catalogue Contact Point

With a Real-time Dissemination Service Agreement with ECMWF there is no charge for the data itself, however there are associated Volume Band and Service Pack Charges, please refer to the ECMWF Service Charge Model for details on how fees for commercial data provision are calculated.

If not included with a Real-time Dissemination Service Package, both the access to the ECMWF Archive and Advanced Web Services require a signing of the relevant Service Agreement. The associated costs are listed on ECMWF Data pricing.

 3. Research Project Users

If the valid data provided by  ECMWF Open Data and non-valid data via other free and open datasets is insufficient, Research Project Users are eligible to apply for the 'Fee Waiver Scheme' for time-limited research projects, which fit with the following ECMWF definition of Research Project as per the ECMWF Product Distribution Guidelines.

If approved, the 'Fee Waiver Scheme' may provide a partial or full reduction of Service Charges associated with the service.

If a Research Project wishes to use ECMWF products for research purposes, they can

  • Apply directly to ECMWF to apply for a 'Fee Waiver' and sign a the relevant Service Agreement
  • Apply for access to certain data via a Member State through a Catalogue Contact Point.

If  interested in applying for the 'Fee Waiver Scheme' as a Research Project User with ECMWF, please review the Research Guidelines before applying.

If your use case is not listed above, please contact ECMWF Data Support via the ECMWF Support Portal for further guidance.