ECMWF is now running its own Artificial Intelligence Forecasting System (AIFS). The AIFS consists of a deterministic model and an ensemble model. The deterministic model has been running operationally since 25 February 2025; further details can be found on the dedicated Implementation of AIFS Single v1 page.
Use of the deterministic model output is governed by the Creative Commons CC-4.0-BY licence and the ECMWF Terms of Use. This means that the data may be redistributed and used commercially, subject to appropriate attribution.
The ensemble model is experimental at this time and not supported operationally. Output data from the ensemble model are not available.
How to access real-time deterministic model data
Dissemination
Real-time data from the AIFS deterministic model are available via dissemination.
Users can add these products to their data flows in the Product Requirements Editor by specifying "class=ai". A list of configurable parameters is provided in ECMWF's shopping cart tool, under GROUP D: AIFS.
Please note:
- These products are provided with a new file naming convention.
- These products are available according to the following dissemination schedule.
- These products are available with Pre-Schedule Delivery for eligible users.
Open data
Real-time open data are released as soon as the forecast is produced. The 1 hour delay has been removed following operational implementation of AIFS Single v1 on 25 February 2025.
The data are freely available to the user community. For more information on accessing these products, please see the open data user documentation or visit the ECMWF Support Portal.
Graphical products
Graphical products are available as part of the charts catalogue and the ecCharts application. If the products are not found, please reload the page.
In both applications, search for “aifs” to find the relevant products.
How to access historical deterministic model data
Archive data via MARS
Historical AIFS Single data are available in ECMWF's Archive and MARS catalogues. Users must be registered for archive access. The data exists from February 2024 onwards.
- AIFS data in the Archive catalogue
- AIFS data in the MARS catalogue
Available Products
Deterministic model
The output of the AIFS deterministic model is forecast with 6-hourly time steps out to 15 days initialised from the ECMWF operational analysis. Forecasts are produced four times per day (00/06/12/18UTC).
All forecasts are produced on an approximately 0.25 x 0.25-degree grid (N320 grid). Open data for the AIFS is disseminated on a regular 0.25 x 0.25-degree grid.
A full list of available products output by the AIFS single model is available on the dataset description page.
Ensemble model
The output of the AIFS experimental ensemble model is forecast with 12-hourly time steps out to 15 days initialised from the ECMWF IFS ensemble initial conditions. Forecasts are produced two times per day (00/12UTC).
All forecasts are produced on an approximately 1 x 1-degree grid (O96 grid). Open data for the AIFS ensemble model is not yet available and will be disseminated soon.
At this point in time, output data are not available from the ensemble model. Experimental products for the parameters listed below can be accessed in the charts catalogue and the ecCharts application.
Upper-air fields are z (geopotential), q (specific humidity), t (temperature), u (U component of wind), v (V component of wind) and w (vertical velocity) on the following pressure levels: 1000hPa, 925hPa, 850hPa, 700hPa, 600hPa, 500hPa, 400hPa, 300hPa, 250hPa, 200hPa, 150hPa, 100hPa and 50hPa.
The single-level fields are msl (mean sea level pressure), 10u (10 metre U wind component), 10v (10 metre U wind component), 2t (2 metre temperature) and tp (total precipitation, accumulated from the start of the forecast).