A subset of ECMWF real-time forecast data from the IFS and AIFS models are made available to the public free of charge. Their use 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.
For some users, these open data can also be delivered via the ECPDS platform to a nominated FTP server, in this case they may be subject to service charges.
Additional data, including higher resolutions and more parameters, can be obtained from the ECMWF Product Requirements Catalogue or by contacting a Catalogue contact point for more information. Charges and licence conditions apply.
This page describes the subset of free and open IFS parameters available. For AIFS products, all parameters are freely and openly available; more information can be found in the dataset descriptions for the Deterministic AIFS and Ensemble AIFS.
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Product description
These products are a subset of the full Catalogue of ECMWF Real-time Products and are based on the medium-range (high-resolution and ensemble) and seasonal forecast models.
IFS data are released 1 hour after the real-time dissemination schedule. AIFS data are released as soon the data are produced. For further details about the available AIFS products, see the dataset descriptions for the Deterministic AIFS and Ensemble AIFS.
Products are produced at 0.25 degrees resolution in GRIB2 format unless stated otherwise. Since July 2023, the encoding of products in GRIB2 has changed to use CCSDS compression.
Products produced at 0.4 degrees under the 'beta' folder will be retired at end of January 2025. We advise all users to move to the 0.25 degree resolution data.
Important: higher resolution versions of the same products are available via the Product Requirements Catalogue and are subject to the ECMWF Standard Licence Agreement.
High-resolution products:
Steps:
- For times 00z &12z: 0 to 144 by 3, 150 to 360 by 6.
- For times 06z & 18z: 0 to 144 by 3.
Type of level data:
Surface (sfc), Surface Other level (sol) and Pressure Level (pl)
Pressure levels available (hPa): 1000, 925, 850, 700, 600, 500, 400, 300, 250, 200, 150, 100, 50
Only a single ID is used for Volumetric soil water and Soil Temperature with layer 1 having level=1, layer 2 having level=2 etc. Layers 1-4 are available.
Parameters: as described below
| Short name | Long name | ID | Type of level |
|---|---|---|---|
| z | Geopotential (step 0) | 129 | sfc |
| sdor | Standard deviation of sub-gridscale orography (step 0) | 160 | sfc |
| slor | Slope of sub-gridscale orography (step 0) | 163 | sfc |
| 10u | 10 metre U wind component | 165 | sfc |
| 10v | 10 metre V wind component | 166 | sfc |
| 100u | 100 metre U wind component | 228246 | sfc |
| 100v | 100 metre V wind component | 228247 | sfc |
| 10fg |
Maximum 10 metre wind gust since previous post-processing - (appears as 10fg3 for steps 3 to 144) |
49 / 228028 | sfc |
| 2t | 2 metre temperature | 167 | sfc |
| 2d | 2 metre dewpoint temperature | 168 | sfc |
| msl | Mean sea level pressure | 151 | sfc |
| mp2 | Mean zero-crossing wave period | 140221 | sfc |
| mwd | Mean wave direction | 140230 | sfc |
| mwp | Mean wave period | 140232 | sfc |
| pp1d | Peak wave period | 140231 | sfc |
| swh | Significant height of combined wind waves and swell | 140229 | sfc |
| ro | Runoff | 205 | sfc |
| tp | Total Precipitation | 228 | sfc |
| sp | Surface pressure | 134 | sfc |
| st | Soil temperature | 228139 | sfc |
| tcwv | Total column vertically-integrated water vapour | 137 | sfc |
| lsm | Land Sea Mask | 172 | sfc |
| vsw | Volumetric soil water (layers 1-4) | 260199 | sol |
| sot | Soil temperature (layers 1-4) | 260360 | sol |
| mucape | Most-unstable convective available potential energy | 228235 | sfc |
| asn | Snow albedo | 32 | sfc |
| mn2t3 | Minimum temperature at 2 metres in the last 3 hours | 228027 | sfc |
| mx2t3 | Maximum temperature at 2 metres in the last 3 hours | 228026 | sfc |
| mn2t6 | Minimum temperature at 2 metres in the last 6 hours | 122 | sfc |
| mx2t6 | Maximum temperature at 2 metres in the last 6 hours | 121 | sfc |
| tprate | Total precipitation rate | 260048 | sfc |
| ptype | Precipitation type | 260015 | sfc |
| ttr | Top net long-wave (thermal) radiation | 179 | sfc |
| str | Surface net long-wave (thermal) radiation | 177 | sfc |
| ssr | Surface net short-wave (solar) radiation | 176 | sfc |
| ssrd | Surface net short-wave (solar) radiation downwards | 169 | sfc |
| strd | Surface net long-wave (thermal) radiation downwards | 175 | sfc |
| nsss | Time-integrated northward turbulent surface stress | 181 | sfc |
| ewss | Time-integrated eastward turbulent surface stress | 180 | sfc |
| t20d | Depth of 20C isotherm - currently unavailable (11/03/2024) | sfc | |
| sav300 | Average salinity in the upper 300m - currently unavailable (11/03/2024) | sfc | |
| ocu | Eastward sea water velocity - currently unavailable (11/03/2024) | sfc | |
| ocv | Northward sea water velocity - currently unavailable (11/03/2024) | sfc | |
| sithick | Sea ice thickness | 262000 | sfc |
| zos | Sea surface height | 262124 | sfc |
| d | Divergence | 155 | pl |
| gh | Geopotential height | 156 | pl |
| q | Specific humidity | 133 | pl |
| r | Relative humidity | 157 | pl |
| t | Temperature | 130 | pl |
| u | U component of wind | 131 | pl |
| v | V component of wind | 132 | pl |
| w | Vertical velocity | 135 | pl |
| vo | Vorticity (relative) | 138 | pl |
Tropical cyclone tracks - high-resolution products
| Long name | Format | Type of level | Steps for times 00 &12 | Steps for times 06 &18 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Tropical Cyclone Trajectory (TC track including genesis) |
BUFR | sfc | up to step 240 | up to step 90 |
Ensemble products
Steps:
- For times 00z &12z: 0 to 144 by 3, 150 to 360 by 6.
- For times 06z & 18z: 0 to 144 by 3.
Type of level data:
Surface (sfc), Surface Other level (sol) and Pressure Level (pl)
Pressure levels available (hPa): 1000, 925, 850, 700, 600, 500, 400, 300, 250, 200, 150, 100, 50
Only a single ID is used for Volumetric soil water and Soil Temperature with layer 1 having level=1, layer 2 having level=2 etc. Layers 1-4 are available.
Parameters: as described below
| Short name | Long name | ID | Type of level |
|---|---|---|---|
| z | Geopotential (step 0) | 129 | sfc |
| sdor | Standard deviation of sub-gridscale orography (step 0) | 160 | sfc |
| slor | Slope of sub-gridscale orography (step 0) | 163 | sfc |
| 10u | 10 metre U wind component | 165 | sfc |
| 10v | 10 metre V wind component | 166 | sfc |
| 100u | 100 metre U wind component | 228246 | sfc |
| 100v | 100 metre V wind component | 228247 | sfc |
| 10fg | Maximum 10 metre wind gust since previous post-processing - (appears as 10fg3 for steps 3 to 144) | 49 / 228028 | sfc |
| 2t | 2 metre temperature | 167 | sfc |
| 2d | 2 metre dewpoint temperature | 168 | sfc |
| msl | Mean sea level pressure | 151 | sfc |
| mp2 | Mean zero-crossing wave period | 140221 | sfc |
| mwd | Mean wave direction | 140230 | sfc |
| mwp | Mean wave period | 140232 | sfc |
| pp1d | Peak wave period | 140231 | sfc |
| swh | Significant height of combined wind waves and swell | 140229 | sfc |
| ro | Runoff | 205 | sfc |
| tp | Total Precipitation | 228 | sfc |
| sp | Surface pressure | 134 | sfc |
| st | Soil temperature | 228139 | sfc |
| tcwv | Total column vertically-integrated water vapour | 137 | sfc |
| lsm | Land Sea Mask | 172 | sfc |
|
vsw |
Volumetric soil water (layers 1-4) | 260199 | sol |
| sot | Soil temperature (layers 1-4) | 262024 | sol |
| mucape | Most unstable convective available potential energy | 228235 | sfc |
| asn | Snow albedo | 32 | sfc |
| mn2t3 | Minimum temperature at 2 metres in the last 3 hours | 228027 | sfc |
| mx2t3 | Maximum temperature at 2 metres in the last 3 hours | 228026 | sfc |
| mn2t6 | Minimum temperature at 2 metres in the last 6 hours | 122 | sfc |
| mx2t6 | Maximum temperature at 2 metres in the last 6 hours | 121 | sfc |
| tprate | Total precipitation rate | 260048 | sfc |
| ptype | Precipitation type | 260015 | sfc |
| ttr | Top net long-wave (thermal) radiation | 179 | sfc |
| str | Surface net long-wave (thermal) radiation | 177 | sfc |
| ssr | Surface net short-wave (solar) radiation | 176 | sfc |
| ssrd | Surface net short-wave (solar) radiation downwards | 169 | sfc |
| strd | Surface net long-wave (thermal) radiation downwards | 175 | sfc |
| nsss | Time-integrated northward turbulent surface stress | 181 | sfc |
| ewss | Time-integrated eastward turbulent surface stress | 180 | sfc |
| t20d | Depth of 20C isotherm - currently unavailable (11/03/2024) | sfc | |
| sav300 | Average salinity in the upper 300m - currently unavailable (11/03/2024) | sfc | |
| ocu | Eastward sea water velocity - currently unavailable (11/03/2024) | sfc | |
| ocv | Northward sea water velocity - currently unavailable (11/03/2024) | sfc | |
| sithick | Sea ice thickness | 262000 | sfc |
| zos | Sea surface height | 262124 | sfc |
| d | Divergence | 155 | pl |
| gh | Geopotential height | 156 | pl |
| q | Specific humidity | 133 | pl |
| r | Relative humidity | 157 | pl |
| t | Temperature | 130 | pl |
| u | U component of wind | 131 | pl |
| v | V component of wind | 132 | pl |
| w | Vertical velocity | 135 | pl |
| vo | Vorticity (relative) | 138 | pl |
Tropical cyclone tracks - ensemble products
The tropical cyclone trajectories are computed independently for each ensemble member; a given tropical cyclone may dissipate at different times in different members so the number of members predicting a given tropical cyclone may vary through the forecast.
| Long name | Format | Type of level | Steps for times 00 &12 | Steps for times 06 &18 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Tropical Cyclone Trajectory (TC track including genesis) |
BUFR | sfc | up to step 360 | up to step 144 |
Ensemble means and standard deviations
Steps for times 00z &12z: 0 to 144 by 3, 150 to 360 by 6.
| Short Name | Long Name | ID | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| gh | Geopotential height | 156 | 300, 500, 1000 |
| t | Temperature | 130 | 250, 500, 850 |
| ws | Wind speed | 10 | 250, 850 |
| msl | Mean sea level pressure | 151 | Single |
Probabilities, daily weather events
Ranges for times 00z &12z: 0-24 to 336-360 by 12
| Short Name | Long Name | ID | Threshold | Type of level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| tpg1 | Total precipitation of at least 1 mm | 131060 | >1mm | sfc |
| tpg5 | Total precipitation of at least 5 mm | 131061 | >5mm | sfc |
| tpg10 | Total precipitation of at least 10 mm | 131062 | >10mm | sfc |
| tpg20 | Total precipitation of at least 20 mm | 131063 | >20mm | sfc |
| tpg25 | Total precipitation of at least 25 mm | 131098 | >25mm | sfc |
| tpg50 | Total precipitation of at least 50 mm | 131099 | >50mm | sfc |
| tpg100 | Total precipitation of at least 100 mm | 131085 | >100mm | sfc |
| 10fgg10 | 10 metre wind gusts of at least 10 m/s | 131100 | >10m/s | sfc |
| 10fgg15 | 10 metre wind gusts of at least 15 m/s | 131070 | >15m/s | sfc |
| 10fgg25 | 10 metre wind gusts of at least 25 m/s | 131072 | >25m/s | sfc |
Probabilities, instantaneous weather events - atmosphere
Steps for times 00z &12z: 12 to 360 by 12
Level: 850 hPa
| Short Name | Long Name | Type of level |
|---|---|---|
| ptsa_gt _1stdev | Probability of temperature standardized anomaly greater than 1 standard deviation | pl |
| ptsa_gt _1p5stdev | Probability of temperature standardized anomaly greater than 1.5 standard deviation | pl |
| ptsa_gt _2stdev | Probability of temperature standardized anomaly greater than 2 standard deviation | pl |
| ptsa_lt _1stdev | Probability of temperature standardized anomaly less than -1 standard deviation | pl |
| ptsa_lt _1p5stdev | Probability of temperature standardized anomaly less than -1.5 standard deviation | pl |
| ptsa_lt _2stdev | Probability of temperature standardized anomaly less than -2 standard deviation | pl |
Probabilities, instantaneous weather events - wave
Steps for times 00z &12z: 12 to 360 by 12
| Short Name | Long Name | ID | Threshold | Type of level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| swhg2 | Significant wave height of at least 2 m | 131074 | >2 m | sfc |
| swhg4 | Significant wave height of at least 4 m | 131075 | >4 m | sfc |
| swhg6 | Significant wave height of at least 6 m | 131076 | >6 m | sfc |
| swhg8 | Significant wave height of at least 8 m | 131077 | >8 m | sfc |
Seasonal products - Not yet available (as of 01/03/2024)
| Short Name | Long Name | ID | Type of Level | Steps for time 00 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| sst | Sea Surface Temperature | 34 | sfc | 1 to 6 months |