News

Tests carried out at ECMWF have demonstrated that new wind profile observations from the European Space Agency's ground-breaking Aeolus satellite significantly improve weather forecasts, particularly in the southern hemisphere and the tropics.

ECMWF has increased the amount of weather prediction products it makes available free of charge to Members of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

The autumn 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.

ECMWF has worked with experts in its Member States to test a new numerical scheme for calculations over the vertical grid in its Integrated Forecasting System (IFS). The results of initial tests are very promising.

The EU-funded NEXTGenIO project has designed and built a prototype hardware platform that promises massive gains in I/O capabilities in supercomputing. ECMWF has made a big contribution to the four-year project.

ECMWF’s 2019 Summer of Weather Code finished on a high with a showcase day for the seven successful projects on 20 September.

The EUROSIP multi-model seasonal forecasting system has been retired, with forecasts now being provided by the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) multi-model.

Accurate estimates of the current state of the Earth system are crucial for successful weather predictions. ECMWF scientist Patrick Laloyaux has developed a method to reduce the influence of model biases on those estimates.

On 1 October 2019, Jean-Noël Thépaut took up his post as Director of Copernicus Services at ECMWF. In an interview, he explains what has been achieved since 2014 and how he intends to develop the Copernicus services implemented by the Centre.

More than 100 experts meeting in Denmark from 19 to 25 September are reviewing the use of satellite-to-satellite observations in weather forecasting. ECMWF scientists attending the meeting will set out how such ‘radio occultation’ data help to define the initial conditions for forecasts and to develop forecasting systems.