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Production of the
re-forecasts is now complete and covers the period January 1981 to
December 2005. The re-forecasts have also been created for January
to August 2006 to bridge the gap to the start of the real-time
forecasts.
Pre-operational
real-time forecast data has been generated since September 2006.
The pre-operational system runs a few days behind the operational
schedule, and we aim to make the data available by the 20th of each
month at the latest. Pre-operational data is now available via the
dissemination system. Note that pre-operational data is not
intended for operational use, but is to enable users to configure
and test their processing and application software.
For the March 2007
forecast, we expect to change the status of Systems 2 and 3 such
that System 3 becomes the operational forecast system. When this
change occurs, MARS access to the data from Systems 2 and 3 will
remain unchanged. However, System 3 will be the official ECMWF
forecast, and will be produced on the operational schedule (release
on the 15th, 12 UTC). System 3 data will be disseminated as
EXPVER=0001, and dissemination of System 2 data will cease. ECMWF
derived products, such as the web plots and the multi-model
combinations, will all be based on the operational forecast system
only.
We intend to continue
to run System 2 for another 3 months in a post-operational mode,
whereby the data will become available in MARS some days behind the
operational schedule. This is to ease the transition process for
non-operational users who need more time to adjust their
experimental applications to the new data. However, such users are
cautioned that the post-operational system will have a reduced
level of support, and the availability of System 2 data is not
guaranteed. Data from the old system will not be available via
dissemination or the GTS. Experimental applications should be
migrated to System 3 as soon as practicable. Operational
applications should only ever use the operational system.
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