Users accessing or using the ECMWF computing services do so under the terms and conditions detailed on this page. For the avoidance of doubt, by using any ECMWF computing services, the user agrees to be bound to all terms and conditions provided herein.
If the user is agreeing to these terms and conditions on behalf of an organisation, company or other legal entity, such user represents they have the legal authority to bind that organisation, company or other legal entity to these terms and conditions. To the same effect, the use of one account to access ECMWF computing services by a number of users constitutes an agreement with these terms and conditions by each of these different users and the obligations of a user as outlined hereto are applicable to each one of these different users.
These terms and conditions are in addition to any terms and conditions associated with the use of the respective service and/or the respective architecture/platform/application/interface via which the services may be provided and any (licence) terms and conditions associated with the use of the data, accessible by means of the ECMWF computing services.
Conditions of access to the ECMWF computing services. Acceptable use.
Use of ECMWF computing services requires prior registration with the application/infrastructure/interface applicable to the respective service specifications.
Registration and access to the ECMWF application/infrastructure/interface for the use of the ECMWF computing services shall be in accordance with the ECMWF Password Management Policy for Web Users (which can be found at: ) and shall follow the below:
- Time-based One-Time Passwords (TOTPs) are personal access tokens and, like user identifiers, are granted to users for their sole use and for the use of any other users authorised by ECMWF for the given service.
- The underlying authentication process is based on the access to TOTP tokens; hence devices running TOTP applications must be kept securely (similar to credit cards).
- Login passwords and the PINs of TOTP applications must be kept confidential and must not be disclosed to other persons, other than the other users authorised by ECMWF for the given service.
All users shall:
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employ non-trivial passwords and PINs;
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safeguard TOTPs granted to them against physical access by other persons;
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change passwords or PINs whenever there is any indication that they have been compromised,
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use their access only for the purpose for which access to the ECMWF computing services has been granted.
User accounts where there has been no login activity on the ECMWF single sign-on (SSO) for access to ECMWF web or computing services for more than 18 calendar months will be disabled.
The user is responsible for all activities that occur under their account in the application/infrastructure/interface for the use of the ECMWF computing services. The user is responsible for properly using the ECMWF computing services to secure and protect their accounts in a manner that provides appropriate security and protection from unauthorised access, including but not limited to maintaining the confidentiality of and protecting their access credentials (e.g. private keys or passwords).
The user shall keep all their registered information correct and up to date.
The user shall ensure that no damage is caused to any products, data or services of any other data customer/user or ECMWF.
If the user becomes aware that their account is compromised or becomes aware of any non-permitted activity or any other security breach, they shall immediately change their password and contact ECMWF.
The user shall not use the ECMWF computing services and application/infrastructure/interface for the use of the ECMWF computing services for illegal, unethical, or non-authorised purposes, including but not limited to breaching or circumventing any administrative or security controls. To this effect, the user shall not:
- store, share, or distribute content that is illegal, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, or otherwise objectionable;
- engage in any copyright infringement, fraud, and unauthorized access to data;
- distribute malware, viruses, or any other harmful software;
- engage in activities that disrupt ECMWF computing services, ECMWF operations or harm other users;
- generate, distribute, publish or facilitate unsolicited mass email, promotions, advertisements, or other solicitations (“spam”);
- attempt to gain unauthorised access to any systems, networks, or data, including attempting to bypass security measures or access accounts that do not belong to the user;
- use the ECMWF computing services and the application/infrastructure/interface for the use of the ECMWF computing services in a manner that excessively consumes resources, such as bandwidth, storage, or processing power, which could negatively impact other users.
Default by the user of its obligations under these terms and conditions shall entitle ECMWF to suspend or terminate access/use of the user to the ECMWF computing services and/or application/infrastructure/interface, at any time, with or without prior notice. ECMWF shall furthermore be entitled to full damages regardless of whether access/use of the user is suspended or terminated.
Further to the above and any other available remedies to ECMWF under the respective contractual relationship with the user or the applicable laws, serious violations may be reported to law enforcement authorities and/or could result in criminal and/or civil liability.
Additional Conditions Applicable to the ECMWF Computing Services by National Meteorological and Hydrological Service (NMHS) of ECMWF Member States and Co-operating States
In accessing or using ECMWF computing services , users from the National Meteorological and Hydrological Service (NMHS) of an ECMWF Member State or a Co-operating State agree that they will use their access to the ECMWF computing services solely in accordance with Article 2(2)(e) of the ECMWF Convention:
“The objectives of the Centre shall be: …
e) to make available to the Member States for their research, priority being given to the field of numerical weather forecasting, a sufficient proportion of its computing capacity, such proportion being determined by the Council;”
To this effect, the below shall be applicable to all users from the NMHS of the ECMWF Member State and Co-operating States, who receive services related to the provision of ECMWF Open Data Products/Advanced Web Services but are not required to sign a Service Agreement with ECMWF:
- ECMWF Computing Infrastructure is primarily intended for the operational and research purposes of ECMWF and its Member and Co-operating States.
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Accordingly, access to ECMWF Computing Infrastructure shall not be granted for Service Provision or Commercial Use unless explicitly approved.
Standard Service Agreement Template
In order to receive services related to the provision of ECMWF Open Data Products/Advanced Web Services, users are required to sign a service agreement with ECMWF in the format available here:
Licence Terms for ECMWF Open Data Products/Advanced Web Services
The use of ECMWF Open Data Products/Advanced Web Services, namely Archive Catalogue Products and ECMWF Products from the Real-Time Catalogue and/or Advanced Web Services that have been approved by the ECMWF Council to have an open licence whereby redistribution, commercial and research use are permitted by all users subject to the appropriate attribution, is governed by the Creative Commons CC-4.0-BY licence and the ECMWF Terms of Use.
Licence Terms for ECMWF Restricted Products
In order to use ECMWF Restricted Products, i.e. ECMWF Products that are not in the Real-Time Catalogue and are subject to specific access, Distribution or usage conditions, users are required to sign the ECMWF Licence Agreement for Restricted Products (available upon request).