News

Improvements in aircraft weather observation numbers, quality and metadata are possible if numerical weather prediction centres work with the WMO, EUMETNET and the aviation sector, according to experts who met at ECMWF in February.

The warm conveyor belt workshop from 10 to 12 March 2020 will be virtual for external participants as part of measures to minimise potential exposure to the coronavirus (COVID-19). Registration has been re-opened to enable more people to participate remotely.

ECMWF has published the challenges for its third Summer of Weather Code (ESoWC). Applicants have until 22 April 2020 to submit proposals for weather- and climate-related projects that address the challenges of handling large amounts of data and transforming it into information.

Experts from four research and forecasting centres met at ECMWF on 4 and 5 February 2020 to drive forward the creation of a 24/7 European multi-hazard virtual advice service for natural disasters.

Eighty of the world’s top experts on using satellite cloud and precipitation observations in numerical weather prediction came together at ECMWF from 3 to 6 February to review progress and chart the way ahead.

Nine new ocean and sea-ice variables have been added to a multi-model sub-seasonal to seasonal (S2S) weather prediction database hosted by ECMWF. The new variables will help researchers to explore the predictability of ocean and sea-ice conditions.

ECMWF scientists Marta Janisková and Mark Fielding have shown that using cloud radar and lidar data in global numerical weather prediction can improve forecasts. Their ground-breaking results will be presented during the NWP SAF/ECMWF/JCSDA satellite data assimilation workshop taking place at the Centre from 3 to 6 February.

Predicting warm conveyor belt ascending air flows in extratropical cyclones and their impacts on the weather remains a key challenge for forecasting. A workshop at ECMWF from 10 to 12 March 2020 will bring together a wide range of international experts to discuss the way forward.

The winter 2019/20 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 released global data on weather-induced, outdoor thermal stress and discomfort in human beings covering the period from 1979 to today. The data have been calculated using weather information from ECMWF’s ERA5 reanalysis.