The OpenIFS Data Hub is a facility to generate initial and boundary conditions for OpenIFS forecast model experiments. It is available only to users of the IFS or the OpenIFS model.

The Data Hub does not produce any OpenIFS model diagnostics or forecast data. It generates data that is required to carry out OpenIFS model experiments.

If you are interested in ECMWF data products or need more general information about ECMWF data please follow this link or contact ECMWF Support. 

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What is the OpenIFS Data Hub?

One of the most pressing needs OpenIFS users face is to create initial experiment data (initial and boundary conditions) to start a model experiment. Before the Data Hub existed such initial experiment data were requested by contacting OpenIFS support via email. 

The OpenIFS Data Hub allows OpenIFS and IFS users to produce their own initial experiment data through a web-based application that triggers an automatic data generation process on our servers. The initial data files are produced using the exact same method as if the OpenIFS team had created the data. At the end of the process the user is provided with a download web link.

The Data Hub removes therefore the need to email the OpenIFS team at ECMWF and provides one common system that is available to both ECMWF staff and external OpenIFS users everywhere. Any initial data types that are currently not yet served by the Data Hub can be requested, as before, from the OpenIFS team by emailing openifs-support@ecmwf.int.  

We continually explore options to expand this application with additional functionality, for instance by offering a wider range of data types or by providing access to OpenIFS training data. Feedback from users is very welcome as it helps to identify additonal user needs. 

Getting started

The OpenIFS Data Hub can be accessed here:      https://openifs.ecmwf.int/data-hub

You will need an ECMWF user account to access the Data Hub.

After the initial user authentication you will reach the Data Hub's dashboard page which shows your data request history. 

To submit a new request for initial data press the "New Request" button at the top of the page. This will open a drop-down menu with two options:

• Initial data - meteo only forecast: This will generate initial data and time-varying boundary conditions for forecast experiments
• Initial data - atmos composition forecast: This will generate initial data, as above, with additional data for simulating atmospheric composition. 

Clicking on either of these options will open a new web page containing a data request form.  The following sections describe the input parameters of this form. 

Initial data for the meteo only forecast

When selecting meteo only forecast, the data request form contains the following fields:

• Product category:
  • This drop-down field offers the opportunity to switch between the meteo only and atmos composition forecast data request forms.
• Data Parameters:
  
  • Initial experiment data can be produced either from ERA5 reanalysis data or from historical data in the operational archive. 
• Experiment Parameters:
  • The first start date and last start date determine the dates for which initial experiment data will be requested. If only one start date is required, both dates need to be equal and in this case the value of the time increment between forecasts is ignored. 
  • For data generated from ERA5 reanalyses the earliest possible start date is 1940-Jan-01. The end date of the most recent available data is being continually updated and is typically 3 months prior to the present date. If recent start or end dates (e.g., within the past 3-4 months) are required then the user should verify first on the MARS Catalogue or on the Climate Data Store whether ERA5 data for the requested dates is currently available before submitting the request with the OpenIFS Data Hub. If no available data is found in the requested time period, then the data request will be aborted. 
  • For data generated from the operational archive the the most recent available start date is 8 days before the current date.
  • The forecast length determines the number of days for which boundary conditions are supplied (e.g. sea surface temperatures etc), commencing with the initial start date. This value must be between 24 and 2976 hours (i.e. between 1 and 124 days). The timestamp of the final requested data point must be at least 24 hours before the present day (for operational archive) or within the available valid data period (for ERA5). 
• Model Parameters:
  • Initial data for model cycles CY43R3 and CY48R1 can be produced for OpenIFS or the IFS model. Other model cycles before CY48R1 will not be supported. 
  • The initial data needs to have the grid type, horizontal resolution and vertical level numbers that are required for the experiment.
  • Users can select between several Gaussian grid types. Please refer to the section on model grid and resolution in the OpenIFS User Guide for more information. 
  • The choice of vertical model levels is restricted to 60, 62, 91 or 137 levels to ensure availability for all a possible grid resolutions. 

Initial data for atmospheric composition

When the atmospheric composition forecast option is chosen, the data request form will be very similar to that used in the "meteo only forecast".

The differences to the request form described in the previous section are:

• Initial data can only be generated from the CAMS operational analysis. This data is only available from 28 June 2023 onwards. No earlier start dates can be offered at present.
• Atmospheric composition initial data is only available for OpenIFS 48r1 (i.e. from CY48R1). If initial composition data for cycle 43r3 is required please contact OpenIFS support. 
• For composition we only support model grids up to the resolution of the operational analysis. Therefore a much more limited choice of model grid resolutions is available, with support for 60, 91, and 137 vertical model levels. 
• A choice of two chemistry schemes is offered: Either Tropospheric chemistry with aerosol (TM5 + AER), or alternatively Stratospheric + tropospheric chemistry with aerosol (BASCOE + TM5 + AER). Please contact OpenIFS support if you have questions about the chemistry scheme options. 

Please note that the initial experiment data contains at this time no variation in time. This means that no change to the emissions fluxes is applied over the duration of the forecast. 

Submitting your data request

Once the information in the data request form has been completed, the request can be submitted to the Hub by pressing the Submit button.

Once this button has been pressed, the request information is added to the queue and the data generation process can begin. The request history dashboard page is shown. 

Some preliminary checking  is done while entering the request data.

Further consistency checks will be carried out once the request has been accepted. Note that any user choices resulting in an unworkable data requests will be identified early in the process and the user request will be aborted. 

A maximum data volume of 500,000 MB is permitted for a single request. Any requests exceeding this data volume will be aborted. For reference, an initial data request at the current operational grid resolution (Tco1279L137) for a single start date with 10 days forecast length has an (uncompressed) data volume of approximately 20,000 MB. 

Examples for completing the request form

First example:  You require initial data for a single start date, created from ERA5 reanalysis data.

• The field "Source for initial data" needs to display ERA5 reanalysis (which is the default value). 
• Ensure that both date fields "First start date" and "Last start date" are set to the same date. When both dates are the same, any value selected for "Time increment between forecasts" will be ignored.
• Note that ERA5 data may not yet be available for the most recent months. If in doubt, check the MARS Catalogue prior to submitting your request.
• Select the experiment start time (default is 00:00 UTC) and the forecast length. The forecast length value determines the number of days for boundary conditions data (e.g. SSTs) in the ICMCL*INIT file.
• Select the model cycle and the model grid parameters for your request.
• Press "Submit".

Second example:  You require initial data with multiple start dates, every 12 hours, created from historical operational archive data.

• The field "Source for initial data" should now be set to Operational archive. 
• Note that the default value for the start date is set to the most recent possible date for operational archive data (for a 24 hour forecast, i.e. forecast length set to 1 day).  
• Ensure that the "First start date" and "Last start date" are set to the appropriate range of dates for your request; they must not be the same value for multiple start dates.
• In this case the value for "Time increment between forecasts" will be evaluated. For instance, if you need 12-hourly gaps between forecast start dates you should set this to 12. 
• Complete all the other fields as in the first example.
• Press "Submit". 

Third example:  You require initial data for a forecast experiment with atmospheric composition.

• CAMS operational data for cycle 48r1 is only available since 28 June 2023, so no earlier start date can be selected.
• To obtain initial data for the tropospheric chemistry scheme TM5 (including initial data for the AER bulk aerosol scheme) select the appropriate option in the drop-down menu for the chemistry. If additionally initial data for the BASCOE stratospheric chemistry is required change the option accordingly.
• Note that currently no time-varying surface or aircraft emissions are provided. 

Recent start dates:  When experiment data is required for dates close to the present day, it may be necessary to check data availability prior to submitting the request.

• The Data Hub will not provide any data for future dates.
• When requesting data created from the operational historical archive, note that for recent start dates the forecast length needs to be adjusted accordingly to end at least 6 days prior to the current date. The same applies to CAMS operational analysis data. 
• When requesting data created from the ERA5 reanalysis, you need to check the MARS Catalogue for the available dates. The time gap between the available reanalysis data and the present day can vary between a few weeks and several months. 

How do I know when my data will be available?

• At this time there is no email notification once the data request has completed.
• You will need to login to the Data Hub dashboard page and manually check the progress of your requests. This is described also in the next section below. 
• Once completed, the data of your request is available for download for 2 weeks (see expiry time stamp). After this time the download link will be disabled and the data files can no longer be retrieved.
• The request history remains in your dashboard page for your reference, even after the data file download link has expired.  

Checking the request progress 

After submitting a request the dashboard page is displayed again showing the user's request history.

• A new request entry has appeared at the top of the request history.
  A limit for open data requests (having status "new" or "in progress") applies per user and once this limit is reached no further requests can be submitted until some of the user's requests have completed or aborted. 
• At regular time intervals the system checks for new data requests. Once the request has been picked up its status indicator updates to "processing".
• Each request line entry has on the right side of the page a link to a corresponding Details page.
  
  Clicking on this link will open another web page with information about the data request details and its generation progress.

On this Details Page for a selected request the following information is shown: 

• The Details box in the upper left area shows the main request properties and its current status. After completion a download link for the data tarball will be displayed. 
  
  Note that the download link has an expiry time stamp. After this expiry time the download link will be no longer active, by this time the generated data is removed from the storage area and is not available for download any longer. 
• The Config box on the right side of the Details Page displays the parameters that were selected previously in the input form. 
• The Changelog box displays the status history of the request with the current status on top.  Any potential errors or other reasons for aborting the request will be shown here. 

How can I get help?

• To get help and ask for information about the OpenIFS Data Hub please email openifs-support@ecmwf.int. The OpenIFS Team will respond to your question as soon as possible. 
• Please note that questions about OpenIFS and the OpenIFS Data Hub can also be posted on the OpenIFS User Forum. This allows the entire user community to respond or provide help and advice for your question.
• We welcome feedback about the Data Hub and suggestions for additional features and improvements. Please also contact the OpenIFS Team via the email address above. Feedback is important to us to understand the needs of the user community.
• Please be aware that the OpenIFS Team cannot provide help and assistance for topics that are not related to OpenIFS. Queries about other ECMWF products (e.g. other software, or forecast and reanalysis data products) should be sent to the ECMWF Support Portal where they will be assigned to the appropriate team.