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This page describes the model output data available from both EFAS and GloFAS. Please see Data Access to obtain the data and Working with CEMS-Flood Data details how to open, extract subsets and visualise the data.
EFAS Available Data
Presented here is a brief overview of the EFAS data made available to the public and registered EFAS users. For a full overview of the EFAS hydrological model LISFLOOD, please go to the dedicated pages. You You will find information on the latest release of EFAS here: Latest operational EFAS release
EFAS datasets
EFAS datasets are the time series produced by the operational forecasting system. In turn, those time series are post-processed to produce the forecast products displayed on the EFAS Information System.
Two types of EFAS datasets are available: operational medium-range forecasts and historical simulation forced with observations, both described below.
All data is provided as gridded time series data files generated using the latest EFAS operational configuration associated with the release date of the data. Please refer to the EFAS overview for more details on the EFAS modelling chain.
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EFAS forecasts are generated as a combination of Numerical Weather Prediction meteorological forecasts input and a hydrological model. Only EFAS medium-range forecasts, issued twice daily at 00:00UTC and 12:00UTC, are currently made available to the public as data files. Their configurations are detailed in table 1 below (for more details on the meteorological forcings please see https://www.efas.eu/en/meteorological-forecasts ). Table 1: EFAS medium-range forecast configuration
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EFAS Historical simulation forced with observations EFAS historical simulation forced with observations is a long (at least 20 years) hydrological time series simulation. It is considered as a reference simulation for the system, and is generated every time a new EFAS operational configuration is released. It is used to calculate statistics against which to compare the forecasts, such as river flood magnitude for given return periods, or to verify the performance of the forecasts. EFAS historical simulation forced with observations (SFO) is produced by forcing the EFAS operational modelling chain with consolidated gridded field of observed meteorological variables (precipitation and temperature) over a time period as long as possible; e.g. for EFAS3.0 the EFAS historical simulation spans 1990-2016. From 2017 onward, simulations forced with observations make use of gridded field of observed meteorological variables from the operational EFAS and are identified as EFAS operational simulations forced with observations (operational SFO). Users who want to full SFO time series are advised to download both historical SFO and operational SFO and merge them together. As the initial conditions used to initialise EFAS historical SFO for the first day of the simulation correspond to averaged initial values (the model is so called 'cold-started'), EFAS historical simulation forced with observations is available from 1 January 1991, when the initial conditions don't influence the simulation results. |
EFAS variables
EFAS variables (called 'parameters' in ECMWF MARS) are the hydrological entities calculated by the modelling chain.
Three types of EFAS variables are available: river discharge, snow depth water equivalent and volumetric soil moisture content. A short description is given below in table 2 along metadata information associated.
Table 1. Available EFAS variables
EFAS Short Description | Unit | GRIB parameter ID | GRIB Short name | GRIB Name | Comment | GRIB description |
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River discharge | m3/s | 240023/ 240024 | dis06/ dis24 | Mean discharge in the last 6/ 24 hours | Average | Volume rate of water flow, including sediments, chemical and biological material, in the river channel averaged over a time step through a cross-section. |
Snow depth water equivalent | kg/m2 (mm) | 228141 | sd | Snow depth water equivalent | Instantaneous at the end of the model time step | Snow depth water equivalent in kg m**-2 (mm) water equivalent |
Volumetric soil moisture content | m3 /m3 | 260199 | vsw | Volumetric soil moisture | Instantaneous at the end of the model time step Available for three soil layers | Volumetric soil moisture for a layer |
Soil depth | m | 260367 | sod | Soil depth | Set of three values. Depth from the surface to the bottom of each layer | Soil depth, positive downward. To be used with the type of level 'soil level' |
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EFAS variable river discharge (dis) is stored as average over the time step of the model (6-hourly or 24-hourly), with time stamp (date and time of end of averaging period) explicit in the GRIB short name. In EFAS, river discharge is calculated in each grid box of the hyrological model. However, not all grid boxes correspond to a river segment, and because of the relatively coarse resolution of the EFAS gridded domain, the modelled river network in EFAS might be associated with slightly different latitude-longitude than in the real world. It is hence essential that when extracting river discharge data, the user also checks the upstream area of the grid box of interest. The EFAS upstream area can be found in the Auxiliary Data pages. Some short scripts to use as examples are provided in the Working with CEMS-Flood Data pages. |
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Snow depth water equivalent represents the amount of water stored as ice and snow given as an instantaneous value at the end of each model time step. The time stamp (date and time of end of time step period) is explicit in the GRIB short name. In EFAS, snow depth water equivalent in each grid box is calculated from three elevation-related bands (a, b and c) to account for the difference in the melting rate with snow condition. However, only the more directly usable composite snow map representing the total snow water equivalent for each grid box is made available. Some short scripts to use as examples are provided in the Working with CEMS-Flood Data pages. |
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Soil moisture content represents the amount of water stored in the soil layers given as an instantaneous value at the end of each model time step. The time stamp (date and time of end of time step period) is explicit in the GRIB short name. EFAS soil moisture content in each grid box is calculated in three layers, top (1), intermediate (2) and bottom (3), each associated with a given soil depth (depth from top to bottom of that layer). Information for each 3 layers is provided as separate data field, the soil depth. EFAS soil moisture information is stored as volumetric soil moisture content for each layer. The associated volume of water for that layer is volumetric soil moisture content multiplied by the layer thickness. The thickness of a specific layer is the difference between the depth of two consecutive layers. The total volume soil moisture content is the sum of volume of water for each layer. Note that in EFAS-IS, only soil moisture of the first 2 layers is shown. Some short scripts to use as examples are provided in the Working with CEMS-Flood Data pages. |
GloFAS Available Data
Presented here is a brief overview of the GloFAS data made available to the public. For a full overview of the GloFAS system, please go to the dedicated wiki pages. You will find information on the latest releases here: Latest operational GloFAS release. Note GloFAS 30-day real-time forecasts over the European domain are currently not publicly available.
GloFAS datasets
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This dataset contains global modelled daily data of river discharge from GloFAS | -ERA5. River discharge. This dataset is simulated by forcing a hydrological modelling chain with inputs from the ERA5 global reanalysis. Data availability for the historical simulation is from 1979-01-01 up to near real time. Data can be accessed is several ways, the most common is through the CDS (see Data Access). Table X: River discharge and related historical data from GloFAS
Table 1: Available river discharge reanalysis simulation Forcing | Data set Period Lead time | Frequency Ensemble members ERA5 | Reanalysis | 1 Jan 1979 - near real-time | 24 h | Daily | - |
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This dataset contains global modelled daily data of river discharge forced with meteorological forecasts from GloFAS. This dataset is simulated by forcing the GloFAS hydrological modelling chain with input from ECMWF ensemble forecast combined with the ECMWF extended-range ensemble forecast up to 30 days. Data availability for the GloFAS forecast is from 2019-11-05 up to near real time. Data can be accessed is several ways, the most common is through the CDS (see Data Access). Table X: River discharge and related forecasted data from GloFAS
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This dataset provides a gridded modelled time series of river discharge, forced with medium- to sub-seasonal range meteorological reforecasts from GloFAS. This dataset was produced by forcing the GloFAS hydrological modelling chain with input from the ECMWF-ENS 11-member ensemble reforecasts. Reforecasts are forecasts run over past dates, and those presented here are used for providing a suitably long time period against which the skill of the 30-day real-time operational forecast can be assessed. The reforecasts are initialised twice weekly with lead times up to 46 days, at 24-hour steps for 20 years in the recent history. For more specific information on the how the reforecast dataset is produced we refer to the documentation. Data can be accessed is several ways, the most common is through the CDS (see Data Access). Table X: Reforecasts of river discharge and related data from GloFAS
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Table 3: Available GloFAS Seasonal river discharge forecasts and reforecasts
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GloFAS variables
GloFAS variables (called 'parameters' in ECMWF MARS) are the hydrological entities calculated by the modelling chain. For GloFAS only river discharge is made available. A short description is given below in table 1 along metadata information associated.
Table 1. Available GloFAS variables
GLOFAS Short Description | Unit | GRIB parameter ID | GRIB Short name | GRIB Name | Comment | GRIB description |
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River discharge | m3/s | 240024 | dis24 | Mean discharge in the last 24 hours | Average | Volume rate of water flow, including sediments, chemical and biological material, in the river channel averaged over a time step through a cross-section. |
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GloFAS variable river discharge (dis) is stored as average over the time step of the model (6-hourly or 24-hourly), with time stamp (date and time of end of averaging period) explicit in the GRIB short name. It is hence essential that when extracting river discharge data, the user also checks the upstream area of the grid box of interest. |