The aim of this page is to provide information and resources for the training courses OP-I and OP-II. The courses are suitable for those who have a genuine interest in ECMWF forecasting products and want to exploit fully the potential of these products in their daily duties, whether they are producing forecast bulletins or taking decisions that are affected by weather phenomena.
The courses are a mixture of standard classroom lectures and practical activities where real weather cases are analysed in details and attendees are expected to report on at the end of the training week. Networking among the attendees is encouraged by allocating time for the participants to present their work and share their previous experience with ECMWF products.
The courses are assessed by means of an online survey which allows the participants to include their feedback and suggestions for improvements. The learning outcomes are assessed separately using a self-evaluation method.
Pre-course programme
A list of pre-course activities is indicated below. Please note that these activities are integral part of the course and by completing them you will be able to get the most benefit out of the training week.
- Introduce yourself to the other course participants and to the lecturers (click here to go to the forum)
- Prepare a poster (click here for guidance, maximum size for poster: A1)
- Go trough the Practical activity: Choose a verification technique and apply it to your selected case (click here for guidance and document uploading facility)
- Browse through the list of suggested readings (see 'Suggested readings' in the list 'Resources' panel below)
- Listen to the slidecast (click here to start the MP4, if it does not start read instructions below in the 'Resources' panel)
timetable
Blog Posts
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read about the course last year (2012)
created by
Unknown User (moa)Sept 12, 2013
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Snow in Spain (1/3/2013)
created by
Unknown User (moa)Mar 02, 2013
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Floods in Italy and Greece (February 2013)
created by
Unknown User (moa)Feb 25, 2013
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Addis Ababa -- rain
created by
Unknown User (moa)Oct 03, 2012
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Jelawat
created by
Unknown User (moa)Sept 29, 2012
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Flash Floods in Spain
created by
Unknown User (moa)Sept 29, 2012
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UK floods
created by
Unknown User (moa)Sept 27, 2012
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Nadine and uncertainty
created by
Unknown User (moa)Sept 27, 2012
OP-I photo will be available
OP-II photo will be available
OP-III photo will be available
SLIDECASTs
- Operational forecasting at ECMWF: components an products (A. Ghelli)
if you cannot play it, please download the MP4 file (right click and choose 'Save link as' ) and play it locally with Windows media player, or quicktime or VLC (free software)
Suggested readings
A number of articles are available here on various aspects of NWP, ECMWF model changes, medium and extended range forecast.
Case studies (coming soon!)
Case 5
Case 6
Lectures
You can download lectures from here:
- click on the title to get the mp4 (if you cannot play it, please download the MP4 file by right clicking and choosing 'Save link as' . Play it locally with Windows media player, or quicktime or VLC (free software))
- click on 'pdf' to get the file in pdf
Lecturer | Title | Lecturer | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
A. Ghelli | Introducing ECMWF | L. Isaksen | Data assimilation (pdf) |
P. Bechtold | Model Physics (pdf) | F. Prates | Forecasting tropical cyclones in the medium range (pdf) |
J. Bidlot | Wave forecasting (pdf) | D. Richardson | Ensemble forecasting (pdf) |
M. Dahoui | Use of satellite observations (pdf) | C. Sahin | Introduction to ecCharts |
L. Ferranti |
| I. Tsonevsky | Forecasting extreme events (pdf) |
| R. Forbes | Clouds and precipitation (pdf) | L. Magnuson | Understanding the model climate (pdf) |
| T. Hewson | Extratropical Cyclones (pdf) |
EUMETCAL e-training module on verification:
The link below will take you to an e-training module on verification methods. There are four parts to it: Introduction, Verification of continuous variables, Verification of categorical forecasts and Verification of probability and ensemble forecasts. This module will help you to learn about verification techniques for deterministic and probability forecast. Try to complete all the parts and in case you run out of time look at the Introduction, Verification of categorical forecasts and Verification of probability and ensemble forecasts. There will be a verification session during the training week when verification techniques will be discussed starting from the exercises you have done in the module and your practical verification activity:
The posters presented by the students are here!
Thomas Jordi & Alex Giordano (Switzerland)
Anne Solveig Andersen & Jan Erik Bradt (Sweden)
Gabriela Cueva Tascon (Spain)
Fabien Rinaldi (France – EDF)
Martin Lindberg (Denmark)
Aleksandra Arsic & Milada Vuckovic (Serbia)
Angeliki Marinaki & Kostantina Zeini (Greece)
Gerrit Schraa (Netherlands)
Janne R T Hansen (Denmark)
Simon Trippler (Germany)
Dealing with 'jumps' in the forecast (Instructor-led practical session)
In this interactive session we will focus on apparent jumps, between runs, in ECMWF forecasts and how forecasters can perhaps deal with them. Examples will be included. The point will also be made that a sound forecasting system has to exhibit 'jumpy behaviour' from time to time.
Case 1
Case 2
Case 3