What is the OpenIFS Data Web Portal

One of the most pressing needs OpenIFS users face is to create initial conditions to start a model experiment. Currently such initial experiment data can be requested by contacting OpenIFS support via email. 

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

The web portal 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 requests for initial data types that are currently not yet served by the web portal can be submitted as before to the OpenIFS team by emailing openifs-support@ecmwf.int.  

After the initial release of the web portal, following a pilot scheme phase, we will explore possibilities to continuously expand this data facility with additional functionality, for instance by offering a wider range of data types or by providing access to OpenIFS training data. 

Getting started

The web portal can be accessed here:   https://apps.ecmwf.int/webapps/openifs/

Note:  Login credentials are required to use the web portal. During the current pilot phase only a limited number of username-password combinations will be accepted which are disseminated directly to test users. Please note that your generic ECMWF login credentials will not work at this time.

After the initial user authentication you will reach the web portal's main 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 new web page containing a data request form:

  • Data Parameters:
    • At present the data portal only produces initial experiment data. At a later stage different data types can become available here.
    • Initial experiment data can be produced either from ERA5 reanalysis data or from historical data in the operational archive. 
  • Experiment Parameters:
    • The start and end 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 the earliest possible start date is 1940-Jan-01. The end point of available data is a moving point in time and is generally 3 months prior to the present date. If recent start dates (within the past 3 months) are required then the user should verify on the MARS Catalogue or on the Climate Data Store whether ERA5 data for the requested dates is currently available, otherwise the data request in the OpenIFS data portal will be aborted. 
    • For data generated from the operational archive the earliest possible start date is 1979-Nov-01. The end point of available data has presently been fixed to 2022-Jun-01. 
    • The forecast length determines the length of boundary conditions (e.g. sea surface temperatures etc) provided with the initial data. The value must be between 24 and 2976 hours (i.e. between 1 and 124 days). 
  • Model Parameters:
    • Presently only data compatible with OpenIFS 43r3 can be produced. In future this will be expanded to other model cycles. 
    • Users can choose from 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 31, 60 or 90 levels to ensure availability for all a possible grid resolutions. 

Data requests are submitted to the portal by pressing the Submit button. Once this button has been pressed the data generation process can begin and the user returns to the request history main page. 

Some preliminary checking  is done while entering the request data.

If the request history page is not shown after pressing the submit button check your input fields for any errors.

Further consistency checks will be carried out once the request is submitted. Note that any user choices resulting in an unworkable data requests will be intercepted 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. 

Checking the request progress 

After submitting a request the portal's home page, showing the user's request history, is displayed again.

  • A new request entry (in blue colour) 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 "in progress".
  • Each request line entry has on the right side of the page a link to a corresponding Details page. Clicking this link will open a web page with information about the data request details and its generation progress.

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

  • The Details box on the upper left shows the main request properties and its current status. Upo completion a download link for the data tarball will be displayed. 

    Note that the download link has an expiry time stamp. After this time the download link will be no longer active and the generated data is removed from the download area.
  • The Config box on the right side 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 reasons for aborting the request will be shown here. 

User Feedback during the Pilot Phase

At present the web portal is only accessible to a limited number of users (testers).  This is a new facility and we expect that it will need to be further improved. The present focus has been on functionality the generate data in a reliable fashion.

We welcome feedback and suggestions for improvements from the early users. Of particular interest will be feedback of the following nature:

  • Usability of the portal – is it simple enough to use?
  • Any technical issues and problems in using the web portal and in generating the data?
  • Present functionality offered by the current version of the portal – is anything missing?
  • Future functionality – which important enhancement or new functionality would be the most important in the next version?

We encourage users to leave feedback as comments on this Confluence page (these will be managed and from time to time removed) or by email to openifs-support@ecmwf.int.