FLEXPART meteorological input from ECMWF

In order to extract data from the ECMWF MARS archive, one needs an account at ECMWF.

Reanalysis and MACC/CAMS data are publicly available. The ​procedure for registration is explained on the ECMWF web site (register and perform steps 1 and 2). Consider the ​applicable licence.

For other data (e.g., operational IFS data) a member-state or special-project account is be required. Contact your national meteorological service if you need this and your country is among ECMWF member states.

Software for retrieving ECMWF data in the specific format needed by FLEXPART was originally created by Gerhard Wotawa. The later versions were written by Leo Haimberger on behalf of CTBTO.

• ECMWF data retrieval software, V2.1
• ECMWF data retrieval software, V4, allows to retrieve compressed ECMWF data on old AIX ecgate in mixed GRIB1/GRIB2 coding
• ECMWF data retrieval software, V4.1, allows to retrieve compressed ECMWF data on new Linux ecgate in mixed GRIB1/GRIB2 coding
• flex_extract_ecgate_V6.0.tar.gz, a new version for retrieval with 1h time resolution and other enhancements
• flex_extract V7.0.2 New, python-based version. Allows access to publicly available data without a member state account through the python framework of ECMWF (ecmwf-api-client-python). Note that if you have the choice between working through this interface or directly on ecaccess/ through a gateway server, one of the latter options will usually be considerably faster. In any case, extracting large data sets takes time.