European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts

The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) is an intergovernmental organisation of 23 European member states, established in 1975 and headquartered in Reading, UK, with additional data centres in Bologna, Italy and Bonn, Germany. ^[1] Approximately 350 staff operate global numerical weather prediction (NWP) models and data assimilation systems that process around 40 million satellite and in-situ observations per day.

ECMWF produces operational short-range and extended-range forecasts and seasonal outlooks (up to 12 months) alongside the ERA5 climate reanalysis dataset, which covers 1940 to the present at 31 km resolution and hourly time steps. ^[2] As an Entrusted Entity under the EU Copernicus programme, ECMWF delivers the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) and the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), assimilating data from satellites including Meteosat, Metop, MODIS, AIRS, CrIS, and IASI into operational models and reanalyses. ^[3]