Overview of Operational Numerical Weather Prediction Systems in Europe

Part I: Deterministic models, Part II: Ensemble prediction systems
last updated: Sep. 2023
Part I. Deterministic Models
Country Model Mesh size
(km)
Number of
gridpoints
Number of
levels
Initial times &
Forecast ranges (h)
Type of data
assimilation
Model providing
LBC data
LBC update
interval (h)
Computer
Denmark HIRLAM T15 16 610×568 40 00/06/12/18 +60h 3D-VAR ECMWF/IFS 1h Cray XC30
K05 5.5 874×534 40 00/06/12/18 +48h 3D-VAR ECMWF/IFS 1h
SKA 3.3 874×658 65 00/06/12/18 +54h 3D-VAR ECMWF/IFS 1h
HARMONIE NEA 2.5 1200×1080 65 00/03/06/09/12/15/18/21 +51h 3DVAR ECMWF/IFS 1h Cray-XC30
IGA 2.5 1000×800 65 00/06/12/18 +54h Surf-ana only ECMWF/IFS 1h
MetCoOp
(Finland,
Norway,
Sweden,
Estonia)
HARMONIE-Arome MNWC 2.5 960×1080 65 00/01/02..22/23 +12h 3DVAR rapid refresh MEPS‑det/
MetCoOp
1h Atos BullSequana XH2000
(Estonia, Finland, Norway, Sweden)
Iceland HARMONIE 2.5 300×240 65 00/06/12/18 +48h Surf-ana only ECMWF/IFS 3h Cray @ ECMWF
Ireland HARMONIE-AROME 2.5 1000×900 65 00/03/06/09/12/15/18/21 +54h 3D-Var IFS-HRES 1h ECMWF and KNMI HPCF
Netherlands HIRLAM CIS (7.2) 11 726 × 550 60 00/06/12/18 +48h 3D-VAR ECMWF/IFS 3h BullX B720
H11 (7.4) 11 306 × 290 40 00/01/02/../22/23 +24h 3D-VAR ECMWF/IFS 1h
HARMONIE HA40 (40h1.2.tg2) 2.5 800 × 800 65 00/03/06/../18/21 +48h 3D-VAR ECMWF/IFS 1h
BES (40h1.1.1) 2.5 1280 × 810 65 00/03/06/../18/21 +48h blending ECMWF/IFS 1h
WFP_43 (43h22tg3) 2.5 800 × 800 65 00/03/06/../18/21 +48h 3D-VAR ECMWF/IFS 1h
Norway AROME Arctic 2.5 750×960 65 00/03/21 +66h 3D-VAR ECMWF/IFS 3h Linux Cluster with Intel Xeon Gold model 6130
Spain HIRLAM ONR 17 582×424 40 00/06/12/18 +72h 3D-VAR ECMWF/IFS 3h Bullx Ivy Bridge
Iberia 5.5 606×430 +36h
Canarias
HARMONIE Arome Iberia 2.5 1152×864 65 00/06/12/18
03/09/15/21
+48h
+12h
3D-VAR ECMWF/IFS 1h
Canarias 576×480
Austria AROME-RUC 1.2 900×576 90 every 1h +12h 3DVAR + LHN, surface OI AROME‑AUT 1h HPE Apollo 8600
AROME-AUT 2.5 600×432 90 00/03/06/09/12/15/18/21 +48h 3DVAR surface OI ECMWF/IFS
HRES
1h
Belgium ALARO 4 432×432 87 00/06/12/18 +60h none 3-hourly LBC's from ARPEGE 3h SGI cluster XEON E5-2680V3, 2688 cores
1.3 600×600 87 00/06/12/18 +36h none nested in the 4km run 3h
Bulgaria ALADIN 5 256×200 105 00/06/12/18 +72h none ARPEGE 3h Linux Cluster
AROME 2.5 320×240 90 06/18 +48h none ALADIN 1h
Croatia ALARO 4 469×421 73 00/06/12/18 +72h surface OI
upper-air 3D-Var
ECMWF/IFS 3h SGI UV 2000
48 Intel Xeon E5 6-core
2,9GHz CPUs with 288 cores
ALARO 2 439×439 87 00/12 +72h No-assimilation ALARO 4 1h
HRDA 2 439×439 32 00/06/12/18 +72h No-assimilation Dynamical adaptation for wind 1h
Czech Rep. ALARO 2.3 1080×864 87 00/06/12
18
+72h
+54h
Blend Var
(Digital filter blending + 3D-VAR)
ARPEGE 3h NEC-LX, 320 nodes, 7680 cores,
64GB per node, 1Pbyte Lustre fast storage
France ARPEGE 5.1-France
24-Antipode
global 105 00
06
12
18
+102h
+102h
+102h
+102h
4D-VAR; 6h - - Bull Sequana XH2000,
AMD EPYC 7742
AROME-France-IFS 1.3 1440×1536 90 00
06
12
18
+51h
+51h
+51h
+51h
Dynamical Adaptation
coupled with IFS
ECMWF/IFS 1h
AROME-France 1.3 1440×1536 90 00/03/06/12/15/18/21 +51h 3D-VAR ARPEGE 1h
AROME-NWC 1.3 1440×1536 90 every 1h +6h 3D-VAR ARPEGE 1h
France
Overseas
AROME Indian 1.3 3072×1728 90 00/06/12/18 +51h
(+78h on demand)
Dynamical adaptation ECMWF/IFS 1h
Polynesia 1200×1200
Caledonia 1200×1200
Guyana 1000×768
Antilles 2250×1296
Hungary ALARO 8 349×309 49 00/12
06
18
+60h
+48h
+36h
surface OI
3D-VAR
ECMWF/IFS 3h HPE Apollo 6000 server
AROME 2.5 490×310 60 00/06/12/18
03/09/15/21
+48h
+36h
3D-VAR, SEKF ECMWF/IFS 1h
Poland ALARO 4 789×789 60 00/06/12
18
+66h
+60h
none ARPEGE 3h Linux cluster
(194xIntel Xeon E5-2690 CPUs)
AROME 2 799×799 60 00/06/12/18 +30h none ALARO (4km) 1h
Portugal AROME Mainland 2.5 540×480 46 00/12 +48h none ARPEGE 3h IBM Power7+
(8+1 nodes)
Azores 2.5 259×349 none ARPEGE 3h
Madeira 2.5 189×181 none ARPEGE 3h
Romania ALARO 6.5 240×240 60 00
06
12
18
+78h
+54h
+66h
+54h
none ARPEGE 3h IBM Linux Cluster
Slovakia ALARO 4.5 625×576 63 00
06/12
18
+78h
+72h
+60h
BlendVar upper-air DA + CANARI surface DA ARPEGE 3h NEC-LX HPC
ALARO 2 512×384 87 00/12 +72h no assimilation (A-LAEF CNTRL init downscaling) ECMWF 3h
Slovenia ALARO 4.4 421×421 87 00/06/12/18
03/09/15/21
+72h
+36h
surface OI, 3DVAR, 3h RUC ECMWF/IFS 3h SGI ICE-X (1284 cores)
Turkey ALARO 4.5 439×705 60 12
00/06/18
+60h
+72h
none ARPEGE 3h SGI Ice-X (E5 2690v4,4032 cores)
AROME 1.7 629×1589 60 00/06/12/18 +48h none ALARO 1h
Germany ICON 13 global
2-way nest
90 00/12
06/18
03/09/15/21
+180h
+120h
+51h
EnVar, 3h - - NEC SX-Aurora Tsubasa
ICON-EU 6.5 60
ICON-D2 2.2 525072 65 03/06/.../18/21 +48h LETKF, 1h ICON-EU 1h
Greece COSMO GR7 7 649×393 60 00/12 +72h none ECMWF/IFS 3h IBM @ ECMWF
GR2 2.8 501×401 60 00/12 +48h none COSMO-GR 1h
Israel COSMO 2.8 561×401 60 00/12/ +78h Nudging ECMWF/IFS 1h SGI Linux cluster
AMD Opteron Processor 6276
Italy COSMO ME 5 1083×559 45 00/06/12/18 +72h LETKF ECMWF/IFS 3h HP Cluster Linux (CNMCA)/ATOS (ECMWF)
IT 2.2 576×701 65 00/06/12/18 +30h/48h LETKF ECMWF/IFS 1h
5M 5 1083×559 45 00/12 +72h LETKF ECMWF/IFS 3h "Galileo100" Linux Cluster (CINECA)
2I 2.2 576×701 65 00/12
03/06/09/15/18/21
+48h
+18h
LETKF COSMO-5M 1h
ICON IT 2.2 468212 (cells) 65 00/12 up to +48h LETKF ECMWF/IFS 1h ATOS (ECMWF)
Poland COSMO PL14 14 415×460 35 00/06/12/18 +82h none ICON 3h HP Xeon Cluster
PL7 7 380×405 40 00/06/12/18 +82h Nudging ICON 3h
PL2.8 2.8 380×405 50 00/06/12/18 +48h Nudging COSMO-PL7 1h
Romania COSMO RO7 7 201×177 40 06/18/
00/
12
+48h
+78h
+174h
Nudging ICON global 3h IBM Cluster
(Blade Server)
RO2 2.8 361×291 50 00/18/
06
+30h
+18h
Nudging COSMO-RO7 1h
Russia SLAV20 20 global 51 00/12 +120h
+240h
3D-VAR,
6h
- - SGI ICE 8200
RSC Tornado
T339L31 35 global 31 00/12 +72h
+240h
3D-VAR,
6h
- -
COSMO Ru13-ENA 13.2 1000×500 40 00/12
06/18
+120h
+78h
none ICON 3h
Ru7 7 700×620 40 00/12
06/18
+78h
+48h
Nudging ICON 3h
Ru7-ART 7 135×150 40 00/
12
+48h
+60h
none COSMO-Ru7 3h
RU2 Moscow 2.2 420×470 50 00/06/
12/18
+42h Nudging COSMO-Ru7 1h
Ru2 Kazan 2.2 420×470 50 00/06/
12/18
+42h Nudging COSMO-Ru7 1h
Ru2 Sochi 2.2 420×470 50 00/06/
12/18
+42h Nudging COSMO-Ru7 1h
Ru1 Sochi 1.1 420×470 50 00/06/
12/18
+42h Nudging COSMO-Ru2 1h
Ru13-SIB 13.2 360×250 40 00/06/
12/18
+78h
+48h
none ICON 3h SGI Altix 4700
United Kingdom UM Global 10 global 70
(top 80km)
00/12
06/18
+144h
+48h
Hybrid 4D-VAR - - Cray XC40
Euro4 4.4 1100×1000 70
(top 40km)
00/12
06/18
+120h
+60h
none UM (Global) 3h
UKV 1.5 950×1015 70
(top 40km)
00/01/02/.../22/23 +12h,+54h,
+120h
4D-VAR UM (Global) 1h
Bosnia-Herzegovina WRR-NMM D1 12 164×118 50 00 +96h none GFS(0.5deg) 3h DELL RAK Server
POWEREDGE R715
(2 cpu-s each with 16 cores)
D2 4 158×73 50 00 +96h Nudging GFS(0.5deg) 3h
WRF-Chemistry D1 33 100×65 35 00 +48h none GFS(0.5deg) 3h
D2 11 52×40 35 00 +48h Nudging GFS(0.5deg) 3h
NMMB-model D1 24 150×100 45 00 +120h none GFS(0.5deg) 3h Linux PC
(1 cpu with 8 cores)
D2 6 80×65 45 00 +120h none GFS(0.5deg) 3h
Montenegro WRF-NMM_a D1 10 200×360 40 00 +120h none GFS/NCEP 3h HP Proliant DL380
(2 cpu x 12 cores)
D2 8 80×150 40 00 +120h Downscale D1 1h
D3 3 100×170 40 00 +120h Downscale D2 1h
WRF-NMM_e D1 3 180×280 40 00 +144h none ECMWF 3h HP Proliant DL380
(2 cpu x 12 cores)
D2 1 100×250 60 00 +144h Downscale D1 1h
D3 0.8 160×320 60 00 +120h Downscale D1 1h
D4 0.5 120×150 60 00 +144h Downscale D2 1h
WRF-Chemistry D1 6 148×120 40 00 +72h none ECMWF 3h HP Proliant DL580 G10
(4 cpu x 18 cores)
D2 2 148×120 40 00 +72h Nudging D1 1h
NMME-DREAM D1 5 700×720 28 00 +72 none ECMWF 3h HP Proliant DL580 G10
(4 cpu x 18 cores)
D2 2 450×600 40 00 +72h Downscale D1 1h
Serbia WRF-ARW 4.25 350×250 50 00/12 +72h none ECMWF/IFS 3h HP Proliant DL380 G7, 384 Intel Xeon
ETA 26 145×241 32 00/12 +120h none ICON 6h Linux PC
WRF-NMM 4 220×290 45 00/12 +72h none ECMWF/IFS 3h HP XC 256 Xeon
12 260×500 38 00/12 +120h none ICON 3h HP XC 256 Xeon
12 260×500 38 00/12 +192h none GFS 3h
NMMB 30 global 64 00/12 +120h none none (global) - HP Proliant DL380 G7, 384 Intel Xeon
12 394×356 64 00/12 +120h none NMMB global 3h
4 306×267 64 00/12 +72h none NMMB (12km) - HP Proliant DL380 G7, 384 Intel Xeon
online nested
4 512×390 64 00/12 +72h none ECMWF/IFS 3h ATOS ECMWF
Cyprus WRF-ARW D1 18 64×49 60 00/12 +120h none NCEP/GFS 3h IBM iDataPlex dx360 M3
(Cyprus Institute Cy-Tera HPC Facility)
D2 6 49×34 60 00/12 +120h none NCEP/GFS 3h
D3 2 88×55 60 00/12 +120h none NCEP/GFS 3h
ECMWF IFS 9 global 137 00/12
06/18
+240h
+90h
4D-VAR; using error
estimates from EDA
- - IBM/CRAY
Part II. Ensemble Prediction Systems
Country Model Mesh size
(km)
Number of
gridpoints
Number
of
levels
Initial times &
Forecast ranges (h)
Type of data
assimilation
and perturbations
Model providing
LBC data
LBC
update
interval (h)
Number
of
EPS
members
Computer
MetCoOp
(Finland,
Norway,
Sweden,
Estonia)
HARMONIE-AROME 2.5 900×960 65 00/06/12/18 +54h 3D-VAR IFS HRES 1h 1+10 Cray XC30 (Finland)
Linux Haswell cluster (Sweden)
Linux Sandy Bridge cluster (Norway)
Denmark HIRLAM-E05 5 496×372 40 00/06/12/18 +54h SLAF, stoch. Physics;
2 physics packages
ECMWF 3h 25  
Ireland HARMONIE-AROME 2.5 1000×900 65 00/03/06/09/12/15/18/21 +54h Observations: 3D-VAR perturbations LBC: SLAF,
Surface: perturb initial conditions
IFS-HRES 1h 1+15,
(lagged)
ECMWF and KNMI HPCF
Netherlands HARMONIE-AROME 2.5 800×800 65 00/03/06/09/12/15/18/21 +48h/+3h 3D-VAR IFS HRES 1h 1+10 BullX B720
Spain Harmonie: AROME and ALARO
WRF: ARW and NMMB
2.5 576×480 65/72 00/12 +36h Downscaling of ECMWF
GFS, CMC, JMA, MF
ECMWF, GFS,
CMC, JMA, MF
3h/1h 20  
Austria C-LAEF 2.5 600×432 90 00/03/06/09/12/15/18/21 +60h for 00/12
+03h for others
ENS 3DVAR for atmosphere, SPP scheme for atmosphere, SPPT for scheme surface ECMWF ENS 3h 16+1 Atos Sequana
XH2000 AMD (ECMWF)
France PEARP
(ARPEGE EPS)
5.1 - France
24 - Antipode
global 90 00/06/12/18 +102h Initial perturbations from Arpege-EDA + SV; random perturbed parameters + 2 deep convection scheme - - 35  
PEARO
(AROME EPS)
1.3 1440×1536 90 03/09/15/21 +51h initial conditions perturbations from an Arome-EDA, added to the interpolated Arome-1.3km atmospheric analysis.
Perturbation of some parameters of the Arome surface analysis.
Stochastic perturbations of physical tendencies (SPPT scheme).
PEARP 1h 12  
Hungary AROME 2.5 490×310 60 00/12 +48h Type of data assimilation and perturbations: initial conditions from AROME-EDA ECMWF EPS 1h 10+1 HPE Apollo 6000
Slovakia
(run for LACE
with SBUs by
Slovenia,
Croatia, Turkey)
ALADIN-LAEF 4.8 1250×750 60 00/12 +72h ensemble surface data assimilation (ESDA) + upper-air spectral blending by DFI,
ALARO-1 multiphysics (4 clusters) + surface stochastic physics (SPPT)
ECMWF EPS
(via c903)
6h 16+1 Atos Sequana XH2000 AMD (ECMWF)
Germany ICON-EPS 40 global
2-way nest
90 00/12
06/18
03/09/15/21
+180h
+120h
+51h
IC from global LETKF
perturbed SST
- - 40 NEC SX-Aurora Tsubasa
ICON-EU-EPS 20 60
ICON-D2-EPS 2.2 525072 65 03/06/.../18/21 +48h IC from regional LETKF ICON-EPS 1h 20
Italy
(for COSMO)
COSMO-LEPS 7 511 × 415 40 00/12 +132h Interpolation from ECMWF EPS +
soil analysis fields from ICON EU
ECMWF EPS 3h 20  
Italy COSMO-ME EPS 7 779×401 45 00/12 +72h LETKF ECMWF EPS 3h 20  
COSMO-IT EPS 2.2 576×701 65 00 +48h LETKF ECMWF EPS 3h 20  
COSMO-2I EPS 2.2 576×701 65 21 +51h LETKF COSMO-ME EPS 3h 20  
Poland COSMO (PL 2.8) 2.8 380×405 50 00/06/12/18 +48h IC from time-lagged deterministic COSMO PL7 perturbed by soil data parameters time-lagged
COSMO PL7
1h 20  
Switzerland COSMO-2E 2.2 538×346 60 00/06/12/18 +120h upscaled from COSMO-1E ECMWF/IFS-ENS IFS-ENS after 3h 21  
COSMO-1E 1.1 1075×691 80 00/03/06/09/12/15/18/21 +33h
(+45h at 03 UTC)
LETKF ECMWF/IFS-ENS IFS-ENS and
HRES after 3h
11  
United Kingdom MOGREPS-G 20 global 70 00/06/12/18 +168h En-4DEnVar - - 36 (lagged 18/6hrs) Cray XC40
MOGREPS-UK 2.2 740×752 70 03/09/15/21 +54h UKV analysis with downscaled perturbations MOGREPS-G 1h 18 (lagged 3/hr) Cray XC40
ECMWF IFS EPS 16 TCO639L91 91 00/12
06/18
+360h
+144h
SV initial perturbation +
Ensemble Data Assimilation
- - 50+1