The ERA‐Interim reanalysis: configuration and performance of the data assimilation system

2011/04/01 by Dick Dee, D. P. Dee, S. Uppala +62 · 114 citations
Environmental Science · Earth and Planetary Sciences · #Climate variability and models #Meteorological Phenomena and Simulations #Tropical and Extratropical Cyclones Research

paper · doi:10.1002/qj.828

Abstract

Abstract ERA‐Interim is the latest global atmospheric reanalysis produced by the European Centre for Medium‐Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). The ERA‐Interim project was conducted in part to prepare for a new atmospheric reanalysis to replace ERA‐40, which will extend back to the early part of the twentieth century. This article describes the forecast model, data assimilation method, and input datasets used to produce ERA‐Interim, and discusses the performance of the system. Special emphasis is placed on various difficulties encountered in the production of ERA‐40, including the representation of the hydrological cycle, the quality of the stratospheric circulation, and the consistency in time of the reanalysed fields. We provide evidence for substantial improvements in each of these aspects. We also identify areas where further work is needed and describe opportunities and objectives for future reanalysis projects at ECMWF. Copyright © 2011 Royal Meteorological Society

Citations

• Optical Properties of Aerosols and Clouds: The Software Package OPAC
• Earth's Global Energy Budget
• The Twentieth Century Reanalysis Project

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Related

• The ERA5 global reanalysis
• The ERA5 global reanalysis from 1940 to 2022
• The Twentieth Century Reanalysis Project
• Towards a more reliable historical reanalysis: Improvements for version 3 of the Twentieth Century Reanalysis system
• ERA5-Land: a state-of-the-art global reanalysis dataset for land applications