Integrated Forecast System
Encyclopedia
The Integrated Forecast System (IFS) is an operational global meteorological forecasting model.
IFS is developed and maintained by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts
(ECMWF) based in Reading, England
. Because of its source, it is often known as the "ECMWF" or the "European model" in North America, to distinguish it from the American Global Forecast System
(GFS).
The IFS is a global model that runs every twelve hours. Its output runs out to ten days in one-day intervals. The operational model runs both in a deterministic forecast mode and as a 51-member ensemble
. The deterministic mode has twice the horizontal resolution of the ensemble, and one and a half times the vertical resolution (60 layers in the deterministic compared to 40 in the ensemble); both modes' vertical layers follow terrain at low levels. The IFS, like the GFS, uses spectral representation rather than a grid-based system.
Information from the IFS is proprietary and copyrighted, though the ECMWF has made a limited amount of the model's most important calculations available to the public; this public data is, by declaration of the ECMWF, in the public domain
.(ECMWF) In the United States, the IFS is generally used as a comparison against the American GFS model in the forecast period between four and ten days.
Numerical weather prediction
Numerical weather prediction uses mathematical models of the atmosphere and oceans to predict the weather based on current weather conditions. Though first attempted in the 1920s, it was not until the advent of computer simulation in the 1950s that numerical weather predictions produced realistic...
IFS is developed and maintained by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts
European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts
The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts is an independent intergovernmental organisation supported by 19 European Member States and 15 Co-operating States...
(ECMWF) based in Reading, England
Reading, Berkshire
Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....
. Because of its source, it is often known as the "ECMWF" or the "European model" in North America, to distinguish it from the American Global Forecast System
Global Forecast System
The Global Forecast System is a global numerical weather prediction computer model run by NOAA. This mathematical model is run four times a day and produces forecasts up to 16 days in advance, but with decreasing spatial and temporal resolution over time...
(GFS).
The IFS is a global model that runs every twelve hours. Its output runs out to ten days in one-day intervals. The operational model runs both in a deterministic forecast mode and as a 51-member ensemble
Ensemble forecasting
Ensemble forecasting is a numerical prediction method that is used to attempt to generate a representative sample of the possible future states of a dynamical system...
. The deterministic mode has twice the horizontal resolution of the ensemble, and one and a half times the vertical resolution (60 layers in the deterministic compared to 40 in the ensemble); both modes' vertical layers follow terrain at low levels. The IFS, like the GFS, uses spectral representation rather than a grid-based system.
Information from the IFS is proprietary and copyrighted, though the ECMWF has made a limited amount of the model's most important calculations available to the public; this public data is, by declaration of the ECMWF, in the public domain
Public domain
Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...
.(ECMWF) In the United States, the IFS is generally used as a comparison against the American GFS model in the forecast period between four and ten days.