So long awaited and now it is here. Copernicus Climate Service has just released the first stream of the new Reanalysis project, ERA5, which covers 2010 to present.

What is ERA5?

ERA5, with significant new advances, is an outstanding effort to move one step forward the quality of the most important global databases available to understand contemporary climate, the Atmospheric Reanalysis.

What’s new in ERA5?

ERA5 offers an increase of spatial resolution reducing x4 the previous ERA-Interim grid area and has augmented the vertical levels up to 130. And this is very new: for the first time, an operational reanalysis is giving us an ensemble approach (with lower resolution thus) to start inferring uncertainty of the model. It also comes with the latest version of ECMWF GCM core, which inherited the experience of probably the best short-medium term global forecasting system. ERA5 also has, as part of the underlying observing data, the latest remote sensing sources which is a must taking into consideration the changes on the technology over the last years and which ensures ERA5 to be operational for a while. And many more technological specifications and advances.

The questions you might be asking yourself about ERA5:

• What is what ERA5 can actually do better compared to what we have?
• Is it improving our R2 correlations?
• Is it capturing better the seasonality in those regions that we still detect conflicts?
• Is it getting low level jets closer to the actual height?
• Is it getting better in the flow complexity lab zone like Gulf of Suez or North of Chile?
• Can we use 20 years of these data without worrying about the time consistency?
• Is the daily cycle capturing the peaks?
• What can we do with these 10 members ensemble?
• Is it making WRF downscaling more accurate?
• If our analysis comfort zone is on MERRA2 or any downscaled products, do we need to think in moving to ERA5?

We will answer all these questions about ERA5 in the International Reanalysis Conference (ICR5) in Rome

At Vortex, we are working hard to give answers to these questions using our knowledge database and experience working with Reanalysis and downscaled products for the wind industry.

We are very proud to present results of our ERA5 validation exercise at the next International Reanalysis Conference (ICR5) in Rome next November. There, we will be sharing our findings, validation metrics and the value that we think ERA5 will bring to the Community. Vortex will be also the only representative of the wind industry in the ICR5 sessions, which we believe means that we take very seriously the use of the Reanalysis in our field.

Can’t wait until the International Reanalysis Conference in November?

Meanwhile, we encourage you to read our first impressions about the ERA5. And if you still want to know more before the International Reanalysis Conference in November, just get in touch with us and ask. By the way, very very soon you will be able to get your Vortex SERIES driven by ERA5. Don’t tell anyone, but for the first time we saw a R2 monthly ~ 1.00.