Documentation

Full documentation can be found on https://retostauffer.github.io/eupp/.

Licenses

Requirements

System requirements

Software/libs Remarks
curl Required for downloading data
gdal Geospatial Data Abstraction Library (req. by R package stars)
ecCodes ECMWF ecCodes toolbox; grib_to_netcdf is called to convert GRIB to NetCDF if requested

On most up-to-date Linux systems the ecCodes tools can be installed via package manager (e.g., apt get install -y libeccodes-tools).

R packages

Shows required packages. Defined as dependencies; should be installed automatically when using github_install() (see below). The package has been developed/tested using R version 4.1.2 using the following packages/package versions:

Package name Tested on Remarks
httr 1.4.2 Downloading data via https
dplyr 1.0.7 dplyr::bind_rows used in one instance
stars 0.5.5 Handling/reading spatio-temporal data
digest 0.6.27 Hashing for caching

Suggested packages …

Package name Tested on Remarks
sf 1.0.4 Plotting, processing data, spatial subsetting

Installation

The package is currently only available via [github](https://github.com/retostauffer/eupp). The simplest way to install:

library("remotes")
github_install("retostauffer/eupp")

This will install the current version from the main branch. Once stable, a stable release will be provided.

Available data

  • Spatial extent: longitude 6E/17W, latitude 36N/67N.
  • Spatial resolution: 0.25 times 0.25 degrees (rectangular_ll grid)

Surface forecast variables

  • Forecast steps (in hours):
    • Hourly forecasts from +0h to +90h
    • Three-hourly intervals from +90h to +144h (6 days ahead)
    • Six-hourly intervals from +144h to +240h (10 days ahead)
Parameter name ECMWF key Remarks
2 metre temperature 2t
10 metre U wind component 10u
10 metre V wind component 10v
Total cloud cover tcc
100 metre U wind component anomaly 100ua
100 metre V wind component anomaly 100va
Convective available potential energy cape
Soil temperature level 1 stl1
Surface sensible heat flux sshf
Surface latent heat flux slhf
Total column water tcw
Total column water vapour tcwv
Volumetric soil water layer 1 swvl1
Surface net solar radiation ssr
Surface net thermal radiation str
Snow depth sd
Convective precipitation cp
Convective inhibition cin
Surface solar radiation downwards ssrd
Surface thermal radiation downwards strd
Visibility `vis Observations not available

Pressure level forecast variables

  • Forecast steps (in hours):
    • Hourly forecasts from +0h to +90h
    • Three-hourly intervals from +90h to +144h (6 days ahead)
    • Six-hourly intervals from +144h to +240h (10 days ahead)
Parameter name Level ECMWF key Remarks
Temperature 850 t
U component of wind 700 u
V component of wind 700 v
Geopotential 500 z
Specific humidity 700 q
Relative humidity 850 r

Extreme forecast index variables

  • Forecast ranges (in hours): 0-24, 24-48, 48-72, 72-96, 96-120, 120-144 and 144-168.
Parameter name ECMWF key Remarks
2 metre temperature efi 2ti
10 metre wind speed efi 10ws
10 metre wind gust efi 10fgi
cape efi capei
cape shear efi capesi
Maximum temperature at 2m efi mx2ti
Minimum temperature at 2m efi mn2ti
Snowfall efi sfi
Total precipitation efi tpi

FAQ

Can we get the data as NetCDF

Yes and no; the data is currently only provided as GRIB version 1. This file format can be converted to NetCDF; the package provides this functionality.

However, the conversion is done locally and requires the ecCodes tools and NetCDF libraries to be installed. Many modern UX distributions allow to install via the built in package manager (libeccodes-tools, libeccodes-bin or similar; libnetcdf-dev, …).

The R package will then call grib_to_netcdf on your local machine.

Can we download spatial subsets?

This is not possible at the moment. The data sets are provided in the GRIB version 1 format where subsetting (neither on request nor on the local machine) is possible. When downloading as GRIB/NetCDF the CDO (climate data operation) toolbox may be one path to go.