ERA5 Reanalysis (Monthly Mean 0.25 Degree Latitude-Longitude Grid)

For RDA ERA5 monthly mean data prior to 1979, please see ds633.5: ERA5 monthly mean back extension 1950-1978 (Preliminary version)

After many years of research and technical preparation, the production of a new ECMWF climate  reanalysis to replace ERA-Interim is in progress. ERA5 is the fifth generation of ECMWF atmospheric reanalyses of the global climate, which started with the FGGE reanalyses produced in the 1980s, followed by ERA-15, ERA-40 and most recently ERA-Interim. ERA5 will cover the period January 1950 to near real time.

ERA5 is produced using high-resolution forecasts (HRES) at 31 kilometer resolution (one fourth the spatial resolution of the operational model) and a 62 kilometer resolution ten member 4D-Var ensemble of data assimilation (EDA) in CY41r2 of ECMWF's Integrated Forecast System (IFS) with 137 hybrid sigma-pressure (model) levels in the vertical, up to a top level of 0.01 hPa. Atmospheric data on these levels are interpolated to 37 pressure levels (the same levels as in ERA-Interim). Surface or single level data are also available, containing 2D parameters such as precipitation, 2 meter temperature, top of atmosphere radiation and vertical integrals over the entire atmosphere. The IFS is coupled to a soil model, the parameters of which are also designated as surface parameters, and an ocean wave model. Generally, the data is available at an hourly frequency and consists of analyses and short (12 hour) forecasts, initialized twice daily from analyses at 06 and 18 UTC. Most analyses parameters are also available from the forecasts. There are a number of forecast parameters, e.g. mean rates and accumulations, that are not available from the analyses.

Improvements to ERA5, compared to ERA-Interim, include use of HadISST.2, reprocessed
ECMWF climate data records (CDR), and implementation of RTTOV11 radiative transfer. Variational bias corrections have not only been applied to satellite radiances, but also ozone retrievals,  aircraft observations, surface pressure, and radiosonde profiles.

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Temporal Range

  • Begin:  1978-12-31T1800+00
    End:  2022-12-31T2300+00

Keywords

Resource Type dataset
Temporal Range Begin 1978-12-31T1800+00
Temporal Range End 2022-12-31T2300+00
Temporal Resolution N/A
Bounding Box North Lat 90.0
Bounding Box South Lat -90.0
Bounding Box West Long -180.0
Bounding Box East Long 180.0
Spatial Representation grid
Spatial Resolution 0.25 degree
Related Links

Related Resource #1 : Copernicus Climate Data Store (CDS)
Additional Information N/A
Resource Format WMO GRIB1
NetCDF4
Standardized Resource Format NetCDF
GRIB
Asset Size 1279628.341 MB
Legal Constraints

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Access Constraints None
Software Implementation Language N/A

Resource Support Name N/A
Resource Support Email datahelp@ucar.edu
Resource Support Organization N/A
Distributor NSF NCAR Geoscience Data Exchange
Metadata Contact Name N/A
Metadata Contact Email datahelp@ucar.edu
Metadata Contact Organization NSF NCAR Geoscience Data Exchange

Author European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts
Publisher NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research
Publication Date 2019-11-05
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) https://doi.org/10.5065/P8GT-0R61
Alternate Identifier d633001
Resource Version N/A
Topic Category climatologyMeteorologyAtmosphere
Progress onGoing
Metadata Date 2025-10-22T20:18:50Z
Metadata Record Identifier edu.ucar.gdex::d633001
Metadata Language eng; USA
Suggested Citation European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts. (2019). ERA5 Reanalysis (Monthly Mean 0.25 Degree Latitude-Longitude Grid). NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research. https://doi.org/10.5065/P8GT-0R61. Accessed 24 October 2025.

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