dataset · Global
Complete ERA5 global atmospheric reanalysis
ERA5 is the fifth generation ECMWF atmospheric reanalysis of the global climate covering the period from January 1940 to present. It is produced by the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) at ECMWF and provides hourly estimates of a large number of atmospheric, land and oceanic climate variables. The data cover the Earth on a 31km grid and resolve the atmosphere using 137 levels from the surface up to a height of 80km. ERA5 includes an ensemble component at half the resolution to provide info
Visit source ↗Source details
Licence: CC-BY-4.0
Evidence quality: 47.4
Listed in cds public catalogue API on 2026-10-16; relevance/value screened (haiku).
Metadata checked: 2026-10-14T13:20:00.000Z
What's in it
- Data offered docs-verified
- atmospheric variables · land variables · ocean wave quantities · ensemble atmosphere and land quantities · pressure-level variables · model-level variables
- Coverage docs-verified
- Global · January 1940 to present (ERA5); ERA5.1 January 2000 to December 2006
- Resolution docs-verified
- 31 km x 31 km (N320) for ERA5 atmosphere and land; 63 km (N160) for ensemble atmosphere and land; 0.5 degrees for ERA5 waves; 1.0 degree for ensemble waves; hourly (ERA5) and 3-hourly (ensemble) temporal
- Update frequency docs-verified
- Daily (ERA5); ERA5.1 has no update frequency listed
- Formats docs-verified
- GRIB-1 · GRIB2
- Access llm-inferred
- CC-BY licence (CC-BY-4.0 per ENTRY metadata); Login and Register shown on the CDS page; no auth field in ENTRY metadata; cost not stated in DOCS
Useful for
- Use cases llm-inferred
- Hourly meteorological forcing (wind, temperature, pressure, precipitation-related variables) for coastal or wave modelling where observations are sparse · Long-term climate context and historical weather conditions for drainage or flood risk baseline studies · Wave boundary conditions for coastal and marine civils or environmental assessments
- Audience llm-inferred
- hydrologists · flood consultants · drainage engineers · coastal engineers · environmental consultants · GIS analysts · climate risk analysts
Limitations
- Constraints llm-inferred
- 31 km grid is too coarse for site-scale or small-catchment analysis without downscaling · Reanalysis is model-based, so it is not a direct substitute for local gauge or station records · ERA5 has a known stratospheric temperature discontinuity in 2000 to 2006; ERA5.1 is advised for that period, and ERA5.1 has no update frequency · Ensemble component is coarser (63 km) and 3-hourly rather than hourly · Distributed in GRIB-1 and GRIB2, which need conversion for many GIS and hydrology tools · Login is shown on the CDS page, so access may depend on a registered account
Evidence
- https://cds.climate.copernicus.eu/api/catalogue/v1/collections/reanalysis-era5-complete
- https://cds.climate.copernicus.eu/datasets/reanalysis-era5-complete
Check upstream coverage, uncertainty and licence before use. Station observations are not forecasts or design levels.