FAQ

The WMO Barcelona Dust Regional Center supports a model intercomparison, which is based on data files daily exchanged by partners of the region. The archive of the numerical Daily Dust Forecasts is accessible through the WMO Barcelona Dust Regional Center THREDDS. 

THREDDS (Thematic Realtime Environmental Distributed Data Service) is a web server that provides metadata and data access for scientific datasets, using OPeNDAP, OGC WMS and WCS, HTTP, and other remote data access protocols. THREDDS is developed and supported by Unidata, a division of the University Corporation for  Atmospheric Research (UCAR), and is sponsored by the National Science Foundation.

To access and download the numerical data of the daily dust forecasts published on the WMO Barcelona Dust Regional Center website, you need to register. If you are not registered, please, send us an email to request user access. After registering, you can log in the portal and enter the repository. Two types of access to the daily dust forecasts are implemented:

• Public, providing access to numerical predictions issued more than 2 days ago. 
• Restricted, providing access to all the numerical predictions available for re-distribution, including those issued less than 2 days ago. Access is normally limited to National Meteorological and Hydrological Services and other institutions contributing actively to the WMO Barcelona Dust Regional Center. Public administrations, research and educational institutions are eligible to access these services in support of specific activities. Applications must be submitted by email. They will be evaluated and answered within 30 days of the date of the petition.

If you need any further information about the individual models participating in the model intercomparison, you can visit the Dust Product Catalogue section or contact the corresponding contact person.

Please, be aware of the Data Policy when you use information and products available on the WMO Barcelona Dust Regional Center website.