Model:

Updated:

4 times per day, from 06:00, 12:00, 18:00, and 00:00 UTC

Greenwich Mean Time:

12:00 UTC = 17:00 IST

Resolution:

0.025° x 0.037°

Parameter:

Cloud cover (low,middle,high,total)

Description:

Clouds are vertically divided into three levels: low, middle, and high. Each level is defined by the range of levels at which each type of clouds typically appears.

Level	Polar Region	Temperate Region	Tropical Region
High Clouds	10,000-25,000 ft (3-8 km)	16,500-40,000 ft (5-13 km)	20,000-60,000 ft (6-18 km)
Middle Clouds	6,500-13,000 ft (2-4 km)	6,500-23,000 ft (2-7 km)	6,500-25,000 ft (2-8 km)
Low Clouds	Surface-6,500 ft (0-2 km)	Surface-6,500 ft (0-2 km)	Surface-6,500 ft (0-2 km)

The types of clouds are:

High clouds: Cirrus (Ci), Cirrocumulus (Cc), and Cirrostratus (Cs). They are typically thin and white in appearance, but can appear in a magnificent array of colors when the sun is low on the horizon.

Middle clouds: Altocumulus (Ac), Altostratus (As). They are composed primarily of water droplets, however, they can also be composed of ice crystals when temperatures are low enough.

Low clouds: Cumulus (Cu), Stratocumulus (Sc), Stratus (St), and Cumulonimbus (Cb) are low clouds composed of water droplets.

HARMONIE:

HARMONIE-AROME The non-hydrostatic convection-permitting HARMONIE-AROME model is developed in a code cooperation of the HIRLAM Consortium with Météo-France and ALADIN, and builds upon model components that have largely initially been developed in these two communities. The forecast model and analysis of HARMONIE-AROME are originally based on the AROME-France model from Météo-France (Seity et al, 2011, Brousseau et al, 2011) , but differ from the AROME-France configuration in various respects. A detailed description of the HARMONIE-AROME forecast model setup and its similarities and differences with respect to AROME-France can be found in (Bengtsson et al. 2017). [From: HIRLAM (2017)]

NWP:

Numerical weather prediction uses current weather conditions as input into mathematical models of the atmosphere to predict the weather. Although the first efforts to accomplish this were done in the 1920s, it wasn't until the advent of the computer and computer simulation that it was feasible to do in real-time. Manipulating the huge datasets and performing the complex calculations necessary to do this on a resolution fine enough to make the results useful requires the use of some of the most powerful supercomputers in the world. A number of forecast models, both global and regional in scale, are run to help create forecasts for nations worldwide. Use of model ensemble forecasts helps to define the forecast uncertainty and extend weather forecasting farther into the future than would otherwise be possible.

Wikipedia, Numerical weather prediction, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numerical_weather_prediction(as of Feb. 9, 2010, 20:50 UTC).