Scientists launch open-access framework to rapidly evaluate next-generation climate models ahead of IPCC AR7
A new open-access tool that dramatically speeds up the evaluation of climate models has been launched by an international team of scientists. The Rapid Evaluation Framework (REF) allows researchers to compare model outputs with real-world observations, providing immediate insight into model performance.
The Rapid Evaluation Framework (REF) was launched in March at the CMIP 2026 Community Workshop 2026, held in Kyoto, Japan. It was developed by a team of scientists working on the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP), a global collaboration that develops, compares, and improves climate models used in major reports, such as those produced by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The latest phase of CMIP, CMIP7 (Dunne et al., 2025), is expected to imminently start delivering data using the latest generation of models.
The REF makes it much faster and easier to assess how well these climate models perform by automatically comparing their outputs against real-world observations. Until now, evaluating climate models could take months and require downloading terabytes of data. The REF automates much of the process, running checks across a wide range of measurements and producing results that are available online for anyone to access.
Dr Ranjini Swaminathan, co-lead of the Model Benchmarking Task Team and scientist at the UK’s National Centre for Earth Observation, University of Reading, said: "This tool brings together climate scientists and Earth observation researchers to quickly check how accurately climate simulations reflect reality. The better we can do that, the more reliable our picture of future climate change becomes, and the better equipped policymakers and communities are to respond to it."
https://wcrp-cmip.org/cmip-phases/cmip7/https://gmd.copernicus.org/articles/18/6671/2025/The REF will initially be used to evaluate results from the CMIP7 Assessment Fast Track, which has been designed to respond to the needs of national and international climate assessments, including the IPCC Seventh Assessment Report. IPCC authors are a key user group for this release of the REF, to facilitate their need to rapidly evaluate and assess the latest scientific advancements. By accelerating model evaluation, the REF could help ensure that the latest climate science is incorporated more quickly into major international assessments, including those of the IPCC.
The REF is freely available online and can also be deployed locally at modelling centres. Results are delivered through an interactive dashboard, alongside downloadable outputs in formats such as netCDF, CSV and PNG, enabling more bespoke and in-depth analysis. The REF also includes an API, allowing users to run evaluation metrics from established community tools.
The dashboard will be hosted on the next generation of the Earth System Grid Federation (ESGF), the global infrastructure used to distribute CMIP data.
The REF Dashboard
Three community evaluation and benchmarking packages are included in the CMIP Assessment Fast Track REF (ESMValTool, ILAMB/IOMB and PMP). Development of the open-source REF framework software, led by Climate Resource, and contributions from the Netherlands e-Science Centre has been funded by the European Space Agency. There were US contributions from the established community benchmarking ILAMB/IOMB, PMP and CMEC packages, as well as the work to ensure deployment on ESGF. DLR, National Centre for Earth Observation (NCEO), Science and Technology Facilities Research Council and CEDA have all contributed time-in-kind of their staff members on the delivery team.
The REF is expected to expand beyond CMIP7 to support a wide range of climate modelling activities under the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP). A new governance panel under the WCRP Core Project ESMO is being established to guide its future development.
If you would like to support the maintenance and expansion of the REF, please contact : cmip-ipo@esa.int
Find out more about the REF at https://climate-ref.org/
A new open-access tool that dramatically speeds up the evaluation of climate models has been launched by an international team of scientists. The Rapid Evaluation Framework (REF) allows researchers to compare model outputs with real-world observations, providing immediate insight into model performance.
The Rapid Evaluation Framework (REF) was launched in March at the CMIP 2026 Community Workshop 2026, held in Kyoto, Japan. It was developed by a team of scientists working on the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP), a global collaboration that develops, compares, and improves climate models used in major reports, such as those produced by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The latest phase of CMIP, CMIP7 (Dunne et al., 2025), is expected to imminently start delivering data using the latest generation of models.
The REF makes it much faster and easier to assess how well these climate models perform by automatically comparing their outputs against real-world observations. Until now, evaluating climate models could take months and require downloading terabytes of data. The REF automates much of the process, running checks across a wide range of measurements and producing results that are available online for anyone to access.
Dr Ranjini Swaminathan, co-lead of the Model Benchmarking Task Team and scientist at the UK’s National Centre for Earth Observation, University of Reading, said: "This tool brings together climate scientists and Earth observation researchers to quickly check how accurately climate simulations reflect reality. The better we can do that, the more reliable our picture of future climate change becomes, and the better equipped policymakers and communities are to respond to it."
https://wcrp-cmip.org/cmip-phases/cmip7/https://gmd.copernicus.org/articles/18/6671/2025/The REF will initially be used to evaluate results from the CMIP7 Assessment Fast Track, which has been designed to respond to the needs of national and international climate assessments, including the IPCC Seventh Assessment Report. IPCC authors are a key user group for this release of the REF, to facilitate their need to rapidly evaluate and assess the latest scientific advancements. By accelerating model evaluation, the REF could help ensure that the latest climate science is incorporated more quickly into major international assessments, including those of the IPCC.
The REF is freely available online and can also be deployed locally at modelling centres. Results are delivered through an interactive dashboard, alongside downloadable outputs in formats such as netCDF, CSV and PNG, enabling more bespoke and in-depth analysis. The REF also includes an API, allowing users to run evaluation metrics from established community tools.
The dashboard will be hosted on the next generation of the Earth System Grid Federation (ESGF), the global infrastructure used to distribute CMIP data.
The REF Dashboard
Three community evaluation and benchmarking packages are included in the CMIP Assessment Fast Track REF (ESMValTool, ILAMB/IOMB and PMP). Development of the open-source REF framework software, led by Climate Resource, and contributions from the Netherlands e-Science Centre has been funded by the European Space Agency. There were US contributions from the established community benchmarking ILAMB/IOMB, PMP and CMEC packages, as well as the work to ensure deployment on ESGF. DLR, National Centre for Earth Observation (NCEO), Science and Technology Facilities Research Council and CEDA have all contributed time-in-kind of their staff members on the delivery team.
The REF is expected to expand beyond CMIP7 to support a wide range of climate modelling activities under the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP). A new governance panel under the WCRP Core Project ESMO is being established to guide its future development.
If you would like to support the maintenance and expansion of the REF, please contact : cmip-ipo@esa.int
Find out more about the REF at https://climate-ref.org/
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