The Rapid Evaluation Framework (REF) provides diagnostics to characterise climate model performance and highlight model spread, diversity and differences. These results may help researchers identify models suitable for specific applications but should not be interpreted as identifying “good” or “bad” models. On the 07 October 2025, the first version of the REF was launched during the ESM2025 Final General Assembly.
This version 1 release of the REF serves as a starting point for deeper exploration and investigation into CMIP6 and CMIP6Plus model output.
Access the REF
Access to the REF is available via the REF Dashboard.
The Dashboard provides multiple interfaces for accessing evaluation results:
- Data Explorer: Interactive interface for querying and visualizing model evaluation results. Users can select specific models, variables, and experiments for detailed analysis.
- Diagnostic Browser: Pre-computed evaluation metrics organized by model component and diagnostic type. Results include statistical summaries, spatial maps, and time series comparisons.
Comprehensive documentation is also available, including:
- Technical specifications
- Diagnostic descriptions and equations
- API documentation for programmatic access
- Example workflows and use cases
REF Dashboard Tour
We want to hear your feedback!
We are keen to hear from modelling centres who would be interested in running the containerised version of the REF prior to publication and sharing their data to support the development of the CMIP7 ready REF to be launched at the CMIP Community Workshop in March 2026. We would also like to highlight the CMIP7 Data Request REF Opportunity.
If you have any feedback, ideas or questions please raise an issue on the Climate-REF Github.
