The DTC is pleased to announce the coordinated release of the enhanced Model Evaluation Tools (METplus), a comprehensive, multi-component verification framework! METplus features a suite of Python wrappers and ancillary scripts designed to streamline the setup and execution of MET. Additionally, METplus includes an analysis suite with user-friendly interfaces, METviewer and METexpress, supported by shared packages such as METdataio, METcalcpy, and METplotpy that facilitate loading, storing, aggregating, and plotting MET output for analysis. This coordinated release, under development since May 2025 includes:
- METplus version 6.2.0 – Release Notes
- MET version 12.2.0 – Release Notes
METplus Analysis Suite, comprised of:
- METviewer version 6.2.0 – Release Notes
- METexpress version 6.2.0 – Release Notes
- METdataio 3.2.0 – Release Notes
- METcalcpy 3.2.0 – Release Notes
- METplotpy 3.2.0 – Release Notes
Please visit the DTC website to find additional links to code, online tutorials, documentation, and GitHub discussion support for all components of METplus.
Key Enhancements and New Features (but see release notes for all new developments!)
MET/METplus/METplus Analysis Tools Updates:
- New or enhanced MET capabilities:
- Enhancements to Point-Stat and Ensemble-Stat to apply orographic corrections when verifying surface temperatures and heights (e.g., cloud base) against point observations
- Added support for multiple vertical level variables and extended time range support for Climate and Forecast (CF) NetCDF inputs
- New or enhanced METplus capabilities:
- Enhancements to automatically extract the timing information based on the existence of files on disk (i.e., data discovery)
- Enhancements the Point-Stat and Ensemble-Stat wrappers to support new orography configuration options
- Added support for months and years in lead filename template tags
- New METplus Wrappers:
- DataIngest
- New use cases:
- International Soil Moisture Network (ISMN) data ingest and verification
- Verifying UFS GFS Prototype Convective Triggering Potential (CTP) and Humidity Index (HI) for Land-Atmosphere coupling
- Verifying Community Research Earth Digital Intelligence Twin (CREDIT) forecasts against GFS cloud analyses in Grid-Stat
- Verifying CREDIT forecasts against GDAS point data in Point-Stat
- METplus Analysis Suite capabilities:
- Enhanced vertical interpolation in METcalcpy to be consistent with TC-RMW plotting in METplotpy
- Enhanced scatter plot functionality in METplotpy
- Various bug fixes
- NOTE! The METplus Analysis Tools use the Python package, Plotly, which relies on Kaleido to export static images from interactive plots. Beginning with this release, Kaleido no longer includes a bundled headless version of Chrome, and users must now ensure that Chrome (or Chromium) is installed and available in their environment. This change affects environments such as HPC systems where browser installations may be restricted. Users running METplus plotting tools should confirm that Chrome is available or consult their system administrator for approved installation options.
- Improved cybersecurity support: Significant improvements have been made within the METplus code base and test environment to address Common Vulnerabilities, and Exposures (CVEs) as well as SonarQube and STIG findings
- NOTE! Please pay close attention to changes in configuration file updates to ensure compatibility with your workflows; users are encouraged to review the MET Version 12.2.0 Upgrade Instructions for more detailed information
Support for US-based HPCs
Over the next several weeks, METplus 6.2.0 and all components will be installed on several US-based HPC (e.g., NSF NCAR Casper, NOAA Ursa, and NOAA WCOSS2) to make it more accessible to both the research and operational communities. Please see the list of existing builds for more information. NOTE: METviewer and METexpress are intended to be installed on your local server.
Acknowledgements
This METplus v6.2 coordinated release is made possible through the support of the DTC’s core sponsors – the U.S. Air Force, NOAA, and NSF NCAR. We also acknowledge additional METplus funding and collaboration from the Office of Naval Research, Naval Research Laboratory, and the UK Met Office, whose contributions continue to strengthen and expand capabilities within the METplus ecosystem.
Citations
You may use our Zenodo DOIs when citing the entire METplus system, or MET (if that is the only system used):
