Release 2.15 draft notes (#4516)

Co-authored-by: Manuel Schlund <32543114+schlunma@users.noreply.github.com>

Author: flicj191

CITATION.cff

@@ -455,11 +455,11 @@ authors:
 
 
 cff-version: 1.2.0
-date-released: 2026-03-13
+date-released: 2026-07-17
 doi: "10.5281/zenodo.3401363"
 license: "Apache-2.0"
 message: "If you use this software, please cite it using these metadata."
 repository-code: "https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValTool/"
 title: ESMValTool
-version: "v2.14.0"
+version: "v2.15.0"
 ...

doc/sphinx/source/changelog.rst

@@ -3,6 +3,110 @@
 Changelog
 =========
 
+.. _changelog-v2-15-0:
+
+v2.15.0
+--------
+
+Highlights
+~~~~~~~~~~
+
+- Preparation of recipes that are run by the `Rapid Evaluation Framework`_ (REF) for CMIP7.
+- An option to install ESMValTool with minimal dependencies (:pull:`4517`)
+- Use pixi to manage development environments (:pull:`4407`) see :ref:`install_from_source` more information.
+
+This release includes
+
+Backwards incompatible changes
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+-  Remove deprecated options from diagnostic ``multi_datasets.py`` (:pull:`4520`) by :user:`schlunma`
+
+   .. admonition:: Upgrade instructions
+
+      - Plot option ``show_x_minor_ticks``. Instead, use ``x_minor_formatter: null/''`` for ``show_x_minor_ticks: false/true``, respectively.
+      - Plot option ``show_y_minor_ticks``. Instead, use ``y_minor_formatter: null/''`` for ``show_y_minor_ticks: false/true``, respectively.
+      - Plot option ``show_y_minor_ticklabels: true``. Instead, use ``y_minor_formatter: '%.1f'``.
+      - Plot option ``time_on``. Instead, use ``transpose_axes: true/false``
+
+Bug fixes
+~~~~~~~~~
+
+-  Fix removal of ``month_number`` and ``year`` coordinates after ``monthly_statistics`` preprocessor in E-OBS cmorizer (:pull:`4396`) by :user:`jlenh`
+-  Fix ESACCI-CLOUD formatter: removing group coordinates is not necessary anymore (:pull:`4410`) by :user:`schlunma`
+-  Fix ESACCI-OC CMORizer (:pull:`4464`) by :user:`schlunma`
+-  Fix handling of the time coordinate in outputs of `recipe_ref_fire.yml` (:pull:`4538`) by :user:`jlenh`
+-  Fix dates for ESACCI-AEROSOL in recipe_check_obs.yml (:pull:`4547`) by :user:`axel-lauer`
+-  Fix ``ValueError: setting an array element with a sequence.`` in ``diag_shapeselect.py`` (:pull:`4532`) by :user:`schlunma`
+
+Documentation
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+-  Remove outdated link to YAML reference card (:pull:`4418`) by :user:`bouweandela`
+-  Fix the PDF build of the documentation (:pull:`4432`) by :user:`bouweandela`
+-  Improve documentation on installing the development version of ESMValCore (:pull:`4433`) by :user:`bouweandela`
+-  Update release instructions related to Docker (:pull:`4454`) by :user:`bouweandela`
+-  Minimise content on main documentation page (:pull:`4449`) by :user:`ehogan`
+-  Documentation for contributor license agreement & CLA-assistant (:pull:`4440`) by :user:`alistairsellar`
+-  Small improvements to documentation on obtaining input data (:pull:`4462`) by :user:`bouweandela`
+-  Remove redundant information from ``zenodo.json`` (:pull:`4518`) by :user:`schlunma`
+
+Diagnostics
+~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+-  Radiation budget: labelling plots with alias (:pull:`4292`) by :user:`NParsonsMO`
+
+Observational and re-analysis dataset support
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+-  Extension of ESA CCI OZONE CMORizer (:pull:`4125`) by :user:`axel-lauer`
+-  Cmoriser update WOA to 2023 (:pull:`4337`) by :user:`flicj191`
+-  Updated calipso-icecloud downloader and formatter from v1.00 to v2.00 (:pull:`4441`) by :user:`axel-lauer`
+-  Update CMORizer CLARA-AVHRR (A3) (:pull:`4463`) by :user:`axel-lauer`
+
+Automatic testing
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+-  Run test recipes in the nightly tests with intake-esgf (:pull:`4394`) by :user:`bouweandela`
+-  Improve the security of GitHub Action workflows (:pull:`4421`) by :user:`bouweandela`
+-  Add workflow dispatch gha test.yml (needed to test PR 4502) (:pull:`4503`) by :user:`valeriupredoi`
+-  Run Github Action tests (test.yml) after pixi lockfile update (:pull:`4502`) by :user:`valeriupredoi`
+-  Ask ESMValBot to create the lockfile update pull request (:pull:`4507`) by :user:`bouweandela`
+-  Undo branches selection in test.yml (:pull:`4509`) by :user:`bouweandela`
+-  Run tests on all platforms and Python versions when updating pixi lock file (:pull:`4512`) by :user:`bouweandela`
+
+Installation
+~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+-  Use pixi to manage development conda environments (:pull:`4407`) by :user:`bouweandela`
+-  Support for Python 3.14 (:pull:`4303`) by :user:`valeriupredoi`
+-  Add an option to install with minimal dependencies (:pull:`4517`) by :user:`bouweandela`
+
+Rapid Evaluation Framework
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+-  Fix issue with recipe ref fire dependency (:pull:`4420`) by :user:`jlenh`
+-  Add fallbacks for CMIP7 tasmax handling in ``ref/recipe_ref_fire.yml`` (:pull:`4423`) by :user:`jlenh`
+-  Updating the REF ozone recipe with the correct ozone data (:pull:`4444`) by :user:`hb326`
+-  Add ZEC CMIP7 recipe (:pull:`4458`) by :user:`bettina-gier`
+-  Added a CMIP7 version for ``recipe_ref_trend_regions.yml``, ``recipe_ref_tannual_cycle_region.yml`` and ``recipe_ref_timeseries_region.yml`` (:pull:`4460`) by :user:`katjaweigel`
+-  Add CMIP7-compatible REF version of ``recipe_ecs.yml`` (:pull:`4465`) by :user:`schlunma`
+-  Add CMIP7-compatible REF version of ``recipe_tcr.yml`` (:pull:`4469`) by :user:`schlunma`
+-  Add CMIP7-compatible REF version of ``recipe_tcre.yml`` (:pull:`4480`) by :user:`schlunma`
+-  REF recipe CRE with CMIP7 data (:pull:`4461`) by :user:`hb326`
+-  Write temperature vs. emissions data in TCRE diagnostic (:pull:`4484`) by :user:`schlunma`
+-  Update REF recipe ``recipe_calculate_gwl_exceedance_stats.yml`` for CMIP7 datasets (:pull:`4486`) by :user:`rswamina`
+-  Sea ice sensitivity to GMST - Calculate from observational datasets (:pull:`4220`) by :user:`NParsonsMO`
+-  Adding CMIP7 version of ``recipe_seaice_sensitivity.yml`` (:pull:`4453`) by :user:`NParsonsMO`
+-  Update REF recipe `recipe_ref_fire.yml` for CMIP7 datasets (:pull:`4479`) by :user:`jlenh`
+-  Update REF ENSO recipes for CMIP7 (:pull:`4470`) by :user:`flicj191`
+
+Improvements
+~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+-  Update path to CEDA-JASMIN esmeval gws (group workspace) (:pull:`4411`) by :user:`valeriupredoi`
+-  Nicer command line (:pull:`4459`) by :user:`bouweandela`
+
 .. _changelog-v2-14-0:
 
 v2.14.0

esmvaltool/utils/draft_release_notes.py

@@ -52,8 +52,8 @@
 TIMEZONE = ZoneInfo("CET")
 
 PREVIOUS_RELEASE = {
-    "esmvalcore": datetime.datetime(2025, 10, 16, 0, tzinfo=TIMEZONE),
-    "esmvaltool": datetime.datetime(2025, 10, 20, 0, tzinfo=TIMEZONE),
+    "esmvalcore": datetime.datetime(2026, 3, 10, 0, tzinfo=TIMEZONE),
+    "esmvaltool": datetime.datetime(2026, 3, 13, 0, tzinfo=TIMEZONE),
 }
 
 LABELS = {
@@ -74,6 +74,7 @@
         "iris",
         "preprocessor",
         "release",
+        "issue introduced since last release",
         "testing",
         "UX",
         "variable derivation",
@@ -92,6 +93,7 @@
         "release",
         "testing",
         "installation",
+        "REF",
         "enhancement",  # uncategorized, keep at the bottom
     ),
 }
@@ -109,12 +111,16 @@
     "observations": "Observational and re-analysis dataset support",
     "testing": "Automatic testing",
     "api": "Notebook API (experimental)",
+    "REF": "Rapid Evaluation Framework",
+    "issue introduced since last release": "Issues introduced since last release",
     "enhancement": "Improvements",
 }
 
 IGNORE_USERS = (
     "pre-commit-ci[bot]",
     "dependabot[bot]",
+    "github-actions[bot]",
+    "esmvalbot[bot]",
 )
 """Ignore all PRs from specific users (e.g., bots)."""