Climate data#
Intro of who and where climate data is stored
How to find where data is#
Finding climate data at NCI
There are a lot of climate data resources which are available at NCI. Only some of them have been listed in the NCI data catalogue, and even then there are a few tips that can help you working out if the dataset you are looking for is already available or not.
Check the NCI data catalogue
NCI uses a geonetwork catalogue to list its collections, this covers most of the bigger data collections hosted by NCI. To find a dataset you can run a text search or select from a list of available attributes.
Free text search
Geonetwork free text search will look for an exact match in the record title and description. For example, if I am looking for “precipitation” datasets I need to type the entire word, if I type only “precip” it will return only one dataset containing this sentence in its description:
“Proportion of days per month with precip > 0.2mm: …”
Likewise typing “precipitation” will return 55 datasets including any record that has the exact word in their title or description.
Selection by topic and other attributes
NCI created some categories dividing the datasets based on “topic”, they are shown on the catalogue main page. Once you click on one of them, you will see a panel on the left side of the screen showing all the available attributes you can use to select datasets. The same is true if you run a text search, you could then refine your selection using this panel. Probably the most useful attributes are the keywords, they are based on keywords set by the data manager themselves or on Field Of Research (FOR) standards.
The dataset descriptions and attributes are provided by the owners of the data, and sometimes overruled by NCI, so there is a big variance in what is included and how keywords are chosen or interpreted. For example often the FOR codes “0401 Atmospheric Sciences” can also appear as “0401”, “Atmospheric Sciences” and “ATMOSPERIC SCIENCES” or one of its sub-categories “040107 - Meteorology”.
Another limitation is that a dataset might be available as part of a data collection but not having its own record. If the collection is well described, then at least you should be able to locate it, sometimes the record descriptions are very generic and don’t necessarily list all the datasets included.
NCI is working on an improved and more user-friendly interface and is also working with all the data managers to improve the quality of the records. How the data projects will be re-organised it is not yet defined but this page has some information on how this is likely to impact climate datasets. Feel free to send them feedback or tell us if you prefer and we will pass it on.
Check the CMS wiki
The CMS wiki lists all the datasets we download and manage for our researchers. Some of these are also listed in geonetwork, mostly are not because in some cases we have downloaded only a small subset.
Ask the helpdesk: cws_help@nci.org.au
If you still cannot locate the datasets you were looking for, or you find the dataset but the description was not sufficient to work out if it is what you need, then feel free to e-mail us on the helpdesk.
As both geonetwork and the wiki are potentially incomplete or some of the records might be out of date, it is always a good idea to double check with us. We also might know about other data which is available on the NCI server, but not necessarily listed or enquire on your behalf to our partners to help you locate a specific product.
If what you are looking for it is not available yet, we can help you downloading the data. When we receive a request to download data, we try to get back to you as fast as possible with an answer and a timeframe. We are usually able to download the data for you and put in a shared environment where others can also access it. If the dataset requires a lot of storage, the download is time consuming or needs ongoing maintenance we have to check if it is in the Centre objectives with the Infrastructure Committee before going ahead.
It is rare that we have to say no to someone, and we do not do it without a fairly strong reason, because we prefer to download and manage the dataset for you. Having the data shared in a central location, where others can also access it, is a better use of disk storage.
This wiki page covers how to request data in more detail.
Accessing the data
Once you know where the dataset is located, you need to join the relevant project, as for any other NCI project you go to
https://my.nci.org.au , search for the project and put in a request.
The lead CI for that project will receive an e-mail and either approve your request or contact you for further information. While this might feel frustrating there are very good reasons why a data manager might want to know how you will use the data. They might want to be sure you are aware of the dataset limitations and not using it improperly. They might want to know which subset of the data users are actually interested into and they usually need to justify the time and effort that goes into maintaining a dataset. This is becoming increasingly important for NCI, too. They have to prove that their funding is spent in useful ways. NCI is currently reviewing all data projects, their aim is to have a separate project for each dataset, if possible, and to make sure every single user has to request access to the data project as opposed to have world readable files.
Datasets hosted on NCI servers and managed by CLEX
Replicas of external datasets ARCCSS and CLEX published datasets
Other datasets hosted by NCI
CMIP3 - Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 3 CMIP5 - Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 CMIP6 - Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 CORDEX - Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment ERA5 - ECMWF latest reanalysis NB we have a tool CleF - climate finder to help you locate the CMIP and CORDEX data on gadi as well as request for new CMIP and CORDEX data to be downloaded. All the datasets listed above are also managed by NCI.
AGCD - Australian Gridded Climate Data Australian Operational Weather Radar Archive NCI geonetwork records - to see the metadata record NCI Thredds catalog - to access the actual files
ARCCSS and CLEX datasets and software published on Research Data Australia (RDA)
Since the start of ARCCSS we published our datasets on Research Data Australia (RDA), the Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC) metadata repository. This is a metadata catalogue so it doesn’t provide direct access to the data itself. However, it allows us to extend our data description, and have records also for research programs, authors and software all in one place. The first datasets to be published were from the Climate Model Downscaling Data for Impacts Research (CliMDDIR), then the ACCESS CMIP5 simulations.
ACCESS - CMIP5 simulations CliMDDIR - Climate Model Downscaling Data for Impacts Research CLEX and ARCCSS collections - CLEX and ARCCSS datasets from the NCI Data Catalogue C20C+ ACCESS - Atmospheric ACCESS1.3 historical all forcing model output for the Climate of the 20th Century Plus (C20C+) Detection and Attribution sub-project MarineHeatWaves - Marine heatwaves detection code
CLEX Code Collection on Zenodo
In 2020 we started a Zenodo community to collect and publish software, Zenodo allows us to get a DOI for the code records. Publishing the code associated to a paper is now often required when submitting an article to a journal. It also allows us to publish software created by researchers and students that could be useful to other and by the CMS team itself. Zenodo is an international repository and as such can reach a wider audience. If you would like to contribute to this collection just let us know.
CLEX Code Collection Zenodo community
External data resources
If you have not yet found a dataset that suits your needs on NCI, there are still a lot of external data resources, you can browse online and sometimes easily access data from.
Rather than going straight to a specific dataset, you should first make sure the data you want to use is fit for purpose. There are sites that offer reviews of climate datasets that can help you doing just that. It is always important to know how the data was generated before using it even if a dataset was recommended by someone else. There might be new better alternative datasets or others might have discovered and shared issues with the data. Doing a bit of research before using the data might save you a lot of time and stress.
These two are a very good place to start.
NCAR Climate data guide Reanalysis.org Australian data portals
Research Data Australia - metadata repository for all Australian research datasets BoM Climate data services BoM Tropical Cyclone data services TPAC Climate and Ocean data portal AODN - Australian Ocean Data Network (includes IMOS observation data) Global data portals
NOAA paleoclimatology data repository - I am highlighting the paleo data because we are also publishing our paleoclimate datasets in this repository, but NOAA data collection includes also much more ocean and atmospheric data, you can access them also starting from the same link. OOI - Ocean Observatory Initiative NASA JPL data portal - including visualisation tool NASA earthdata portal A relatively recent option are remote desktops or other cloud resources with integrated data access
Copernicus Climate Change Service Toolbox GIOVANNI - GES-DISC Interactive Online Visualization ANd aNalysis Infrastructure Interdisciplinary data repositories that include climate related dataset
Research Data JCU (James Cook University) AURIN - Australian Urban Research Infrastructure Network Google has developed a dataset search toolbox, currently is only a beta version, you can find here an overview . All the datasets published via the centre are also discoverable with this tool.
Accessing remote data: OPeNDAP
Many of these repositories will allow you to access the data remotely without downloading it. Some will have developed their own tools as we saw above for the cloud and remote analysis web tools, but most will do that by making their data available through OPeNDAP a web-based software that allows users to access datasets remotely. Many software used for analysis recognise an OPeNDAP url as a filename. An OPeNDAP url is usually constituted by the remote address of the file followed by optional constraints.
Usually any data repository that uses a thredds server, including the NCI data collection, makes the data available via OPeNDAP.
We have a blog that demonstrates how to build and use and OPeNDAP url, other more in depth information on OPeNDAP is available from their website, including a list of software that understand this protocol.
Using OPeNDAP is particularly useful when you need only a subset of a dataset, like a limited region or timeseries of the data. It is also a good idea if you are accessing a dataset that gets updated often so you can always get the latest available version of the data.
Climate related repositories using OPeNDAP
NCI thredds catalogue
NCAR thredds catalogue
TPAC Climate and Ocean data portal
OOI ERDDAP catalogue - Ocean Observatory Initiative
NASA JPL PO.DDAC repository - Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center
NASA Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) opendap servers this includes also a tutorial to use OPeNDAP
UCAR thredds catalogue
NASA ORNL DDAC repository - Oak Ridge National Laboratory Distributed Active Archive Center for biogeochemical dynamics
NASA GES DISC repository - atmospheric composition, water & energy cycles and climate variability
re-organise find data page adding oneclimate portal
How to request new datasets#
How to manage your own data#
(overlaps a bit with NCI projects/storage)
How to publish data#
CLEX expectations#
i.e. respect lincesing etc,
publishing output
expectation from the
ackwoledge CLEX as sponsor/funder where appropriate
regardless of where data gets publish report it to clever and share it via zenodo