APIs

Programmatic access to CCI data is available through the following methods.

OpenSearch

Access all data of the CCI Open Data Portal through OpenSearch, a suite of web-based search engine and search protocol standards. An OpenSearch description provides the web interface of the CCI Open Data Portal search engine -
https://archive.opensearch.ceda.ac.uk/opensearch/description.xml

THREDDS

A THREDDS web server provides access to data and metadata on the CCI Open Data Portal via the Web Map Service (WMS) and Web Coverage Service (WCS) standards of the Open Geospatial Consortium and the Open-source Project for a Network Data Access Protocol (OPeNDAP) standard.
https://data.cci.ceda.ac.uk/

Earth System Grid Federation

CCI Obs4MIPs datasets are available through the Earth System Grid Federation (ESGF). These provide observational CCI products technically aligned with climate model data, specifically that made available from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP). ESGF provide a RESTful API.
https://esgf.ceda.ac.uk/esg-search/search/?query=CCI

FedEO

The CEOS Federated EO Gateway (FedEO) Clearinghouse STAC index provides interoperable access, following ISO/OGC interface guidelines, to Earth Observation metadata. The FedEO service periodically ingests the latest CCI Open Data Portal catalogue of all CCI datasets.

https://radiantearth.github.io/stac-browser/#/external/fedeo.ceos.org/series/eo:organisationName/CEDA

ESA Data Discovery Portal

The ESA Data Discovery Portal crawls publicly available metadata of ESA datasets and indexes the metadata, providing a unified view of all ESA data holdings including in a machine-readable way so it can be processed by search engines that index structured data.
https://data.esa.int/


Toolbox

Welcome to the CCI Toolbox!

The Toolbox is a powerful Python package designed to help you access and analyse global long-term data records generated via the ESA Climate Change Initiative (CCI). It is available on GitHub and can be installed with Conda and PyPi.

Whether you are exploring environmental datasets or conducting climate research, the Toolbox

  • gives rapid access to decades of satellite climate data records for a suite of GCOS-defined Essential Climate Variables (ECVs)
  • streamlines data manipulation and analysis
  • facilitates analysis with third party data resources in an integrated python environment.

Head over to the Quick start-section to dive in immediately.

Access ESA climate data records

Our Toolbox offers seamless data discovery, metadata inspection and operators to support analysis, and visualisation using Python-native formats such as xarray and geopandas. A dedicated API will support you in finding and opening the right data for your purpose in its appropriate format.

Datasets are provided as

  • xarray Datasets (gridded data)
  • geopandas GeoDataFrames (vector data) or
  • Vector Data Cubes (a hybrid of gridded and vector data).

Streamline your data workflow

Toolbox operations range from outlier detection, resampling, coregistration, and time series extraction to support your workflow. Thanks to its close integration with Python's scientific stack, the Toolbox enables users to perform advanced climate data analysis with ease.

In addition, the Python packages xarray, pandas, and geopandas provide a rich and powerful low-level data processing interface for datasets opened through the CCI Toolbox. Please have a look at the API reference for details.


Quick start Notebooks

To get up and running we have developed a series of quick start Jupyter Notebooks that will allow you to start working immediately, either locally or via the ESA Climate Change Initiative Jupyter Lab.

To help you further, the Toolbox documentation’s Quick Start aims to assist with onboarding, answer frequently asked questions and show you how to achieve various tasks such as:

  • List and search for climate datasets
  • Define the appropriate subset for your purpose
  • Access data in well supported structures like xarray datasets
  • Discover all operations of the Toolbox and Climate Change Initiative data

We invite you to try the ESA CCI Jupyter Lab, where you will find the latest and maintained versions of the Toolbox, Notebooks, and required software. Just register – for free – with your email or GitHub account.

If you would like to explore a particular ECV project in more detail, try the Examples Explorer within Jupyter Lab! We have created helpful Notebooks that provide direct access to specific datasets. These are conveniently organised, ready for you to start working with.

ExamplesExplorer

Quick looks are available for:



Installation

You can also install the Toolbox on your local machine following the steps in this section.

Ready to dive in? Choose the path that fits your setup and paste the commands into your terminal. You’ll be up and discovering climate data in no time.

Method 1 – Start fresh with Conda

If you want a clean, dedicated setup:

$ conda create --name ect --channel conda-forge esa-climate-toolbox
$ conda activate ect

Method 2 – Add to an existing Conda

If you already have an environment activated:

$ conda install --channel conda-forge esa-climate-toolbox

Method 3 – Install from GitHub (latest source)

Great if you want the newest changes or plan to contribute:

$ git clone https://github.com/esa-cci/esa-climate-toolbox.git
$ cd esa-climate-toolbox
$ conda env create
$ conda activate ect
$ pip install -e .

Method 4 – Install with pip

The quick pip route:

$ pip install esa-climate-toolbox

Our interactive Jupyter Notebooks walk you through the essentials: find your data, subset it, work with modern formats, discover tools and available options as well as hands-on examples. Each Notebook is designed to get you comfortable with the Toolbox, step by step. Perfect for beginners and experienced users alike. Get started!


Get help & connect

Stuck on something? Have a brilliant idea? Our support team is here to help you succeed. Whether you're troubleshooting, exploring new features, or sharing what you've discovered – we'd love to hear from you.

Visit our Helpdesk.


Policy & Standards


CCI Data Policy

The CCI Data Policy ensures free and open access to CCI data. The policy is available here.

CCI Data Standards

The CCI Data Standards are community-driven requirements ensuring consistent essential climate variable (ECV) data production across the CCI programme. Version 2.3 is the latest. The requirements include data production conformance to the network Common Data Form (netCDF) format, the Climate and Forecasting (CF) metadata conventions, the Attribute Convention for Data Discovery (ACDD), and Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community (INSPIRE) compliant discovery metadata.

CCI Ontology

To ensure consistency where the same global attributes apply to all CCI essential climate variables (ECVs), and to avoid different terms being used for the same entity, relevant terms have been gathered in a CCI Ontology defining all CCI entities and the relationship between those entities, including CCI project, platform, sensor and institution. For example, the ontology defines common entities for the satellite platforms used across the CCI projects in their data production.


A propos des données

Mise en place par l'ESA en 2008, l'initiative sur le changement climatique (CCI) est un programme scientifique majeur axé sur le développement d'enregistrements de données climatiques mondiales dérivées de satellites sur une période de dix ans. Collectivement, ces données apportent une contribution majeure à l'évaluation de l'état du climat par le Groupe d'experts intergouvernemental sur l'évolution du climat (GIEC) et sont à la base de la chaîne d'information sur la valeur du climat qui permet d'élaborer des politiques, des décisions et des actions efficaces.

Le programme CCI s'appuie sur 40 ans d'archives de données satellitaires de l'ESA et de ses États membres, y compris les missions actuelles de l'ESA, les Sentinelles Copernicus, les missions tierces de l'ESA et les agences partenaires telles que la NASA, la NOAA, la JAXA et l'EUMETSAT. Le programme CCI produit des ensembles de données pour les variables climatiques essentielles (VCE), indispensables à la surveillance du climat telle qu'elle est définie par le système mondial d'observation du climat (SMOC) et exigée par la convention-cadre des Nations unies sur les changements climatiques (CCNUCC) afin de surveiller systématiquement le système terrestre. Les observations par satellite constituent l'épine dorsale du SMOC, les deux tiers des 55 VCE étant principalement mesurés depuis l'espace. En janvier 2024, l'ICC aura contribué à l'enregistrement de 27 VCE, ce qui aura un impact significatif sur la compréhension du système climatique de la Terre.

CCI Open Data Portal

L'Open Data Portal de la CCI est l'outil de gestion des données du programme de la CCI. Il offre un accès gratuit, ouvert et facile à toutes les données de l'ICC via un tableau de bord convivial, une interface de recherche à facettes, OpenSearch, OPeNDAP, ESGF, WMS, WCS, HTTPS et FTP. Le site fait également partie de la passerelle d'observation de la Terre fédérée (FedEO) du CEOS et du portail de découverte de données de l'ESA.