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.


Über die CCI

Die 2008 von der ESA ins Leben gerufene Initiative zum Klimawandel (Climate Change Initiative, CCI) ist ein umfangreiches wissenschaftliches Programm, das sich auf die Entwicklung globaler, dekadischer, satellitengestützter Klimadatensätze konzentriert. Insgesamt leisten diese Daten einen wichtigen Beitrag zur Bewertung des Klimazustands durch den Zwischenstaatlichen Ausschuss für Klimaänderungen (IPCC) und sind ein Grundpfeiler der Wertschöpfungskette für Klimainformationen, die eine effektive Politik und Entscheidungsfindung sowie wirksame Maßnahmen ermöglicht.

Das CCI-Programm nutzt ein 40 Jahre umspannendes Satellitendatenarchiv der ESA und ihrer Mitgliedstaaten mit Daten der aktuellen ESA-Missionen, der Copernicus Sentinels, der ESA-Drittmissionen und von Partnern wie NASA, NOAA, JAXA und EUMETSAT. Das CCI-Programm erstellt Datensätze für wesentliche Klimavariablen (Essential Climate Variables, ECVs), die für die Klimaüberwachung im Sinne des Globalen Klimabeobachtungssystems (GCOS) von entscheidender Bedeutung sind und von der Klimarahmenkonvention der Vereinten Nationen (UNFCCC) zur systematischen Überwachung des Erdsystems gefordert werden. Satellitenbeobachtungen bilden das Rückgrat des GCOS, wobei zwei Drittel der 55 ECVs überwiegend aus dem Weltraum gemessen werden. Bis Januar 2024 hat die CCI an Datensätzen für 27 ECVs mitgewirkt und dadurch einen wesentlichen Beitrag zum Verständnis des Klimasystems der Erde geleistet.

CCI Open Data Portal

Das CCI Open Data Portal ist das Datenverwaltungsportal des CCI-Programms. Über ein benutzerfreundliches Dashboard, eine facettierte Suchoberfläche, OpenSearch, OPeNDAP, ESGF, WMS, WCS, HTTPS und FTP bietet es kostenlosen, offenen und einfachen Zugriff auf alle CCI-Daten. Das Portal ist zudem Teil des CEOS Federated Earth Observation Gateway (FedEO) und des ESA Data Discovery Portal.