FAQ Climate Scenarios

Can I request data for a point and a grid

Users can make point data requests any latitudinal / longitudinal coordinates on the planet. Plus, users can make area requests but they need to enable the area request package in their API account.

What is the horizontal resolution?

Up to 90m.

What is the temporal resolution?

Customers are able to download the data in the temporal resolution that meets their requirements. Technically, some parameters can be queried in 5 minute timesteps.

What programming language is the data available in?

The data is not in a particular programming language - they are stored in a binary format.

How much does it cost to access the data set?

Please contact the Sales team for an offer sales@meteomatics.com.

How large is the data set?

It comprises multiple TBs.

Do you plan to add climate data sets from other centers?

Meteomatics API and MeteoCache are scalable technologies and we hope to add more climate data sets in the future.

How do I access the data?

Data can be accessed using our API either through the browser or the data connectors. See also our guide on getting started with our API.

Will the data work with all your data connectors?

Yes.

What are the SSP’s?

Shared Socioeconomic Pathways. Used to simulate the physics, chemistry and biology of the atmosphere, land and oceans in great detail, up until 2100. These scenarios have been created by the World Climate Change Research Programme Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP). MRI’s climate projections will be included in the new Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Assessment Report (AR6), which will be published in 2021. See also our documentation on climate data.

Who creates the SSP’s and how is the criteria determined?

Back in 2012, two proposals by Kriegler et al. (2012) and Van Vuuren et al. (2012) discussed the inclusion of socio-economic factors. The SSPs were developed as a community effort over the last years (more information: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959378016300681#bib0260).

Can you provide climate consultancy?

We offer Climate Data services:
(1) API-based data access for experts whom we support with our meteorological and data science expertise and
(2) Climate Change Impact reports which analyze long-term climate change impact on sector-specific relevant weather parameters based on our data. We limit ourselves to the interpretation of our data and do not draw conclusions or make recommendations for the respective business. At present, we do not make any assessment of likelihood of the scenarios we prepare.

What value does your downscaling add to future changes in temperature, wind, precipitation etc considering that climate is typically for modeling likelihood of large climatic events?

We add NASA’s 90m digital terrain model to enhance the granularity of the climate predictions.

What value does your increase in temporal resolution add to future changes in temperature, wind, precipitation etc considering that climate is typically for modeling likelihood of large climatic events?

Possible analysis of extreme events and data distribution.

When will the data next be updated?

The climate model runs provided by the MRI (Meteorological Research Institute of Japan) have been concluded and won’t be updated.

Do you make any climate data freely available?

Meteomatics has gone to great effort to add climate projections to our API, standardizing and processing climate projection data to remove the complexity of using the data and making it readily available via a performant API. Existing customers can access a limited amount of climate projection data in the model mix for no extra charge (i.e one climate scenario and projections limited to 24 months).

How many scenarios are included in the API?

5

Why did you choose these particular scenarios?

These scenarios are decided by the CMIP, the World Climate Change Research Programme Coupled Model Intercomparison Project. They were previously called representative climate scenarios (RCP’s), driven by radiation & CO2 scenarios - SSP’s have added social components. Further information available in our climate data API documentation or from WRCP’s website.

How is the climate data validated?

Since there are no observations in the future, a classic validation with measurements is not possible. However, given the MRI (Meteorological Research Institute of Japan) ESM2.0 climate runs were undertaken within the CMIP6 model framework, comparability to other experiments is ensured.

What is climate data & climate predictions?

Climate data is defined as a time series of measurements of sufficient length, consistency, and continuity to determine climate variability and climate change. Climate predictions included in Meteomatics’ API are simulations of Earth’s climate in future decades (until 2100), based upon assumed scenarios that are decided by the World Climate Change Research Programme Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP).

Will you add other parameters to the list?

Meteomatics is continuously developing and innovating our data and technological capability. We expect to add further derived parameters in the months ahead. You can stay informed via our blog, social-media-channels or news about API documentation.

Why should I pay for Meteomatics API climate data when I can get them for free, too?

Meteomatics API allows users to request historic (back to 1979), observations, real time, forecasts, seasonal and climate data all through a single API end point. Making climate data more accessible than ever before. We also vastly improve the usability of the data set by downscaling the data to improve the horizontal resolution. Plus, improved the ease of use by adding Meteomatics naming conventions.

How many climate parameters are accessible through the API in total?

The API contains both standard parameters and many useful derived parameters we have created for the climate projection data set. Further information available on our documentation pages.

Can I access the climate data without an API business package?

Climate projection data is available within Meteomatics Model Mix for Business API customers (limited to one scenario and 24 months). Alternatively, Business API customers can purchase the “model source option” to gain access to all climate scenarios and timesteps. For further information please contact our Account Management Team.

Can I get access to the climate data for research purposes?

Users can purchase access for research purposes, please contact our Account Management Team.

How does the data work with different time zones?

Everything is provided in UTC.

Which data formats are available?

CSV, XML, JSON, PNG, GeoTIFF, HTML. Check our documentation for more information on how to query data with the different data formats.

How do I download the data?

The data can be downloaded through our web browser or by using the available data connectors. Please refer to our API documentation for further instructions on how to get started with the data.

Can I access the data via FTP?

Customers predominately access data through our API, although it is possible to request data via FTP, for further information please contact your account manager or sales@meteomatics.com.

How do climate models differ from weather models?

Climate models use data on the factors that drive the climate, and projections about how these might change in the future (decades and centuries). The main inputs into climate models are the external factors that change the amount of the sun’s energy that is absorbed by the Earth, or how much is trapped by the atmosphere. These external factors are called “forcings”. They include changes in the sun’s output, long-lived greenhouse gases – such as CO2, methane (CH4), nitrous oxides (N2O) and halocarbons – as well as tiny particles called aerosols that are emitted when burning fossil fuels, and from forest fires and volcanic eruptions. Typically, all these individual forcings are run through a model either as a best estimate of past conditions or as part of future “emission scenarios”. These are potential pathways for the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, based on how technology, energy and land use change over the centuries ahead (socioeconomic pathways). Whereas, weather models are focused on predicting weather in a much shorter timescales (hours & days ahead), using observations to determine the current state of the atmosphere, providing the starting conditions for the  mathematical code, (representing the physical processes of the atmosphere), to initiate and calculate the weather forecast, typically at a higher temporal and horizontal resolution than climate data (more information available: www.carbonbrief.org).

What is the native horizontal and vertical resolution of the climate data Meteomatics ingests?

1°x1°, 3 hrs

Are there any technical restrictions for requesting data?

Meteomatics applies the same restrictions for climate data as its other data sets. Users requests for the time series and visualizations are limited to 1million pixels. Users should be aware that large requests for data will take longer to complete or run in a time out after 300 seconds (depending on derived parameter).

Can I query long term periods such as 10 years mean or 30 years mean values?

Not at the moment but Meteomatics is working on making these values available.

Is it possible to download special indices like highest temperature until 2100 / how many “hot days” during summer periods until 2100 / dry periods etc.?

Meteomatics will extend its offer for special indices during the next few months.

Where can I get ongoing information about new parameters / developments etc. in the future?

We will publish details of new parameters on our website and in our API newsletter.

Why do you give access to a single scenario in your model mix?

Meteomatics provide access to a single scenario (SSP 2) in the model mix, so that users can view climate data, along with forecast data for their information. Customers can purchase access to all five SSP projections to evaluate all climate predictions until 2100 by purchasing the option "model selection" of a normal API package.

Does Meteomatics think that SSP 2 is more likely?

Meteomatics does not endorse the likelihood of any scenario over any of the others. Meteomatics is simply giving API customers the opportunity to view a scenario and the data in our model mix. Users must access and evaluate all 5 scenarios to determine / evaluate the future climate projections produced by MRI (Meteorological Research Institute of Japan).

Which scenario is the used scenario in the MIX forecast and why?

Scenario 2 ‘middle of the road’ is available in the model mix, so that users can obtain a view of historic, realtime, forecast and a climate projection in the same query.

What does MIX mean?

Meteomatics model mix represents Meteomatics estimation of the most appropriate forecast at the location and time included within your query.