Data Catalog

We refer to the datasets in the Cal-Adapt API as resources. Each resource is represented by a unique endpoint (URL). The following is a list of climate datasets in the Cal-Adapt API. We are actively adding new resources to the API so this list may not reflect the most up to date information.

Climate Variables

• LOCA downscaled climate projections from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego (Pierce et al, 2014).
  • Maximum Temperature tasmax, Minimum Temperature tasmin, Precipitation precip
  • Daily and annual averages
  • 10 GCMs, 3 scenarios, Envelope
• Climate variables produced by the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) model using downscaled LOCA data.
  • Snow Water Equivalence swe
  • Monthly averages
  • 10 GCMs, 3 scenarios
• Gridded historical observed climate data from UW Hydro | Computational Hydrology (Livneh et al, 2015)
  • Maximum Temperature tasmax, Minimum Temperature tasmin, Precipitation precip
  • Daily and annual averages
• Climate variables produced by the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) model using gridded historical observed Livneh data.
  • Snow Water Equivalence swe
  • Monthly averages
• Sea Level Rise (CalFloD-3D) for San Francisco Bay, Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and California Coast from UC Berkeley (Radke et al, 2016).
  • slr_sfbay slr_delta slr_coast
  • SLR scenarios
• Wildfire from UC Merced (LeRoy Westerling)
  • fire
  • Annual averages
• Bias-corrected Streamflows for 11 locations (Scripps Institution of Oceanography)
  • streamflow
  • Monthly averages
• Extended drought (Scripps Institution of Oceanography)
  • drought
  • Daily data for two scenarios that portray 20 year drought conditions.

Global Climate Models (GCM)

The following GCMs have been selected by California state agencies as priority models for Fourth Assessment Research. Data for these models is available through the cal-Adapt API. Downscaled data for 22 other GCMs is available as NetCDF files from the Cal-Adapt Data Server.

• ACCESS1-0 - Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) and Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) Australia
• CanESM2 - Canadian Centre for Climate Modelling and Analysis
• CCSM4 - University of Miami - RSMAS
• CESM1-BGC - Community Earth System Model Contributors
• CMCC-CMS - Centro Euro-Mediterraneo per I Cambiamenti Climatici
• CNRM-CM5 - Centre National de Recherches Météorologiques/ Centre Européen de Recherche et Formation Avancée en Calcul Scientifique
• GFDL-CM3 - NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory
• HadGEM2-CC - Met Office Hadley Centre
• HadGEM2-ES - Met Office Hadley Centre and Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais
• MIROC5 - Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute (The University of Tokyo), National Institute for Environmental Studies, and Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology

Scenarios

Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP). RCP references - The Beginner’s Guide to Representative Concentration Pathways , IPCC

• rcp45 - RCP 4.5 (Emissions peak around 2040, then decline)
• rcp85 - RCP 8.5 (Emissions continue to rise strongly through 2050 and plateau)
• historical - Historical

Period

Different temporal aggregations are available for climate variables through the API. See Raster Series to find out what’s available in the API.

• year - Annual averages
• month - Monthly averages
• day - Daily values

Vector Data

In addition to climate data, the Cal-Adapt API also has endpoints for vector datasets representing administrative boundaries, hydrological boundaries and the LOCA model grid.

• locagrid - Model Grid (1/16° - Approximately 6 km)
• counties - California counties
• hydrounits - Watersheds (HUC10)
• censustracts - Census Tracts with CalEnviroScreen 2.0 scores
• cdistricts - 114th congressional districts
• place - Incorporated & census designated places, 2015
• irwm - Integrated Regional Water Management (IRWM) Regions
• wecc-load-area - SWITCH Load Zones
• climregions - Climate Zones
• electricutilities - Investor and public owned electrical utilities