// Climate Data Services 

Although the NCCS is not a climate model output archive, we provide a central location for publishing and accessing large, complex climate model data to benefit the climate science community as well as the broader public.

As NASA weather and climate models simulate our planet on scales from hours to millennia, they produce datasets up to petabytes in size. Such big data presents challenges to climate scientists—not to mention the government, agriculture, education, and business communities—in extracting scientific discovery and value.

Our goal is to house a growing collection of NASA model datasets available on our Centralized Storage System (CSS) and make them available for High Performance Computing workflows, AI/ML workflows, and some limited data services to provide subsetting and download tools to the climate community.

// CDS Quick Links  

Supporting Climate Model Research

See how the NCCS Climate Data Services supports the climate research community:

Climate Data Services Support for Climate Modeling Research

NCCS Climate Data Services (CDS) supports two NASA climate modeling research projects—the Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO) and the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS). Climate modeling involves developing a computer model, integrating observational data both as initial conditions and for validation, and producing data products that are of value to multiple communities: scientific, business, and political.

Climate Models vs Weather Models

Climate models differ from weather forecast models because they incorporate a greater number of physical processes, such as ocean circulations, ice, soil moisture and greenhouse gases, that are important to climate variability but less important to tomorrow’s temperature and precipitation predictions. Climate models can be used to study climate changes ranging from a few weeks, to millennia. The results identify averages and trends, not specific weather patterns.

Creating the Models

Climate modelers run the climate simulation computer code they’ve written on the NASA Center for Climate Simulation (NCCS) supercomputers. When running their mathematical simulations, the climate modelers partition the atmosphere into 3D grids. Within each grid cell, the supercomputer calculates physical climate values such as wind vectors, temperature, and humidity. After conditions are initialized using real observations, the model is moved forward one “time step”. Using equations, The climate values are recalculated creating a projected climate simulation.

Validating the Models with Observational Data

Validating the models by comparing the results to observational data is a critical step in assessing the value of a climate model. CDS provides access to NASA observational data that is relevant and easily compared to climate model data through the Earth System Grid Federation (ESGF) obs4MIPs project. Climate scientists also run their models using observational data for multiple decades to determine how well their model can reproduce the climate during that time period. CDS makes this reanalysis data available through the ESGF CREATE project.

Providing Climate Model Products to Users

CDS supplies access to a variety of NASA climate model products and services to support many research communities, including climate scientists and modelers, other Earth scientists, and NASA Earth Science mission managers. CDS also aims to support professionals in agriculture, urban planning, energy and water resource management, insurance, policy-making, disaster recovery, and national security planning.

Successful Climate Data Services Use Case

The following video shows how a Climate Data Services’ tool has benefitted the science community:

Heat Waves Movie

Using data from the last 35 years scientists are able to better examine the patterns of heat waves.

WATCH HERE