Climate data and other data on Cal-Adapt
Topics covered in this article:
- What climate data does Cal-Adapt provide?
- What other data does Cal-Adapt provide?
- Can I upload my own data?
What climate data does Cal-Adapt provide?
Cal-Adapt hosts climate change projections and related data, much of which was generated for California’s Fourth Climate Change Assessment. Most of the projections on Cal-Adapt were derived by statistically downscaling the outputs of global climate models (GCMs). You can learn more about general circulation models and downscaling at Carbon Brief's Q&A: How do climate models work?
The main datasets hosted on Cal-Adapt are listed in the table below. For more information on how to access these datasets, see the FAQ article How Can I Download Data?
| Dataset | Description | Reference | Variables | Scenarios | Time periods |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Localized Climate Analogues (LOCA) | Statistically downscaled climate projections from global models | Pierce et al. 2018 | Maximum temperature, Minimum temperature, Precipitation, Relative humidity, Solar radiation, Wind speed | Modeled historical, RCP 4.5, RCP 8.5 | 1950-2005, 2006-2100 |
| Historical gridded data | Observation-based meteorological data | Livneh et al. 2015 | Maximum temperature, Minimum temperature, Precipitation | Observed historical | 1950-2013 |
| Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) derived data | Climate variables derived using Variable Infiltration Capacity land surface/hydrology model | Liang et al. 1994 | Evapotranspiration, Runoff, Soil moisture, Snow water equivalent, Snowfall rate, Rainfall rate, Snowmelt rate, Dew rate, Sensible heat, Latent heat flux, Potential evapotranspiration from vegetation, Air temperature, Relative humidity, Specific humidity, Albedo, Shortwave down radiation, Shortwave net radiation, Longwave net radiation, Sublimation net | Observed historical, RCP 4.5, RCP 8.5 | 1950-2013, 2006-2100 |
| CalFloD-3D | Inundation location and depth for the San Francisco Bay area, the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, and the California coast during extreme storm events occurring in conjunction with different sea level rise scenarios | Radke et al. 2016 | Inundation depth | 0.5 meter rise, 1.0 meter rise, 1.41 meter rise | N/A |
| CalFloD3D-TFS (50 m and 5m coastal flooding surfaces) | Inundation layers representing coastal flooding scenarios caused by sea level rise, storm surge and inland flooding due to rainfall under various climate change scenarios. | Radke et al. 2018 | Inundation depth | RCP 4.5, RCP 8.5 | 2000-2100 |
| CalFloD3D-TFS Mosaics (50m and 5m) | Mosaics of selected combinations of the 50 m and 5 m CalFloD3D-TFS inundation layers generated to support Cal-Adapt tools. | Geospatial Innovation Facility | Inundation depth | RCP 4.5, RCP 8.5 | 2000-2100 |
| CoSMoS (2m coastal flooding surfaces) | Coastal flooding layers for 100 year storm scenario and selected sea level rise increments from the Coastal Storm Modeling System (CoSMoS). | Barnard et al. 2019 | Inundation depth | N/A | N/A |
| CoSMoS Mosaics (2m coastal flooding surfaces) | Mosaics of selected combinations of the CoSMoS inundation layers generated to support Cal-Adapt tools. | Geospatial Innovation Facility | Inundation depth | N/A | N/A |
| Wildfire simulations | Wildfire scenario projections using a statistical model based on historical data of climate, vegetation, population density, and fire history coupled with regionally downscaled LOCA climate projections | Westerling et al. 2018 | Area burned | RCP 4.5, RCP 8.5, Low population, Central population, High population | 1960-2099 |
| Extended drought scenarios | 20-year drought scenarios constructed using data described in Pierce et al. 2018 | Pierce et al. 2018 | Maximum temperature, Minimum temperature, Precipitation, Evapotranspiration, Baseflow, Runoff, Soil moisture | Early 21st century drought (2023-2042), Late 21st century drought (2051-2070) | 2018-2046, 2046-2074 |
| Unimpaired streamflow projections | Bias-corrected unimpaired streamflow projections at 11 Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta sites | Pierce et al. 2018 | Rate of streamflow | Observed historical, Modeled historical, RCP 4.5, RCP 8.5 | 1922-2015, 1951-2100 |
| Derived Products | Datasets created from LOCA, Historical gridded data, VIC runs and Wildfire simulations for Cal-Adapt tools. | Geospatial Innovation Facility | Maximum temperature, Minimum temperature, Precipitation, Evapotranspiration, Baseflow, Runoff, Soil moisture, Area burned probability | Observed historical, Modeled historical, RCP 4.5, RCP 8.5 | 1950-2013, 2006-2100 |
| Hourly Observed Historical Data Product | A quality-controlled dataset for hourly weather observations curated for use by the energy sector | Doherty 2020 | Air temperature, Dew, Precipitation, Wind speed | Observed historical | 1940-2021 |
| Dynamical Downscaling Product | Dynamically downscaled climate data using the WRF regional climate model | UCLA Center for Climate Science | Air temperature, Precipitation, Snow water equivalent | Observed historical, RCP 8.5 | 1991-2000, 2091-2100 |
| Hourly Sea Level Projections | Hourly sea level projections at selected Tide Gauge Locations along the California coast produced for Ocean Protection Council and California’s Fourth Climate Change Assessment | Pierce et al. 2018 | Sea level rise | RCP 4.5, RCP 8.5 | 2000-2100 |
For a thorough explanation of how Cal-Adapt stores and makes accessible specific datasets, we recommend you read the Fourth Assessment report on Cal-Adapt.
What other data does Cal-Adapt provide?
In addition to hosting climate data, Cal-Adapt also hosts vector datasets containing administrative boundaries, hydrologic boundaries, and the LOCA (downscaling) model grid.
- LOCA model grid (1/16° – approximately 6 km on each side)
- California counties
- Watersheds (HUC10)
- Census tracts with CalEnviroScreen 3.0 scores
- 114th congressional districts
- Incorporated and census designated places (2015)
- Integrated Regional Water Management (IRWM) regions
- SWITCH load zones
- Climate zones
- Investor- and public-owned electrical utilities
- California’s Fourth Climate Change Assessment regions
- State of California
These vector datasets can be used to select, view, aggregate, and summarize climate data for a geography of interest.
An example of a county boundary vector dataset on Cal-Adapt
Can I upload my own data?
Yes, you can upload your own file with a feature for spatial aggregation. Cal-Adapt supports zipped shapefiles, GeoJSON, KML, and WKT with one feature (point, line, or polygon) per file. If a file has multiple features, data will be returned for the full geographic extent of the file. The maximum supported area is 20,000 square miles.