ERA5 / ERA5-Land
Free
ECMWF's hourly global reanalysis — the default gap-free climate forcing record for ungauged catchments worldwide.
cdsapi (Copernicus CDS)
ActiveProgrammatic access to ERA5 and the Copernicus Climate Data Store — the world's reanalysis workhorse.
by ECMWF / Copernicus
- Pricing
- Free
- License
- Apache-2.0 (client); Copernicus data licence
- Commercial use
- Permitted
- Ecosystem
- Python
- Platform
- Windows, macOS, Linux
Install
pip install cdsapiAbout cdsapi (Copernicus CDS)
cdsapi is the official Python client for the Copernicus Climate Data Store, which serves ERA5 — the global reanalysis that has become hydrology's default gap-free climate record — along with seasonal forecasts, CMIP projections, and dozens of derived datasets. A short script with your API key downloads exactly the variables, levels, period and region you need.
For catchments with sparse gauge coverage (most of the world), ERA5 via cdsapi is frequently the difference between "no forcing data" and a runnable model. Free registration; generous quotas; queue times vary.
Where it fits in the workflow
TerrainCatchmentRainfallRunoffRoutingHydraulicsMappingReporting
Appears in collections
- Design Rainfall & IDF Toolkit
Getting defensible design storms: IDF sources, rainfall statistics and climate adjustment.
- Hydrology Data Access, Scripted
Packages and portals that put gauge records and design rainfall one function call away.
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