climate_indices
Open Source
Reference Python implementations of SPI, SPEI and Palmer indices for drought monitoring.
xclim
ActiveClimate indices and bias adjustment on xarray — the operational-grade library for climate-data engineering.
by Ouranos
- Pricing
- Open Source
- License
- Apache-2.0
- Commercial use
- Permitted
- Ecosystem
- Python, xarray, dask
- Platform
- Windows, macOS, Linux
Install
pip install xclimAbout xclim
xclim, developed by Ouranos (Québec's climate consortium), computes a large library of climate indicators — heat waves, growing degree days, precipitation extremes, dry spells — on xarray datasets with proper units handling, metadata conventions and dask-powered scaling to large ensembles. Its sdba module provides the standard bias-adjustment methods (quantile mapping and successors) needed before projections touch engineering models.
It is the closest thing to an operational standard for climate-projection post-processing in Python: health-checked inputs, CF-compliant outputs, and the numerical care this niche often lacks.
Where it fits in the workflow
TerrainCatchmentRainfallRunoffRoutingHydraulicsMappingReporting
Alternatives to xclim
Ranked by the topics, categories and workflow stages they share with xclim.
NEOPRENE
Open Source
Neyman-Scott stochastic rainfall generation in Python — synthetic series and disaggregation, single or multi-site.
VIC
Open Source
The Variable Infiltration Capacity model — macroscale land-surface hydrology for big basins and climate studies.
Programmatic access to ERA5 and the Copernicus Climate Data Store — the world's reanalysis workhorse.
SPEI (R package)
Open Source
The reference R implementation of SPEI and SPI from the index's own authors.
SWMM-CAT
Gov-Public
EPA's Climate Adjustment Tool for SWMM — apply downscaled climate projections to rainfall and evaporation inputs.