En français

ECCC logo

TOC > MSC data > SPEI > SPEI on MSC Datamart

Climate Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) data in NetCDF format

SPEI data in NetCDF format, a climate index used to assess the influence of climate change on drought.

Data location

MSC Datamart data can be automatically retrieved with the Advanced Message Queuing Protocol (AMQP) as soon as they become available. An overview and examples to access and use the Meteorological Service of Canada's open data is also available.

The data is available via the HTTPS protocol. It is possible to access it with a standard browser. In this case, we obtain a list of links giving access to a NetCDF file.

The data can be accessed at the following URLs :

where :

  • historical : Historical simulations from 1900 to 2005 for the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index. SPEI-1 corresponds to SPEI of one month; SPEI-3 corresponds to SPEI of one month and the previous 2 months, and SPEI-12 corresponds to SPEI of one month and the previous 11 months.
  • scenarios : Refers to different emission scenarios [RCP2.6, RCP4.5,RCP8.5] from 2006 to 2100.

File name nomenclature

NOTE : ALL HOURS ARE IN UTC.

File names have the form :

  • CMIP5_hist_TemporalResolution_Value_ProjectionResolution_Variable_pctlPP.nc
  • CMIP5_rcpx.y_TemporalResolution_Value_ProjectionResolution_Variable_pctlPP.nc

where :

  • CMIP5 : Constant string indicating Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase5 global climate model ensemble datasets.
  • hist : Constant string indicating historical simulations.
  • rcpx.y : Type of Representative Concentration Pathways (emission scenarios), taking one of the values : [rcp2.6, rcp4.5, rcp8.5].
  • TemporalResolution : Time period, taking one of the values [SPEI-1, SPEI-3, SPEI-12]. SPEI-1 corresponds to SPEI of one month; SPEI-3 corresponds to SPEI of one month and the previous 2 months, and SPEI-12 corresponds to SPEI of one month and the previous 11 months.
  • Value : Values category representing time period of the dataset, taking one of these two values : [2006-2100] for the scenatios and [1900-2005] for the historical simulations.
  • Projection : Grid mapping (projection) taking the value : [latlon]
  • Resolution : Grid resolution taking one of the values : [1x1]; 1 stands for 1-degree resolution in both the latitudinal and longitudinal directions.
  • Variable : Name of variable available in the file: Always [SPEI] which means 'Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index'.
  • PctlPP : Ensemble percentile number, taking one of the values : [pctl25, pctl50, pctl75]; pctl25 stands for the 25th percentile of the ensemble; pctl50 stands for the 50th percentile, also referred to as the median, of the ensemble; pctl75 stands for the 75th percentile of the ensemble.
  • nc : Constant string indicating the NetCDF format.

Examples :

  • CMIP5_rcp8.5_SPEI-12_2006-2100_latlon1x1_SPEI_pctl50.nc

The file represents the 50th percentile of the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index of one month and the previous 11 months over the period of 2006-2100, for the scenario rcp8.5.

Support

If you have any questions about this data, please contact us.

Announcements from the dd_info mailing list

Announcements related to this dataset are available in the dd_info list.