ISIMIP Data on the ESGF server

For external users of ISIMIP data, access is granted via the ISIMIP node of the Earth System Grid Federation. The procedure for downloading the data is analogous to downloading official CMIP5 data from other ESGF nodes.

Please read the terms of use carefully, and only proceed if you agree. Please also pay attention to our overview data changes and caveats (for Fast Track). More detailed help can be found in the official Earth System CoG web user tutorials.

If you already have on OpenID for the ESG, to find the data you are looking for we recommend using the filters on the left-hand-side of the search page. There you can specify the simulation round, sectors, scenarios, variables, time periods etc. of interest.

The ESG archive contains four data products:

• Input data - the data used to drive the impact models, exactly as described in the ISIMIP simulation protocol.
• Output data - the climate-impacts simulation data provided by participating modelling groups, corresponding to the output variables described in the ISIMIP simulation protocol.
• Secondary input data - data that have been derived from or are related to the input data, but not described in the simulation protocol (e.g. with a differnt spatial or temporal resolution).
• Secondary output data - simulation data that goes beyond the simulation protocol, e.g. RCP4.5 & RCP8.5 driven runs, or data that have been derived by processing the ISIMIP output data, but do not correspond to output variables described in the simulation protocol.

If you don't find the data you're looking for, please don't hesitate to get in touch.

The ISIMIP ESGF Portal is located here, from where you can navigate to the project pages for the ISIMIP Fast Track, ISIMIP2a and ISIMIP2b.

When downloading data, please note the following:

1. An ESGF OpenID is required. If you already have one please proceed with step 2, otherwise create a new account with the Link “Create Account” on the main page of the website. New OpenIDs are managed by out partner node at DKRZ. It's is also possible to create an OpenID on a different ESGF node (e.g. pcmdi.lnll.gov) because the accounts work federation wide. When choosing your username and entering your personal details don't make use of special characters. After successful creation of your account you will receive an email to remember your OpenID.
   
2. Enroll in the right data access policy group within the ESGF. You either need to follow the links below or test-download a single file by adding an ISIMIP data set to your Data Cart, clicking on Show Files and the http link on the right side of a file entry. You will then be prompted to join the group and asked in a pop-up window to accept or decline the ISIMIP terms of use agreement. Once accepted, the ISIMIP catalogue that is linked to the data access groups you just joined is available to you for download.
   
   Data access groups:
   ISIMIP Research-only
   ISIMIP unrestriced

Note: For a further ESGF-CoG Login, you may first need to choose the German Climate Computing Centre (DKRZ) among the OpenID options. This will then prompt you to a window where you can write down your username and password.

• This is the most practical way to download a large amount of files at a same time. These scripts will automatically download all the selected files (up to 1000 at a time) to a Linux or MacOS machine. This is the standard procedure for downloading data sets from ESGF data nodes.

1. Put the data sets of interest into your Data Cart (Add to Cart). You can subselect a variable by making use of the search text box in the data cart view.
   
2. On the Data Cart tab you can then download the wget script by clicking on WGET or WGET All Selected (no need to be logged in at this point).
   
3. Save that file to the folder you want the data to be downloaded to. Please keep in mind that one single download script is capable of retrieving only 1000 files. Please consider working with multiple wget scripts if you are interested in a broader subset of the ISIMIP Fast Track data.
   
4. Executing the script in a console on your machine will download the federation's keystore, prompt you for your OpenID and password and finally start downloading the files into the current directory. All files are checksum checked to prove their integrity. Make sure you have Oracle Java, version 1.7 or newer installed on your machine, otherwise the script will stop with an error message.

If you run into issues with the data regarding their formating or internal structure please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Note: If you have problems with the wget script, please check the ESGF Wget FAQ page. If you don't find solutions there, please contact us.

On a Windows installation

If you are working on a Windows installation but only need to download a very few files, you can also receive the data directly from the website. Then, the procedure is the same as described above in the group enrollment section (test download): find your data set, click on List Files, find your file and click on a download option (HTTP or OpenDAP) on the right side of your file entry.

For downloading a larger number of files, Windows 10 users are able to run the wget scripts by installing the Windows Subsystem for Linux.

Data from DIVA model was provided in mixed formats, i.e. CSV and netCDF4, and thus not published on the ESGF Server. Instead the data can be downloaded via the RSYNC service.

Update from January 2020: All Fast Track data is not available via the ESGF node esg.pik-potsdam.de anymore. Please use the data from ISIMIP2b since they are created on the basis of much improved bias-corrected climate models.