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Built-in datasets

The Climate API ships with four built-in dataset templates covering precipitation, temperature, and population. Each template describes a data source and the rules for downloading, transforming, and syncing it. They are available in every instance without any additional configuration.

To ingest a built-in dataset for your configured extent, see the API reference. To add datasets beyond these four, see Adding custom datasets.


CHIRPS v3 — daily precipitation

Property Value
Dataset ID chirps3_precipitation_daily
Variable precip
Units mm
Period Daily
Spatial coverage Global land, 50°S–50°N
Spatial resolution ~5 km
Record start 1981-01-01
Source CHIRPS v3

CHIRPS (Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Station data) v3 is a quasi-global daily precipitation dataset merging satellite thermal infrared imagery with station observations. It is widely used for drought monitoring, food security analysis, and WASH planning in low- and middle-income countries.

Sync behaviour — new data is ingested incrementally as it becomes available. CHIRPS has a nominal publication lag of around 3–7 days, so data through yesterday is not always present. The API uses a custom availability function that checks the actual latest available date from the CHIRPS server before each sync.

Transforms — none applied; data is stored as received in mm.


ERA5-Land — 2 m temperature (hourly)

Property Value
Dataset ID era5land_temperature_hourly
Variable t2m
Units °C
Period Hourly
Spatial coverage Global
Spatial resolution ~9 km
Record start 1950-01-01
Source ERA5-Land Reanalysis via DestinE Earth Data Hub

ERA5-Land is a global atmospheric reanalysis produced by ECMWF. The 2 m temperature variable (t2m) represents the air temperature 2 metres above the land surface, including corrections for topography relative to the ERA5 pressure levels.

Sync behaviour — new hours are appended incrementally. ERA5-Land is published with a nominal 5-day lag; the API will not request data closer than 120 hours to the current time.

Transforms — raw values are in Kelvin. The kelvin_to_celsius transform is applied at ingest time, so stored values are in °C.


ERA5-Land — total precipitation (hourly)

Property Value
Dataset ID era5land_precipitation_hourly
Variable tp
Units mm
Period Hourly
Spatial coverage Global
Spatial resolution ~9 km
Record start 1950-01-01
Source ERA5-Land Reanalysis via DestinE Earth Data Hub

Total precipitation (tp) from ERA5-Land is an accumulated hourly value representing the sum of large-scale and convective precipitation falling onto the land surface. It is useful as a high-resolution complement to CHIRPS for countries outside CHIRPS's 50°N–50°S band, or for sub-daily analysis.

Sync behaviour — same 5-day lag as ERA5-Land temperature; hours are appended incrementally.

Transforms — raw values are in metres per hour. The metres_to_mm transform converts to mm at ingest time.


WorldPop Global2 — total population (yearly)

Property Value
Dataset ID worldpop_population_yearly
Variable pop_total
Units people
Period Yearly
Spatial coverage Global
Spatial resolution ~100 m
Record start 2015
Record end 2030
Source WorldPop Global2

WorldPop Global2 provides gridded population estimates and projections at 100 m resolution. Each raster year represents estimated residential population counts. Years up to and including the present are backward-modelled estimates; years beyond the present are forward projections.

Sync behaviour — population data is released year by year, not as a continuous stream. The API uses a release-kind sync that checks each calendar year separately. Future years (projections) are also requestable, since the underlying data covers through 2030.

Transforms — none applied; values are stored as received (population counts per pixel).


Derived datasets

In addition to the four built-in sources, the API can produce derived datasets by resampling any ingested dataset to a coarser temporal resolution. Derived datasets are created on demand via the resample process. See Processes for details.