Pascal Bourgault & Trevor James Smith - Xclim: Climate Data Processing and Analysis for Everyone

Discover Xclim, an open-source library for climate data processing and analysis, providing simple and useful climate information for various stakeholders, with APIs for indicators and indices, and features for large datasets and unit conversion.

Key takeaways
  • Xclim is an open-source library for climate data processing and analysis, aiming to provide simple and useful climate information for various stakeholders.
  • It’s built on top of existing libraries like Dask, NumPy, and Numba, and uses X-Array for data management.
  • Xclim has two APIs: Indicator API and Indices API, which can be used to calculate climate indicators and manage data.
  • The library is designed to be operational, foolproof, and extendable, with a focus on ensuring consistency and accuracy.
  • It can handle large datasets and provides features like asynchronous I/O, data array management, and ensemble statistics.
  • Xclim uses Pint for unit conversion and is compatible with other libraries like CF X-Array and XeSMF.
  • The library is actively maintained and has contributions from the Oronos consortium.
  • It’s possible to extend Xclim by adding new indicators or modules, and contributors are encouraged to submit pull requests.
  • A bias adjustment module is also available, which can be used to correct climate model outputs.
  • Xclim is used internally by Oronos for data processing and analysis, and is also used in their Pavix platform.
  • The library is available on GitHub and has over 270 stars.