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  • Open Up Climate Data: Using Open Data to Advance Climate Action
  • Acknowledgements
  • Background: Open Up Guides
  • Introduction
    • Target Audiences
    • Open Data Defined
    • From Open Data to Impact
    • How the Guide Was Developed
    • Next steps
  • Key Components of an Open Climate-Relevant Data System
  • Existing public repositories of climatic and climate-relevant data
    • World Bank’s Climate Change Knowledge Portal
    • IPCC’s Data Distribution Centre
    • UN’s Global Risk Data Platform
    • European Space Agency’s Climate Change Initiative
    • Global Climate Observing System
    • UNFCCC
    • FAOSTAT
    • PREPdata
    • National Center for Atmospheric Research’s (NCAR) Climate Data Guide
  • What’s missing?
  • Other guides for communicating climate-relevant information
  • Relevant data types
    • Emissions Related Data
    • Agricultural Data
    • Land Use Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) Data
    • Electricity Data
    • Stationary Energy Data (other than electricity)
    • Transport Data
    • Waste Data
    • Natural Hazards and Impacts Data
    • Socioeconomic Data
    • Climate Finance Data
  • Conclusions
  • Collaborators
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  1. Existing public repositories of climatic and climate-relevant data

Global Climate Observing System

PreviousEuropean Space Agency’s Climate Change InitiativeNextUNFCCC

Last updated 6 years ago

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The (GCOS) was established in 1992 at the Second World Climate Conference to ensure that the observations and information needed to address climate-related issues are collected and made available to potential users. It is co-sponsored by the World Meteorological Organization, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO, UNEP, and the International Council for Science.

GCOS aims to guide, coordinate, and improve an international network of data collecting entities, data centers, and analysis centers. It also aims to ensure that the observations and information produced by this network are recognized as essential public goods and readily available to the public.GCOS developed the concept of to characterize a “physical, chemical or biological variable or a group of linked variables that critically contributes to the characterization of Earth’s climate.” ECVs are identified not only for their relevance, but also for the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of their widespread observation. The ECV provides background information, requirements, and links to available data sources for each of the ECVs.

Global Climate Observing System
Essential Climate Variables (ECVs)
Data Access Matrix