CMIP6 Historical Simulations, model EC-Earth3-CC (EC-Earth-Consortium)

This dataset features a selection of variables generated by the EC-Earth3-CC Earth system model as part of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6).

The data covers the historical simulation period 1850–2014. Unlike future projections, this experiment utilizes observed time-varying external forcings to reconstruct the climate evolution of the industrial era.

The data is distributed in a compressed Zarr format with near-zero precision loss. It features a daily temporal resolution and is structurally optimized for high-throughput regional assessments and time-series analysis.

Accessing this dataset requires a Zarr v3-compatible library (e.g., zarr-python >= 3.x). Python users can upgrade via pip install "zarr>3".

How to download the data

The default (and preferred) way to access the data requires accessing the api.earthdatahub.destine.eu domain and a valid API key.

Method 1: quick access

It is possible to include the token directly in the URL.

1import xarray as xr
2
3xr.open_dataset(
4    "https://edh:<your personal access token>@api.earthdatahub.destine.eu/cmip6/EC-Earth3-CC-historical-r1i1p1f1-day-gr-v0.zarr",
5    chunks={},
6    engine="zarr",
7    zarr_format=3,
8)

Method 2: advanced access

The Python snippet gather the token from a netrc file.

It's required to before running the code snippet below.

1import xarray as xr
2
3xr.open_dataset(
4    "https://api.earthdatahub.destine.eu/cmip6/EC-Earth3-CC-historical-r1i1p1f1-day-gr-v0.zarr",
5    storage_options={"client_kwargs":{"trust_env":True}},
6    chunks={},
7    engine="zarr",
8    zarr_format=3,
9)

Variables

Short Name	Units	Description
clt	%	Total Cloud Cover Percentage
hfls	W m-2	Surface Upward Latent Heat Flux
hfss	W m-2	Surface Upward Sensible Heat Flux
hurs	%	Near-Surface Relative Humidity
huss	1	Near-Surface Specific Humidity
pr	kg m-2 s-1	Precipitation
prsn	kg m-2 s-1	Snowfall Flux
psl	Pa	Sea Level Pressure
rlds	W m-2	Surface Downwelling Longwave Radiation
rlus	W m-2	Surface Upwelling Longwave Radiation
rlut	W m-2	TOA Outgoing Longwave Radiation
rsds	W m-2	Surface Downwelling Shortwave Radiation
rsus	W m-2	Surface Upwelling Shortwave Radiation
sfcWind	m s-1	Daily-Mean Near-Surface Wind Speed
sfcWindmax	m s-1	Daily Maximum Near-Surface Wind Speed
tas	K	Near-Surface Air Temperature
tasmax	K	Daily Maximum Near-Surface Air Temperature
tasmin	K	Daily Minimum Near-Surface Air Temperature
uas	m s-1	Eastward Near-Surface Wind
vas	m s-1	Northward Near-Surface Wind