CliDE – Climate Data for the Environment

Managing Your Climate Records

CliDE is a Climate Data Management System (CDMS) developed as part of the Pacific Climate Change Science Program (PCCSP). CliDE provides each country with a central database for climate records, with key entry forms, quality assurance tools, reports and data dumps. It is free and open-source software, using a web-based user interface and high reliability relational database system.

CliDE design qualities:

  • Ease of use: Forms are based on paper records to be keyed, rather than internal data structures.
  • Low cost: Open source license with no ongoing cost obligations.
  • Robust: Requiring minimal technical support and maintenance costs.
  • Scalable: Application can be scaled up from a single machine to full enterprise architecture.
  • Capable of being learned: Simple design using standard technologies.
  • Relational: Data model and database management software allows for SQL queries via standard methods such as SQL queries over ODBC.
  • Extendable: The web service layer allows for other web applications to fetch data from CliDE using standard web methods.

CliDE posters

CliDE promotional poster CliDE poster about functionality CliDE poster about technologies used

Project background

Under the International Climate Change Adaptation Initiative (ICCAI), Australia is providing assistance to vulnerable countries in the Asia-Pacific region to meet high priority climate change adaptation needs. The Pacific Climate Change Science Program (PCCSP) is one of the ICCAI project components, improving understanding of the physical climate system to inform effective adaptation.

Analysis of observed climate relies on long, complete, spatially extensive observational records of meteorological and oceanographic data. The CliCom Climate Data Management System was introduced in 1985 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), with the assistance of NOAA to assist small countries with climate data management. Many of the PCCSP Partner Countries used CliCom, however over many decades, CliCom began to lose reliability as hardware improved and operating systems changed. Many backup files were damaged and the loss of historical electronic data was notable in a number of PCCSP Partner Countries. Only Solomon Islands, Fiji and to some extent Niue still maintain operational CliCom systems.

Many Partner Countries began to use electronic spreadsheets as a readily available and user-friendly application to record data and produce reports and graphs. However, spreadsheets are a poor data storage solution with little or no data validation tools.

The PCCSP has developed a new climate database management system known as CliDE (Climate Data for the Environment), which has been installed in all Partner Countries.



Documentation

Documentation for CliDE is contained within the CliDE User Manual.

CliDE User Manual

Further information

Other useful and relevent websites are linked below.

Pacific Climate Change Science Program: