New impact-sector data from the Climate Change Adaptation Digital Twin (Climate DT) of the European Commission’s Destination Earth initiative is now available on the DestinE Platform. Produced by applications integrated directly into the Climate DT workflow, the data provides information relevant to climate-sensitive sectors and phenomena, including renewable energy, hydrology, wildfires and extreme precipitation.

The Climate DT provides an operational framework for producing global climate information at kilometre-scale resolution to support climate adaptation. It complements existing approaches by delivering continuous, tailored climate information globally at resolutions of 5–10 km, with hourly output. The Climate DT is implemented by a broad European partnership led by CSC – IT Center for Science, working in close collaboration with ECMWF.

A key feature of the Climate DT is the integration of impact-sector applications directly into its production workflow. This allows climate simulations and sector-specific information to be produced together, with the applications processing data as it is generated by the coupled climate models. As a result, the Climate DT produces not only high-resolution climate simulations, but also information tailored to specific climate-sensitive sectors and phenomena.

A new generation of Climate DT simulations became available on the DestinE Platform in May. These include global multi-decadal simulations covering 1990–2050 and storyline simulations, which explore how extreme weather events could evolve under different climate conditions. These Generation 2 simulations introduce important improvements in the models, impact-sector applications and production workflows.

Impact-sector data generated within the Climate DT workflow is now also available through the DestinE Platform. The available datasets and impact-sector applications are described in the Climate DT user guide, which provides practical guidance on accessing and working with the data, together with information on the underlying climate and impact-sector models, simulations and data quality.

The Climate DT simulations and impact-sector data are produced using the world-class supercomputing systems of the European High-Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC). The data is stored in the DestinE Data Lake, implemented by EUMETSAT, and made available to users through the DestinE Platform, implemented by ESA.

Sector-specific information to support climate adaptation

A range of impact-sector applications translate Climate DT simulation data into indicators and information for climate-sensitive sectors and phenomena, such as onshore and offshore wind energy, wildfires, hydrology, and extreme precipitation. Embedded directly within the Climate DT workflow and co-designed with users working in the relevant areas, the applications help ensure that the information responds to practical needs and supports climate adaptation and decision-making. The available data covers a historical period from 1990 to 2014 and a scenario period from 2015–2049.

Overview of the impact-sector applications:

Renewable energy: The Energy Indicators application, developed by the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, derives global wind and solar energy metrics from Climate DT simulations at 5 km spatial resolution and hourly temporal resolution. Indicators cover wind and photovoltaic energy potential, heating and cooling demand, and wind-related extreme events. Read our user story to find out how the Climate DT can support the wind energy sector.

Wildfires: Two applications, developed by the Finnish Meteorological Institute, provide information on wildfire danger and behaviour. The Wildfires FWI application uses weather conditions to provide daily fire-weather danger metrics at continental to global scales (5 km or less). The Wildfires WISE application combines weather, vegetation and topography data to simulate localised fire spread, including burned area, fire intensity and flame length.

Hydrology: The HydroLand application, developed by the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), translates Climate DT simulations into information on freshwater availability and hydrological conditions, globally at 5 km resolution. It provides data including soil moisture and river discharge, as well as indicators for droughts and floods, supporting climate adaptation in areas such as water management and agriculture. Read our HydroLand user story to learn how HydroLand can support preparedness for floods and droughts.

Extreme precipitation: The HydroMet application, developed by the Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD), provides information on extreme precipitation events over Europe, including their intensity, duration, spatial extent and return periods. Using data from the 5 km Climate DT simulations, the application provides data that can support climate risk assessment and adaptation planning, including for infrastructure.

Integrated data processing and quality assessment

The impact-sector applications integrated into the Climate DT workflow process climate data as it is generated. The Generic State Vector (GSV) provides largely standardised output from the different climate models, allowing the applications to use their data consistently.

The workflow also includes the One-Pass Algorithm (OPA), which calculates statistics as climate data becomes available and, where relevant, applies bias adjustment. Currently, HydroLand uses bias-adjusted data for selected variables.

Quality assessment of the Climate DT simulations is also carried out within the same workflow using AQUA, the Climate DT framework for automated evaluation of the high-resolution climate simulations.

More data to follow

The newly released impact-sector data is available through the DestinE Platform. Data from further Climate DT simulations, including additional impact-sector data, will be added over the coming months.

Find practical guidance on how to access the data in the User Guide on the DestinE platform

Watch our latest video to learn more about the Climate DT, its high-resolution climate simulations, their evaluation and how to access the data.