Satellite-based climate data records play an increasing role in climate monitoring and help to answer climate-related questions. Nowadays satellite-based climate data records cover a time period of several decades. EUMETSAT’s Satellite Application Facilities (SAF) provide a number of high quality climate data records for various geophysical variables, such as solar radiation, land surface temperature, cloud fractional cover, cloud microphysical variables, and many more, derived from both, geostationary and polar orbiting satellites.

These climate data records are free and open to everyone. They continue to be reprocessed to account for improvements of the algorithm and to include recent time periods. In addition to the data, free software tools are developed and provided by the SAF’s for users to work with the data.

This short course in an opportunity to get an overview about the climate data records available from the EUMETSAT Satellite Application Facilities, learn how to access them and gain some first experiences in how to work with the software tools provided. Participants will have the opportunity do some hands-on exercises using the data and tools provided. Participants are also welcome to bring their own scientific questions, for which the satellite based CDR’s may help to find the answer. Data and software developers will be around to hep and answer questions.

Participants should be prepared to bring a laptop to the course, we suggest that the participants order and download data from the EUMETSAT Satellite Application Facility on Climate Monitoring (CM SAF, www.cmsaf.eu); technical support in visualizing and analysing the data and will be provided by using the CM SAF R-Toolbox (https://www.cmsaf.eu/EN/Products/Tools/R/R_node.html); however, the participants are invited to use other software tools that enable the reading of netcdf-files as well.

A small breakfast will be served to all course participants.