Introduction to ClimateSERV

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ClimateSERV offers users access to historical and forecasted data for meteorological variables such as precipitation, temperature, as well as biophysical variables like soil moisture, evaporative stress index, and the normalized difference vegetation index.

Users can download, analyze, and visualize these datasets – which are available on a global scale – in two different ways:

The first, and most convenient way to interact with ClimateSERV data is the Graphical User Interface, which is just a fancy way to say the ClimateSERV website.
The second way to interact with ClimateSERV data – which may be of more interest to users seeking to automate data requests from ClimateSERV – is the Application Programming Interface, or API. The ClimateSERV API allows users to implement the functionality of the ClimateSERV GUI using programming so that our end users can integrate ClimateSERV data into their existing scripts.

In this course we will learn how to use both the ClimateSERV GUI and the ClimateSERVpy API to write Python code to request data from ClimateSERV.

Course content

This course is asynchronous, but we estimate that it will take about 7 hours of study to complete. The course is broken down into four modules as shown below.

Weekly / module breakdown

Unit 1: Introduction to ClimateSERV
Unit 2: Using the ClimateSERV Graphical User Interface (GUI)
Unit 3: Using the ClimateSERV Application Programming Interface (API)
Unit 4: Assessment

Learning outcomes

After this course, you will be able to:

Recall what datasets are available in ClimateSERV
Use the ClimateSERV Graphical User Interface (GUI) via the ClimateSERV website to visualize, download, and analyze how biophysical and meteorological data vary both spatially and temporally
Use the ClimateSERVpy Application Programming Interface (API) in a Python environment to request and visualize both tabular and raster data from ClimateSERV

Is this course for you?

Target Audience
The target audience of this course is extremely broad. The ClimateSERV GUI is designed to be user-friendly such that practitioners with limited experience in Earth Observation science can visualize and/or request data. Simultaneously, the API allows more experienced users, especially those with programming experience, to develop more complex workflows. The meteorological data available in ClimateSERV is attractive to students studying atmospheric science, whereas the biophysical data is useful for students working in agriculture and food security. However, because precipitation and soil moisture data can be used as inputs to a wide variety of models, ClimateSERV may be a useful for resource for all disciplines within Earth Observation.
Knowledge prerequisites
Before taking this course, it is recommended that students be familiar with the following subjects:
Introduction to Optical Remote Sensing
- Students should have knowledge of terms like spatial resolution, temporal resolution, raster, visual channels (i.e. true color vs false color)
  If you do not have substantial knowledge regarding the above topics, it is recommended to take this module before proceeding: Introduction to Python
- Students should have a working knowledge of numpy and matplotlib libraries
Any other prerequisites
Students will need a computer, a Google Drive account, and will need to download Google Colaboratory to their Google Drive account.

Who is NASA-USAID SERVIR?

SERVIR is a joint initiative of NASA, the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and leading geospatial organizations around the world working to apply Earth Observations to address environmental challenges.

We are situated under NASA’s Applied Science and Capacity Building Programs, seeking to bring science down to Earth and affect change. In doing so, we co-develop services that often employ geospatial tools. Over the years, the user base for our tools has grown beyond the intended end user. As such, SERVIR seeks to build global capacity to use our mature tools via online learning.

To learn more about SERVIR, visit our website

Questions?

For questions, please email: info@geoversity.io

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Introduction to ClimateSERV

Course content

Learning outcomes

Is this course for you?

Target Audience

Knowledge prerequisites

Any other prerequisites

Who is NASA-USAID SERVIR?

License information

Questions?

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