cds-downloader
cds-downloader is a small Python command-line tool for downloading a focused set of ERA5-Land climate variables from the Copernicus Climate Data Store (CDS) API. It is designed as a practical CLI rather than a general-purpose Python SDK.
The tool provides two workflows:
- Daily: download daily statistics for regular variables and daily accumulated values for variables such as precipitation and solar radiation.
- Hourly: download hourly series as one request and one file per variable.
Installation
cds-downloader requires Python 3.12 or newer. Install the stable version as an isolated command with uv:
uv tool install git+https://github.com/reginalexavier/[email protected]For one-off use without permanent installation:
uvx --from git+https://github.com/reginalexavier/[email protected] \
cds-downloader daily --year 2025 --months 10Authentication
Before requesting data, configure your personal CDS API credentials in ~/.cdsapirc and accept the terms of use for each dataset in the CDS portal. Credentials and downloaded data are never managed by this blog.
Usage
Download daily products using the default variable-specific statistics:
cds-downloader daily --year 2025 --months 10 11 12Download hourly series:
cds-downloader hourly --year 2025 --months 10 11 12Validate either workflow without submitting a request to the CDS API:
cds-downloader daily --year 2025 --months 10 --dry-runThe CLI also supports spatial subsets, custom output directories, selected variables, download formats, and a conservative number of parallel workers.
Relationship to wcswatin
cds-downloader is independent from the wcswatin R package. It can prepare NetCDF inputs for workflows later handled by wcswatin, but neither tool requires the other: cds-downloader remains useful for any compatible ERA5-Land workflow.
License and data terms
The software is distributed under the MIT License. Data obtained from the CDS remain subject to the terms and licenses of their respective datasets.