ERA5 Download

Overview

This skill enables downloading ERA5 reanalysis data from the Copernicus Climate Data Store (CDS) using the cdsapi Python package. ERA5 is a global atmospheric reanalysis dataset providing hourly estimates of atmospheric, land, and ocean climate variables from 1940 to present.

Prerequisites

Before downloading ERA5 data, ensure:

1. cdsapi is installed: Add via uv add cdsapi or pip install cdsapi
2. CDS credentials configured: Either:
   • Configuration file ~/.cdsapirc with:

     url: https://cds.climate.copernicus.eu/api
     key: <YOUR-PERSONAL-ACCESS-TOKEN>
     

   • Or environment variable: COPERNICUS_API_KEY=<token>
3. License accepted: User must accept dataset Terms of Use at https://cds.climate.copernicus.eu/datasets/reanalysis-era5-single-levels