Climate Variability
Diagnostics Package (CVDP)
The Climate Variability Diagnostics Package (CVDP) developed by NCAR's Climate Analysis Section is an analysis tool that documents the major modes of climate variability in models and observations, including ENSO, Pacific Decadal Oscillation, Atlantic Multi-decadal Oscillation, Northern and Southern Annular Modes, North Atlantic Oscillation, Pacific North and South American teleconnection patterns. Time series, spatial patterns and power spectra are displayed graphically via webpages and saved as NetCDF files for later use. The package also computes climatological fields, standard deviation and trend maps; documentation is provided for all calculations. The CVDP can be run on any set of model simulations (as long as the files meet CMIP5 or CMIP6 output metadata requirements), allowing inter-model comparisons. Observational data sets and analysis periods are specified by the user. The CVDP Data Repository contains CVDP output for most CMIP3 and CMIP5 model simulations. A few examples are linked below, including those from the 40-member CESM1 Large Ensemble Project.
- CMIP6 Historical/SSP585 Run Intercomparison 1900-2100
- CSM - CCSM - CESM Control Run Intercomparison
- CESM1 Large Ensemble Intercomparison 1920-2018
To download the CVDP software package please refer to the Code page. v5.1.1 of the CVDP is part of the ESMValTool, a community diagnostic and performance metrics tool for routine evaluation of Earth System models in CMIP.
When presenting results from the CVDP in either oral or written form, please cite:
CVDP collaborators: Adam Phillips, Clara Deser, John Fasullo, Steve Yeager, Dennis Shea, Rick Brownrigg, Chris Brierley (UCL), Toby Ault (Cornell), Laurent Terray (CERFACS), as well as other members of NCAR's Climate Analysis Section.
For more information on observational datasets and climate indices, see the Climate Data Guide.