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Download and process WorldClim Climate Data (Historical & Future)

Source: R/worldclim.R
worldclim.Rd

This function downloads, processes, and extracts variables from the WorldClim climate dataset. Each variable corresponds to a global raster representing climate variables at approximately 1-km resolution. It supports both Historical (v2.1, 1970-2000) and Future (CMIP6) data.

Usage

worldclim(
  x,
  vars,
  years = NULL,
  months = NULL,
  gcm = NULL,
  rcp = NULL,
  ssp = NULL,
  ...
)

Arguments

x

The output from `par_set()` defining the area or locations for extraction, the reference system, and the buffer. Leave this empty and use `par_set()` to define parameters for download.

vars

Character vector of one or more variables to download and process.

years

Character vector of years or periods. For Historical: use "1970-2000" or "historical". For Future: use "2021-2040", "2041-2060", "2061-2080", "2081-2100".

months

Numeric vector (1-12) specifying which months to download. Only applies to monthly historical variables. Ignored for bioclimatic variables, elevation, or future data.

gcm

Character vector of General Circulation Models (for Future data).

rcp

Numeric or character vector of Representative Concentration Pathways, given as the radiative-forcing level (e.g., 2.6, 4.5, 7.0, 8.5). Combined with ssp to build the CMIP6 scenario code (e.g., ssp = 5 and rcp = 8.5 download the ssp585 scenario). If NULL, ssp is assumed to already encode the full scenario (e.g., "585").

ssp

Numeric or character vector of Shared Socioeconomic Pathway families (e.g., 1, 2, 5). Combined with rcp as described above. A complete code such as "585" may also be supplied directly (with rcp = NULL).

...

Additional arguments (currently unused).

Value

If `par_set()` contained a raster/polygon/points with buffer: a `SpatRaster` stack of processed variables. If `par_set()` contained spatial points or data.frame of points without buffer: a `data.frame` of x, y, and extracted values.

Details

Available variables (working synonyms in parentheses):

Temperature

  • "tmin" ("min temp")

  • "tmax" ("max temp")

  • "tavg" ("average temp")

Precipitation

  • "prec" ("precipitation", "pr")

Physical

  • "srad" ("solar radiation")

  • "wind" ("wind speed")

  • "vapr" ("water vapor")

  • "elev" ("elevation")

Bioclimatic

  • "bio" (all 19 bioclimatic variables), or specific e.g., "bio1", "bio12"

Citation:
Fick SE, Hijmans RJ (2017). "WorldClim 2: new 1-km spatial resolution climate surfaces for global land areas." International Journal of Climatology 37: 4302-4315. https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.5086

Examples

# \donttest{
processed <- par_set(country = "Italy", crs = 3035) %>% 
  worldclim(vars = c("tmin", "bio1"), years = "1970-2000")
  # }