Weather to run: Building climate data infrastructure for science and society
Date
2026-01-14
Authors
Hiebert, James
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium (PCIC)
Abstract
British Columbia’s climate varies dramatically over short distances, from coastal rainforests to inland fjords and glaciated alpine terrain. Capturing that variability requires more than static datasets: it demands continuous, high-resolution climate monitoring supported by robust data infrastructure. This talk describes the Provincial Climate Data Set (PCDS)–a product of PCIC and BC’s Climate Related Monitoring Program–as a living, relational database designed to ingest near-real-time observations from many official and operational sources, manage evolving metadata, and track revisions to observations and metadata over time.
Using a simple and relatable use case—the percentage of “runnable” days per year defined by temperature and precipitation thresholds–this talk demonstrates how structured, provenance-aware climate data enable reproducible analysis across stations, regions, and decades. The example illustrates why relational data models, change tracking, and sustained technical investment are essential for trustworthy climate services. While the case study is grounded in everyday experience, the underlying message is serious: decisions affecting safety, infrastructure, and livelihoods rely on climate data that can accommodate variability, uncertainty, and change.
Description
Keywords
#video recording, Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium (PCIC)