Online course: Understanding climate data

23 February - 30 April 2026

Online, self-paced, 18-20 hours

Overview

Do you want to learn to use climate data and information in your work with confidence, even though you don't have a background in climate data science? Then this course is for you!

Climate change is no longer a distant concern — it is shaping the decisions we make today. Rising temperatures, shifting rainfall, sea level rise, and more frequent extreme events affect water management, infrastructure, health, food systems, and economies worldwide.

So whether you are a researcher, advisor, policymaker, extension worker or educator - whether you work in finance, insurance, urban planning, renewable energy, or any other sector, it is likely that climate change is a factor you have to take into account.

The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) provides reliable, consistent and authoritative information about climate change that is freely accessible - and with its user-friendly tools and services, C3S has made quality climate data easy to use.

To help professionals around the world find, interpret and confidently use C3S climate data and information in their work, C3S is launching 3 online short courses in 2026 that provide learners with the necessary knowledge and skills to use climate data.

Using climate data starts with understanding what climate data are, how they are produced, what different types of climate data are available to you, what these can and cannot be used for, and where you can find the data you need.

Understanding climate data doesn’t mean having to become a climate scientist, but you do need to understand the basics to make the right choices for your needs.

Join our first online short course to understand the basics of climate data and gain the confidence to find, interpret, and use the right information in your own work.

Register here! *

* To register for the course you will need a FREE ECMWF account. If you do not already have one, please create one here.

The course is the first in a sequence of 3 online courses on climate data offered by C3S. The courses build upon each other. With the foundational knowledge you gain in this first course, you will get the necessary building blocks for advancing and deepening your knowledge and skills in the subsequent courses.

Objectives of the training

This course introduces the foundations of climate data: what it is, how it is collected, processed, and made available by C3S. It enables you to make sense of the climate data types provided by C3S, understand their scope of use and limitations. It provides an overview of the C3S Climate Data Store (CDS) and other tools and services offered by C3S. Climate data types covered in this course include observations, reanalysis, seasonal predictions, and climate projections, with derived indicators covered in the next MOOC in the series.

After this course you will be able to:

objectives of the MOOC

By the end of this course, you will be able to navigate the world of climate data and apply it confidently in your field.

Target audience

This course is for anyone who needs or wants to (better) understand climate data but does not have necessary knowledge yet to make sense of different climate data types: what they can and cannot be used for, who uses these data types, and where you may find the climate data that fits your needs.

Example learners for whom this course was created:

No expertise in the domain of climate data is needed to follow this course.

Course structure and content

The course is fully online and self-paced, meaning that you may go through the content in your own time. Study load for the course amounts to a total of approximately 18-20 study hours, depending on your prior experience and familiarity with the subject matter. The course is open for the limited duration of 8 weeks.

It consists of six modules, with the first covering the foundations of climate data and introducing the five climate data types that will be explored in the subsequent modules: observations, models, reanalysis, predictions, and projections.

Each module has a variety of learning activities and real-life examples that allow you to get a solid understanding of the basics of climate data and enable you to explore the C3S data sets. In each module you will meet a professional with a climate data need for a particular purpose. These cases illustrate the use of climate data in practice. Other learning content includes videos, images, text, podcasts, quizzes and discussion questions.

Course contributors

This course was created by ECMWF through C3S and contracted to Wageningen University & Research (WUR). Input to the course was also provided by experts from academia, national meteorological services and private industry.

Bio: Dick Dee is the founder of Planet-A, a consultancy company specializing in climate data and climate services. Dick has enjoyed a long career in academia, research labs and operational services. He is best known for his work on data assimilation and climate reanalysis, and his contributions to the Copernicus Climate Change Service. He lives and works in Hudson, New York.

Bio: Paolo Ruggieri is Assistant Professor at the Department of Physics and Astronomy ‘Augusto Righi’ of the University of Bologna and an ECMWF expert trainer. He teaches courses on climate dynamics, climate modelling and climate predictions. He is author or co-author of more than 40 peer-reviewed articles in and an undergraduate book on Fluid dynamics. He has experience in the area of climate predictions, climate services and climate change adaptation. He has been involved in the EU-funded projects OPERANDUM, TRIGGER, Blue-Action, EUCP, MEDSCOPE, CLIMAX-PO, LAND4CLIMATE and ALBATROSS and is principal investigator of the PRIN project TRANSLATE.

Bio: Franco Molteni is an expert in climate dynamics and predictability. He has been Head of the Seasonal Forecast and the Ensemble Prediction sections at ECMWF, and co-Head of the Earth System Physics section at the International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Trieste. Currently, he is a consultant for ItaliaMeteo (the Italian national Agency for Meteorology and Climatology, based in Bologna) with a focus on long-range predictions, and is contributing to the training activities of C3S.

Bio: Maria del Pozo is a lecturer in climate information services. Her work is at the interface of climate science, service delivery, and education. Her main research interests include how climate services are developed, how training and capacity building can make them more actionable and user-centric, and how to tailor learning frameworks for different user groups (scientists, advisors, decision-makers). By designing training that meets users where they are — different backgrounds, different needs — Maria’s work helps ensure climate services are not just technically sound, but usable and impactful.

Bio: Rutger Dankers is an expert in climate impact assessment and a researcher in climate impacts, risk and climate services at Wageningen Environmental Research. He has extensive experience in the use of climate data and information, including data from C3S. Rutger is currently leading a contract looking into the needs of users for Copernicus climate data, and has previously been a master trainer in C3S training events and workshops.

Bio: Samuel Sutanto is Assistant Professor Compound Hydrological Extremes and Climate Services in the Water Systems and Global Change group of Wageningen University, The Netherlands. He has worked on the development of natural hazard early warning systems worldwide. He specializes in droughts forecasting including their impacts as well as the compound and cascading hazards, i.e., floods, droughts, heatwaves, and fires. He has ample experience in harnessing hydroclimatic data from C3S where he also uses data for teaching and students’ theses.

Bio: Ronald Hutjes is Associate Professor Landuse Climate Interactions in the Water Systems and Global Change group of Wageningen University, The Netherlands. He is engaged in fundamental and applied research, and teaching on land use interactions with climate change and climate variability, including water cycle processes and greenhouse gas exchanges. Applications in climate change impact and adaptation, climate services and mitigation studies on Monitoring Reporting and Verification of land use (change) and forestry.

Bio: Spyros Paparrizos is Assistant Professor Water and Climate Information Services in the Water Systems and Global Change group of Wageningen University, The Netherlands. He is a hydro-climatologist working on Water and Climate Information Services (WCIS) that help communities and decision-makers adapt to climate challenges. He is involved in several international projects where he utilizes Copernicus datasets to develop practical, user-focused climate and water services. His work aims to translate scientific data into actionable knowledge that supports resilience and sustainable development.

Bio: Luleka is a Research Assistant with the Climate Resilience team at Wageningen Environmental Research (WENR). She contributes to projects on climate change adaptation, crop modelling, and sustainable farming systems, focusing on how climate impacts agriculture and rural livelihoods. Luleka has experience in using Copernicus datasets particularly for climate analysis, and modelling approaches to assess risks and support evidence-based decision-making.

Bio: Mundie Salm is working as an Instructional Designer for the Teaching & Learning Centre (TLC) at Wageningen University and Research. Following degrees in International Development (BSc) and Ecological Agriculture (MSc), her work took a turn towards curriculum development in the agricultural and environmental science domains. She has 20 years’ experience working on education design and development for mostly secondary and post-secondary levels. The last 10 years, her focus has been on education for professionals, as part of lifelong learning. This includes face-to-face training, blended and online course formats, including MOOCs.

Bio: Natalia Gómez Solano is a Junior Researcher in the Water Systems & Global Change group at Wageningen University, The Netherlands. Her work focuses on integrating user needs and requirements into climate information services, and she contributes to multiple C3S contracts. With experience in climate adaptation, climate risk management, and stakeholder engagement, Natalia looks to contribute to the co-design of actionable and user-centered services that help to make climate-resilient, informed decisions.

Bio: As researcher and advisor in the domain of Food System Governance and Resilience at Wageningen Social and Economic Research, Tossa focusses on the role of learning in systems transformation. Tossa believes in the power of life-long learning in building capacities for sustainable development and transformative action, with innovations in online education playing a crucial role in democratizing knowledge and learning and empowering people around the world. Tossa has experience in supporting and coordinating the development online and blended learning trajectories for various audiences.

Bio: Functional Management of Brightspace and edX platform at Wageningen University and Research for thousands of students, teachers and course coordinators. Wageningen University and Research welcomes learners from around the world. We are dedicated to delivering outstanding continuing education within the knowledge domain of ‘healthy food and living environment’. With innovative programmes, from MBAs to online courses, our professors translate their cutting-edge research into actionable knowledge and skills. Realise your continuous professional development and personal goals. Join us and ‘explore the potential of nature to improve the quality of life’.