Weather, climate and environment data

Weather, climate and environmental data describes the physical world that businesses operate in: what the weather was, what it will be, how exposed an asset is to floods or heat, how much carbon a company emits and how land is used. Buyers range from insurers, energy traders and retailers to asset managers, lenders and sustainability teams preparing regulatory disclosures.

What the sub-categories cover

• Weather data: historical observations, reanalysis and forecasts for any location, delivered as time series or gridded fields.
• Climate risk data: forward-looking physical risk scores for hazards such as flood, wildfire, heat and windstorm under climate scenarios.
• Air quality data: pollutant concentrations and indices from monitoring stations, satellites and models.
• Emissions data: reported and estimated greenhouse gas emissions for companies, facilities and products.
• ESG data: environmental, social and governance scores, metrics and controversy records for issuers.
• Agriculture data: crop yields, planted area, soil, land use and farm-level indicators.

How to choose

Start from the decision you need to make. Operational decisions such as staffing a store or scheduling a power plant need hourly weather and short-range forecasts through an API. Long-horizon decisions such as underwriting a 30-year mortgage need climate scenarios and hazard models. Disclosure work needs emissions and ESG data with clear lineage back to company reports.

Most providers sell annual licences or tiered API plans. Price rises with spatial resolution, depth of history, the number of locations or issuers covered and whether forecasts or scenarios are included.

Before you buy

• Ask whether each value is observed, modelled or estimated, and how it is flagged.
• Check spatial and temporal resolution against your use case.
• Request methodology documents and version histories.
• Confirm licence terms for client reporting and redistribution.