Climate Data Management Systems: Status of implementation in developing countries

In the mid-1980s, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) began a major initiative, the CLICOM (CLImate COMputing) project, to support the storage and management of climatological data, particularly in developing countries. The CLICOM project was characterised by a common software shared by almost 100 countries. In 2010 the picture has completely changed. It is no longer one but several Climate Data Management Systems (CDMSs) that are now available to National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs). New CDMSs fall into a number of categories whose technical solutions, functions and commercial policies differ. We discuss the methods used to distribute these CDMSs as well as their worldwide installation, and we propose a way to assess their implementation. © Inter-Research 2011.