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Changelog

Source: NEWS.md

chirps 2.0.0 (2026-11-03)

chirps 2.0.0 reads the Climate Hazards Center (CHC) data directly from the CHC server, adds CHIRPS v3 and CHIRTS-ERA5, and returns rasters or time series ready for climate indices with the climatrends package. It also corrects errors found in a review of the package, so some returned values change. Read the BUG FIXES and BREAKING CHANGES sections before you update code written for chirps 1.1.

NEW DATASETS AND FUNCTIONS

  • CHIRPS v3 is the default for get_chirps() and get_chirps_raw() (version = "3.0"), with the daily products type = "rnl" (ERA5-based, default) and type = "sat" (IMERG-based). It covers 60°S to 60°N. CHIRPS v2 remains available with version = "2.0" until CHC retires it after the December 2026 release, and a notice says so once per session.

  • get_chirps_raw() and get_chirts_raw() return the CHC files as terra::SpatRaster objects with one layer per day and time metadata, for custom workflows with crop(), extract() and mask().

  • get_chirts() and get_chirts_raw() read CHIRTS-daily (default, 1983 to 2016, Tmax, Tmin, RHum and HeatIndex) or CHIRTS-ERA5 with product = "CHIRTS-ERA5" (1980 to near present, Tmax and Tmin). One function covers each variable, get_chirps_raw() for rainfall and get_chirts_raw() for temperature.

  • Each request states what it downloads, for example “Downloading daily rainfall (mm) from CHIRPS v3.0 (rnl) on the CHC server, 2017-12-15 to 2017-12-31 (17 days).” This makes it clear whether get_chirps() (rainfall) or get_chirts() (temperature) was called. Set options(chirps.quiet = TRUE) to hide these messages.

CHC FIRST, CLIMATRENDS FOR INDICES

  • The CHC server is the default and recommended source in the documentation, README, vignette and examples. server = "ClimateSERV" serves CHIRPS v2 only and is kept for backward compatibility. It shows a notice once per session, and ClimateSERV support for CHIRPS may be removed in a future release. get_esi() and get_imerg() still use ClimateSERV and will be deprecated in a future release, with a notice once per session.

  • Matrices returned with as.matrix = TRUE have one column per day named “YYYY-MM-DD”, for every input and server. This is the input of climatrends::rainfall(), climatrends::temperature() and climatrends::GDD(), and the documentation and vignette show how to pass the data.

  • precip_indices() is documented as a simple example and shows a notice once per session that points to climatrends::rainfall().

CHC DATA PATHS

The Climate Hazards Center moved its data to new paths in late 2026, so downloads from the CHC server failed. Thanks to Will Turner (CHC) for reporting the new paths.

  • CHIRPS v2 files are now read from products/CHIRPS/v2.0, and CHIRTS-daily files from products/CHIRTS/daily/v1.0. Documentation links point to the new README files.

  • Requests check the first and last file before reading the rest, and stop with a clear error when a file is missing. CHC blocks addresses that request many missing files, which is the most likely cause of the 403 errors in issue #56.

  • When the CHC server is busy (HTTP 429 or 5xx), the file check retries with growing pauses before it stops with a clear error. A rate limit while reading the files gives the same clear error instead of a GDAL message.

  • Tests that read from CHC run on one CI job only, to keep the load on the CHC server low.

  • Requests to CHC and ClimateSERV send a user agent that names the package and a contact address.

  • A network test requests one known file from each CHC path, so a future move is caught by the checks.

MORE INPUT TYPES

  • dates accepts a single date, for one day of data, in every function (#32, #36), and a Date vector as well as a character vector. A clear error says when dates is not a vector of dates, for example when an object is passed as the first argument of get_chirps_raw(), which takes no object (#58).

  • With sf, sfc, SpatVector or geojson polygons, each day is summarised over the cells that touch each polygon (#37). The average is the default, and operation takes the ClimateSERV codes (0 max, 1 min, 2 median, 4 sum, 5 average). lon and lat give the centroid of each polygon. Projected input is transformed to WGS84, and geometries without a CRS are read as longitude and latitude.

  • get_chirps() accepts sfc objects such as the tapajos data, and get_chirts() accepts sf and sfc points and polygons.

  • as.raster = TRUE with a data frame of points returns the raster cropped to the points. It failed before.

ISSUES ADDRESSED IN THIS RELEASE

  • GDAL now reads the CHC files without listing the remote folder or looking for side files, and retries failed reads. This cuts the number of requests per file and avoids requests for files that do not exist (#51, #56).

  • A clearer error when ClimateSERV returns no values, which points to server = "CHC" (#48). The help of get_chirps() explains why ClimateSERV and CHC values differ (#49).

BREAKING CHANGES

  • The default CHIRPS version is v3. Use version = "2.0" for the values of chirps 1.1.

  • as.matrix = TRUE columns are named “YYYY-MM-DD”. They were layer names or “chirps-v2.0.YYYY.MM.DD” before.

  • SpatVector polygons with as.raster = FALSE return one row per polygon and day. They returned one row per cell before.

  • The default server is "CHC", as documented.

BUG FIXES

  • get_chirps() and get_chirts() paired values with the wrong dates when more than one point was requested with an sf, geojson or SpatVector input (and, for get_chirts(), also with a data frame). Values are now matched to the right point and date.

  • get_chirts() returned CHIRPS rainfall instead of temperature for SpatRaster and SpatExtent inputs. Both now return CHIRTS data.

  • get_chirps() ignored as.matrix for SpatRaster inputs, and had two conflicting SpatExtent methods. Both raster inputs now crop to their extent.

  • get_chirps(..., version = "3.0") failed with “formal argument matched by multiple actual arguments”. version, type and resolution now reach get_chirps_raw().

  • get_chirps() with sf polygons used only the first polygon. Each polygon now gets its own values.

  • get_chirps() with server = "ClimateSERV" failed to match coordinates when the input had row names other than 1 to n. For both servers, the id column is now the position of the row in the input, not its row name.

  • get_chirps() with sf input now rejects MULTIPOINT geometries, which were silently misaligned, and accepts MULTIPOLYGON.

  • In precip_indices(), SDII counted rain on days under 1 mm in the total, and counted missing days as wet days. Rtotal summed rain on all days instead of wet days, as documented. Both now use wet days only (rain >= 1 mm).

  • precip_indices() failed when intervals was shorter than 4 days, and now gives a clear error when intervals is missing or longer than the series.

  • Clearer errors for coordinates outside the area a product covers, and for CHIRTS-daily dates outside 1983 to 2016, which point to CHIRTS-ERA5.

  • Polygons without data return NA for every operation.

OTHER CHANGES

  • as.matrix = TRUE with the CHC server returns a matrix, as documented, instead of a data frame.

  • ClimateSERV requests wait one second between progress checks instead of polling continuously.

  • Tests now run in R CMD check. Tests that download data are skipped on CRAN and offline, and new offline tests check how values are paired with points and dates.

  • The package description, README and vignette cover the new datasets, with citation guidance for CHIRPS v3, CHIRTS-daily and CHIRTS-ERA5.

  • AGENTS.md gives AI agents the main tasks, the matching functions and the pitfalls of the package.

chirps 1.1 (2025-11-24)

CRAN release: 2025-11-24

  • Housekeeping version to refresh libraries and formats as part of CRAN guidelines updates.

chirps 0.1.4.001 (2022-01-15)

BUG FIXES

chirps 0.1.4.001 (2022-01-15)

ENHANCEMENTS

chirps 0.1.4 (2022-01-13)

CRAN release: 2022-01-13

ENHANCEMENTS

CHANGES IN BEHAVIOUR

  • New argument server = is added to indicate from which server the function should send the request, either ‘CHC’ or ‘ClimateSERV’. Please use the argument server = "ClimateSERV" for backward compatibility with previous versions of the package.
  • API requests to ClimateSERV use package httr instead of curl
  • Argument operation = in get_chirps() is only required when server = "ClimateSERV"
  • Updates function as.geojson() to matches with the new requirements for ClimateSERV

chirps 0.1.3 (2021-07-10)

  • GitHub version with ongoing updates and changes in behaviour.

chirps 0.1.2 (2020-07-12)

CRAN release: 2020-07-13

  • Add citation info for JOSS paper
  • Fix vignette build
  • A S3 method as.geojson() is added to replace the functions data.frame_to_geojson() and sf_to_geojson()

chirps 0.1.0 (2020-07-01)

CRAN release: 2020-07-03

  • rOpenSci release version

ENHANCEMENTS

chirps 0.0.8 (2020-05-22)

CHANGES IN BEHAVIOUR

  • Remove Imports of pkg ‘tibble’ which was basically to provide a “cool” print method.
  • A new print() method is added for objects that inherits the class ‘chirps_df’
  • Pkg ‘methods’ was moved from Imports to Depends
  • Comments/suggestions given by Jake Zwart in rOpenSci pkg review are added

chirps 0.0.6 (2020-01-29)

ENHANCEMENTS

  • Comments/suggestions given by Claudia Vitolo in rOpenSci pkg review are added
  • dataframe_to_geojson(), sf_to_geojson() are added as exported functions avoiding chirps:::
  • documentation for tapajos is given avoiding chirps:::

chirps 0.0.5 (2020-01-09)

ENHANCEMENTS

  • Fix comments given by good practice goodpractice::gp(). Avoid long code lines, it is bad for readability. Avoid 1:length(…), 1:nrow(…), 1:ncol(…), 1:NROW(…) and 1:NCOL(…) expressions. Not import packages as a whole, as this can cause name clashes between the imported packages.

chirps 0.0.4 (2020-01-03)

NEW FEATURES

  • S3 methods for objects of class “geojson” in get_chirps() and get_esi()

  • Package vignette

  • Prepare for submission to ropensci

ENHANCEMENTS

  • Validations in internal functions to transform ‘sf’ into geojson

  • Add properties features to geojson output in get_chirps() and get_esi() via .add_geojson_properties()

chirps 0.0.3 (2019-12-31)

NEW FEATURES

  • get_esi is added to retrieve Evaporative Stress Index with S3 methods for “data.frame” and “sf”

  • S3 methods for objects of class “data.frame” and “sf” in get_chirps

CHANGES IN BEHAVIOUR

  • .get_request_progress and a while condition are added to check the progress of large requests and prevent the function to fail.

  • .GET is added as a general function to retrieve other datasets from ClimateSERV

  • improvements in internal functions documentation

chirps 0.0.2 (2019-12-05)

NEW FEATURES

  • Calculate precipitation indices with precip_indices over a time span

chirps 0.0.1 (2019-12-03)

  • GitHub-only release of prototype package.