Centre for Environmental Data Analysis
UK national data centre and HPC facility operating JASMIN and the CEDA Archive, providing data archival, high-performance computing, and AI-ready analysis infrastructure to NERC-funded environmental science researchers.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1994
- HeadquartersDidcot, United Kingdom
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Centre for Environmental Data Analysis does
CEDA is a UK national data centre and high-performance computing facility serving the environmental science research community. Originally established in 1994 as the British Atmospheric Data Centre (BADC) and rebranded as CEDA in 2001, it operates under the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), itself part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). CEDA's core infrastructure comprises the JASMIN data-intensive supercomputer and the CEDA Archive, which holds more than 25PB of atmospheric and Earth observation data and serves as the designated national archive for the UK's Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). CEDA's primary users are NERC-funded UK environmental science researchers across universities, institutes, and government agencies, with a community of more than 1,500 active users.
CEDA's product surface includes the JASMIN supercomputer (with LOTUS batch compute, ORCHID GPU partition, and high-memory nodes), the CEDA Archive, and the JASMIN Notebook Service for interactive analysis. The platform is built on open-source components—Rocky Linux 9 (post the August 2024 migration), Python-based notebook environments, and standard Earth observation data formats. The ORCHID GPU MIG partition, launched in March 2026, enables shared AI/ML workloads across multiple tenants, signaling a deliberate expansion into AI-ready infrastructure. The CEDA Archive hosts both long-tail atmospheric datasets and high-volume Earth observation holdings, with data deposited by NERC grant holders and made openly available to the research community.
CEDA is funded by UK government research grants through NERC/STFC/UKRI, with services made freely available to the UK environmental science community. Rather than a commercial revenue model, CEDA operates as public research infrastructure: recurring grant funding covers core operations, while project-specific contracts (such as the approximately £3M EO DataHub contracts awarded in April 2024) provide additional revenue tied to specific programmes. The net effect is a single-funder (UK government) revenue model with dispersed end-user consumption.
Centre for Environmental Data Analysis firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Centre for Environmental Data Analysis
- Legal name
- Centre for Environmental Data Analysis
- Website
- https://ceda.ac.uk
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1994
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- UK national data centre and HPC facility operating JASMIN and the CEDA Archive, providing data archival, high-performance computing, and AI-ready analysis infrastructure to NERC-funded environmental science researchers.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Centre for Environmental Data Analysis industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Research Computing Infrastructure
- NAICS
- Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (51821), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (5182)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370), Services-Computer Processing & Data Preparation (7374)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Government / Defense & High-Security Data Centers (HDABACAK)
Keywords
Where Centre for Environmental Data Analysis is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Didcot
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Centre for Environmental Data Analysis business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations, Supply Chain
Revenue model
- Government Research Funding: CEDA is funded by UKRI through NERC (Natural Environment Research Council) and STFC (Science and Technology Facilities Council). Services are provided freely to the UK environmental science community.
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels6 records
Marketing channels8 records
Centre for Environmental Data Analysis product offering
Product offeringCore offering
CEDA operates two core national research infrastructure facilities: the CEDA Archive, the UK national data centre for atmospheric and earth observation data holding 25PB+ of curated environmental datasets, and JASMIN, a globally unique data-intensive supercomputer for environmental science providing multi-petabyte fast storage co-located with high-performance computing facilities (~55,000 cores via the LOTUS cluster and a GPU partition for AI workflows). Supporting services include the JASMIN Notebook Service, CEDA Data Catalogue, EO DataHub, JASMIN Cloud Services, and the IPCC Data Distribution Centre.
Product overview
The Centre for Environmental Data Analysis (CEDA) operates as a unified platform-plus-services architecture, providing the environmental science community with integrated data centres, data analysis tools, and research infrastructure. The core platform consists of JASMIN, a globally unique data-intensive supercomputer for environmental science, paired with the CEDA Archive (national data centre for atmospheric and earth observation). Key service modules include: the LOTUS batch processing cluster (~55,000 cores) and ORCHID GPU cluster for compute; the JASMIN Notebook Service for interactive analysis; CEDA Data Catalogue for dataset discovery; and the EO DataHub for Earth Observation data access. Additional services include JASMIN Cloud, Group Workspaces, Object Storage, the IPCC Data Distribution Centre, UK Solar System Data Centre, and Metrics Dashboards. The portfolio is interconnected—JASMIN provides the compute infrastructure that processes data from the CEDA Archive, with all services accessible through unified authentication via the JASMIN Accounts Portal.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- JASMIN A globally unique data-intensive supercomputer for environmental science supporting the data analysis requirements of the UK and European climate and earth system modelling community, consisting of multi-Petabyte fast storage co-located with data analysis computing facilities and dedicated light paths to key facilities and institutes.
- CEDA Archive The national data centre for atmospheric and earth observation, part of NERC's Environmental Data Service. Holds data covering climate, composition, observations, numerical weather prediction, and various earth observation datasets including airborne and satellite data.
- LOTUS Batch Processing Cluster High-performance batch processing cluster for parallel computing tasks. Expanded to ~55,000 compute cores supporting a wide range of data-intensive analysis workflows for the environmental science community.
- ORCHID GPU Cluster GPU cluster for AI and machine learning workflows featuring Multi-Instance GPU (MIG) capability allowing GPUs to be partitioned into separate instances for multiple concurrent workloads.
- JASMIN Notebook Service Interactive computing environment providing Jupyter notebooks on JASMIN. Supports GPU notebooks, Jaspy, JasR, and Julia environments, with environments compatible across notebook service, sci machines, and LOTUS.
- CEDA Data Catalogue Comprehensive catalogue service for discovering environmental datasets held in the CEDA Archive, supporting DOIed datasets and providing search within catalogue records.
- EO DataHub Pathfinder service offering UK users step-change in Earth Observation data access and quality, serving commercial users, government, researchers, and students with a centralised platform for distributed public and commercial EO data.
- JASMIN Cloud Services Cloud computing service for JASMIN users providing virtual machine hosting and Cluster-as-a-Service (CaaS) capabilities, with new tenancy model on Rocky Linux 9.
- IPCC Data Distribution Centre Service providing climate, socio-economic, and environmental data from the past and scenarios projected into the future, operated for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
- UK Solar System Data Centre (UKSSDC) Co-funded by STFC and NERC, curates and provides access to archives of data from the upper atmosphere, ionosphere, and Earth's solar environment.
Quantifiable outcome
- LOTUS expansion triples compute capacity to ~55,000 cores
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Centre for Environmental Data Analysis
Customer profileNamed customers8 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Centre for Environmental Data Analysis technology and API
TechnologyAPI detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration3 records
Feature8 records
Centre for Environmental Data Analysis partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
14 partnerships are on record, tiered major, minor and core.
- Airbus Defence and SpacemajorAwarded £3M contract as part of EO DataHub to provide commercial satellite data access and expertise.
- Earth-imajorAwarded contract as part of EO DataHub for Earth observation data provision.
- PlanetmajorAwarded contract as part of EO DataHub for satellite imagery and data services.
- Telespazio UKmajorTelespazio UK won EO DataHub Platform Software Development and Operations contract. Subsidiary of Telespazio (Leonardo 67%, Thales 33%). Brings expertise in hosted data management and big data platform open-source standards.
- National Physical LaboratoryminorEO DataHub project partner contributing expertise in measurement and standards for Earth observation data quality.
- Met OfficeminorEO DataHub project partner providing weather and climate data expertise. Collaborates on atmospheric dispersion modelling projects.
- Satellite Applications CatapultminorEO DataHub project partner contributing expertise in satellite applications and innovation.
- UK Space AgencyminorEO DataHub project partner supporting UK space sector engagement and Earth observation capabilities.
- UKRI - Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)coreNERC commissions CEDA services through UKRI Digital Research Infrastructure funding. CEDA is the designated data centre for NERC's Environmental Data Service network covering all aspects of environmental science.
- UKRI - Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)coreSTFC hosts CEDA as a Division of RAL Space Department. STFC's Scientific Computing Department works with CEDA to architect and operate JASMIN infrastructure.
- National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS)coreNCAS partners with CEDA to provide JASMIN services on behalf of NERC. Joint training courses delivered, early career symposiums co-hosted.
- National Centre for Earth Observation (NCEO)coreNCEO leads the EO DataHub project with CEDA providing core data infrastructure. CEDA facilitates simplified access to Earth observation data through EO DataHub.
- European Space Agency (ESA)minorRory Jenns worked with ESA on moving CEDA's Data Relay Hub to new architecture for reliability and extensibility.
- National Oceanography CentreminorCollaborates with CEDA/JASMIN to deliver Introduction to High-Performance Computing training courses.
Scale indicators9 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Centre for Environmental Data Analysis competitors and assessment
Company assessmentOthers
- UKRI / STFC (parent): UK Research and Innovation umbrella and CEDA's parent via STFC. Relevant as the commissioning and funding authority for CEDA services, governing its mandate, capital allocation, and digital research infrastructure strategy.
Direct peers
- DKRZ (German Climate Computing Centre): Germany's national climate computing centre, providing supercomputing and data management for climate and earth system research. Direct peer to CEDA's JASMIN/CEDA Archive, serving the same European climate HPC community (joint EERIE hackathon partner).
- NCAR (National Center for Atmospheric Research): US federally funded research centre providing HPC, data services, and community models for atmospheric and geoscience research. Closest US counterpart to CEDA in mandate and infrastructure scope, serving a national atmospheric science community with curated data archives.
- EUMETSAT: European intergovernmental satellite agency operating weather and climate Earth observation satellites, providing open meteorological data to member states. Comparable to CEDA as a national/regional data centre for atmospheric and EO data with a long-term preservation mandate.
- ECMWF (European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts): Intergovernmental organisation producing global numerical weather predictions and operating one of the largest supercomputer complexes for atmospheric data. Comparable to CEDA in atmospheric data archival, climate modelling, and provision of HPC for the European research community.
- Met Office Hadley Centre: UK climate modelling and predictions centre, an EO DataHub project partner and customer of CEDA/JASMIN. Operates climate data archives and models that overlap with CEDA's served datasets, with strong collaboration on atmospheric dispersion and PRIMAVERA multi-model simulations.
- NCEO (National Centre for Earth Observation): UK NERC-funded centre leading the EO DataHub with CEDA as core data infrastructure partner. Direct peer in UK Earth observation data analytics and a strategic partner that supplies CEDA with satellite data workflows and user community.
- CSCS (Swiss National Supercomputing Centre): Swiss national HPC facility serving academic and climate research communities. Comparable in operating model as a government-funded national supercomputing centre providing compute and data infrastructure to research users, with similar scale and governance structure.
Broad incumbents
- PNNL (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory) - Atmospheric Data Section: US Department of Energy national laboratory with significant atmospheric and climate data capabilities and HPC infrastructure. Comparable in operating scale and federal mandate, though with a broader scientific remit than CEDA's environmental focus.
Regional players
- BSC (Barcelona Supercomputing Center): Spanish national supercomputing centre serving European and Spanish research communities, including climate and earth system modelling. Comparable in operating model as a national HPC provider for research, serving a different geography with overlapping user communities.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Centre for Environmental Data Analysis social profiles
Digital presenceCentre for Environmental Data Analysis financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Centre for Environmental Data Analysis leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Centre for Environmental Data Analysis funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
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Centre for Environmental Data Analysis M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
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Frequently asked questions about Centre for Environmental Data Analysis
What does Centre for Environmental Data Analysis do?
CEDA operates two core national research infrastructure facilities: the CEDA Archive, the UK national data centre for atmospheric and earth observation data holding 25PB+ of curated environmental datasets, and JASMIN, a globally unique data-intensive supercomputer for environmental science providing multi-petabyte fast storage co-located with high-performance computing facilities (~55,000 cores via the LOTUS cluster and a GPU partition for AI workflows). Supporting services include the JASMIN Notebook Service, CEDA Data Catalogue, EO DataHub, JASMIN Cloud Services, and the IPCC Data Distribution Centre.
Is Centre for Environmental Data Analysis a public or private company?
Centre for Environmental Data Analysis is a private company. It is classified as state government owned and is currently operating.
When was Centre for Environmental Data Analysis founded?
Centre for Environmental Data Analysis was founded in 1994. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Centre for Environmental Data Analysis based?
Centre for Environmental Data Analysis is headquartered in Didcot, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Centre for Environmental Data Analysis make money?
One revenue line is on record: government Research Funding.
Who are Centre for Environmental Data Analysis's main competitors?
UKRI / STFC (parent) is listed as an others. Direct peers are DKRZ (German Climate Computing Centre), NCAR (National Center for Atmospheric Research), EUMETSAT, ECMWF (European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts), Met Office Hadley Centre, NCEO (National Centre for Earth Observation) and CSCS (Swiss National Supercomputing Centre). PNNL (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory) - Atmospheric Data Section is listed as a broad incumbent. BSC (Barcelona Supercomputing Center) is listed as a regional player.
Does Centre for Environmental Data Analysis have an API?
No public API is recorded for Centre for Environmental Data Analysis.
What industry is Centre for Environmental Data Analysis in?
Centre for Environmental Data Analysis's product category is Research Computing Infrastructure. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDABACAK, Government / Defense & High-Security Data Centers. Its NAICS code is 51821 and its SIC code is 7370.