Atmosphere

Atmospheric variables include temperature, precipitation, wind, pressure, clouds, greenhouse gases, and much more. Overview pages summarize and compare selected datasets of a given variable.

To find a specific dataset or variable, jump to the search box below or click your desired variable from among the blue sub-category buttons. Note that the classification of datasets by variable is approximate, especially for large, multi-variable datasets like reanalyses.

To see only the datasets accompanied by in-depth commentary, select the "Datasets with guidance" button when using the search box.

Climate datasets

Has expert guidance
PRISM High-Resolution Spatial Climate Data for the United States: Max/min temp, dewpoint, precipitation PRISM High-Resolution Spatial Climate Data for the United States: Max/min temp, dewpoint, precipitation

  • Years of Record

  • 1895-01 to 2023-04

PRISM is a set of monthly, yearly, and single-event gridded data products of mean temperature and precipitation, max/min temperatures, and dewpoints, primarily for the…

Main variables and Earth System components

Atmosphere Dew Point Temperature Maximum Air Temperature Minimum Air Temperature Precipitation
Equivalent Temperature warming vs. temperature warming Equivalent Temperature: HadISDH.land and ERA5

  • Years of Record

  • 1973-01 to 2024-01

Equivalent temperature is a measure of heat in the atmosphere that accounts for the latent heat stored in water vapor in addition to sensible heat as measured by…

Main variables and Earth System components

Atmosphere Air Temperature Specific Humidity
UK Met Office; contributed by Colin Raymond HadISD: Sub-daily, non-interpolated weather station data

  • Years of Record

  • 1931-01 to 2023-03

HadISD ("Hadley Centre Integrated Surface Database") is a compendium of subdaily weather-station data developed by the UK Met Office that is based on NOAA NCEI's Integrated…

Main variables and Earth System components

Atmosphere Air Temperature at 2m Dew Point Temperature Precipitation Sea Level Pressure Storm data Wind

    • Timestep

    • Sub-daily

    • Collections

    • N/A
HadISDH Long Term Trends in Relative Humidity (1973-2023) Global near-surface humidity data: HadISDH

  • Years of Record

  • 1973-01 to 2023-12

HadISDH (Met Office Hadley Centre International Surface Dataset of Humidity) is a gridded 5°x5° monthly mean product beginning in January 1973, and updated annually. It…

Main variables and Earth System components

Atmosphere Air Temperature at 2m Relative Humidity Specific Humidity
Figure 2: Map of the locations for all available IGRA v2.2 stations. Integrated Global Radiosonde Archive (IGRA)

  • Years of Record

  • 1905-01 to 2023-09

The largest publicly available collection of quality-controlled, globally-distributed, historical radiosonde and pilot balloon observations is the Integrated Global…

Main variables and Earth System components

Atmosphere Dew Point Temperature Geopotential Height Multiple variables Relative Humidity Wind

    • Timestep

    • Sub-daily

    • Collections

    • N/A
Extended Edited Synoptic Cloud Reports Archive (EECRA) from Ships and Land Stations Over the Globe Extended Edited Synoptic Cloud Reports Archive (EECRA) from Ships and Land Stations Over the Globe

  • Years of Record

  • 1952-01 to 2008-12

"The Extended Edited Synoptic Cloud Reports Archive makes use of routine synoptic observations made by humans on ships over the ocean and at weather stations over land.…

Main variables and Earth System components

Atmosphere Cloud Properties

    • Timestep

    • Sub-daily

    • Collections

    • N/A