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
AIRS and AMSU: Trace Gases (CO2, CO, CH4, O3...); Level 3 AIRS and AMSU: Trace Gases (CO2, CO, CH4, O3...); Level 3

  • Years of record

  • N/A

AIRS provides satellite retrieval of mid-tropospheric carbon dioxide even under cloudy conditions, without the use of a priori information from models. AIRS retrievals use…

Main variables and Earth System components

Atmosphere CO Ozone: Tropospheric Biosphere CH4-Methane CO CO2

  • Experts contributing reviews

  • N/A
Tropical Moored Buoy System: TAO, TRITON, PIRATA, RAMA (TOGA) Tropical Moored Buoy System: TAO, TRITON, PIRATA, RAMA (TOGA)

  • Years of record

  • to

The Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere program (TOGA) is a component of the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) aimed specifically at the prediction of climate phenomena…

Main variables and Earth System components

Atmosphere Air Temperature Precipitation Radiation Relative Humidity Sea Level Pressure Wind Ocean Absolute Dynamic Topography (ADT) Ocean Heat Content SST - sea surface temperature Salinity Sub Surface Salinity Sub Surface Temperature u, v current components

    • Timestep

    • Sub-daily, Daily, Monthly, Weekly

    • Collections

    • N/A

  • Experts contributing reviews

  • N/A
CLARA-A1: Cloud properties, surface albedo and surface radiation products based on AVHRR CLARA-A1: Cloud properties, surface albedo and surface radiation products based on AVHRR

  • Years of record

  • to

"CLARA-A1 (CLoud, Albedo and RAdiation dataset, AVHRR-based, version 1) is a global dataset of cloud properties, surface albedo and surface radiation products, generated by…

Main variables and Earth System components

Atmosphere Cloud Properties Liquid Water Path Radiation Surface albedo
Cloud Dataset Overview Cloud Dataset Overview

  • Years of record

  • to

Clouds cover about 70% of the earth's surface. They are important components of the cliimate's water and energy budgets. Historically, cloud reports have come from station…

Main variables and Earth System components

Atmosphere Cloud Properties
Surface Flux and Meteorological Dataset: National Oceanography Centre (NOC) V2.0 Surface Flux and Meteorological Dataset: National Oceanography Centre (NOC) V2.0

  • Years of record

  • to

The National Oceanography Centre  (NOC) Version 2.0 Surface Flux and Meteorological Dataset is a monthly mean gridded dataset of marine surface measurements and derived…

Main variables and Earth System components

Atmosphere Air Temperature Cloud Properties Evaporation Latent & sensible heat flux Multiple variables Radiation Sea Level Pressure Specific Humidity Surface Pressure Surface solar radiation Water Vapor Wind Ocean SST - sea surface temperature Surface Flux
Global surface temperature data: GISTEMP: NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) Surface Temperature Analysis Global surface temperature data: GISTEMP: NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) Surface Temperature Analysis

  • Years of record

  • to

NASA Goddard's Global Surface Temperature Analysis (GISTEMP) combines land surface air temperatures from GHCN-M version 4 with SSTs of the ERSSTv5 analysis into a…

Main variables and Earth System components

Atmosphere Air Temperature Ocean SST - sea surface temperature
Global surface temperature data: HadCRUT4 and CRUTEM4 Global surface temperature data: HadCRUT4 and CRUTEM4

  • Years of record

  • to

Extending back to 1850 and frequently updated, HadCRUT4 is the longest data set of its type. HadCRUT4 is a combination of the global land surface temperature data set,…

Main variables and Earth System components

Atmosphere Air Temperature Ocean SST - sea surface temperature

  • Experts contributing reviews

  • N/A
Global surface temperature data: MLOST: NOAA Merged Land-Ocean Surface Temperature Analysis Global surface temperature data: MLOST: NOAA Merged Land-Ocean Surface Temperature Analysis

  • Years of record

  • to

NOAA's Merged Land-Ocean Surface Temperature Analysis (MLOST) combines land surface air temperatures primarily from the Global Historical Climatology Network, Monthly (GHCN-…

Main variables and Earth System components

Atmosphere Air Temperature Ocean SST - sea surface temperature

  • Experts contributing reviews

  • N/A
Global surface temperatures: BEST: Berkeley Earth Surface Temperatures Global surface temperatures: BEST: Berkeley Earth Surface Temperatures

  • Years of record

  • to

The Berkeley Earth Surface Temperatures (BEST) are a set of data products, originally a gridded reconstruction of land surface air temperature records spanning 1701-…

Main variables and Earth System components

Atmosphere Air Temperature Maximum Air Temperature Minimum Air Temperature Ocean SST - sea surface temperature
Global Temperature Data Sets: Overview & Comparison Table Global Temperature Data Sets: Overview & Comparison Table

  • Years of record

  • to

Global surface temperature data sets are an essential resource for monitoring and understanding climate variability and long-term trends. The most commonly used data sets…

Main variables and Earth System components

Atmosphere Air Temperature Air Temperature at 2m Ocean SST - sea surface temperature

  • Experts contributing reviews

  • N/A