Climate Indices
Climate indices are simple diagnostic quantities that are used to characterize an aspect of a geophysical system such as a circulation pattern. They track droughts, ENSO events, wind patterns, internal modes of climate variability, and extreme events like wildfires and heatwaves. Climate indices play a key role in climate monitoring and prediction. The climate index overview page summarizes the philosophy of climate indices.
To find a specific climate index, jump to the search box below or click your desired index from among the blue sub-category buttons.
To see only the indices with in-depth commentary, select the "Datasets with guidance" button when using the search box.
Dataset Overviews
Climate datasets
![Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI)](/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/2022-03/6mSPIDataUS.png?itok=enhxxSU0)
Years of record
- to
The Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) is a widely used index to characterize meteorological drought on a range of timescales. On short timescales, the SPI is closely…
-
Formats
- N/A
-
Timestep
- Monthly
-
Domain
- N/A
-
Collections
- N/A
Experts contributing reviews
- Keyantash, John
![Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI)](/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/2022-03/SPEI.png?itok=64dJ85gE)
Years of record
- to
The Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) is an extension of the widely used Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI). The SPEI is designed to take into…
Main variables and Earth System components
N/AExperts contributing reviews
- Vicente-Serrano, Sergio M.
![Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI)](/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/2022-03/palmer_0.gif?itok=tk8OkLjH)
Years of record
- N/A
The Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) uses readily available temperature and precipitation data to estimate relative dryness. It is a standardized index that generally…
-
Timestep
- Monthly
-
Domain
- Global
-
Collections
- Climate Analysis Section (CAS) Data Catalog
Experts contributing reviews
- Dai, Aiguo