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SST data: COBE: Centennial in situ Observation-Based Estimates

Climate Data Guide Image: COBE SSTs August 2012.

The COBE data set is a spatially complete, interpolated 1°x1° SST product for 1891 to present. It combines SSTs from ICOADS release 2.0, the Japanese Kobe collection, and reports from ships and buoys. Data are gridded using optimal interpolation. As in HadISST, data up to 1941 were bias-adjusted using the "bucket correction." Prior to the interpolation analyses, data were also subject to quality control using a-priori thresholds, and nearby observations were combined. COBE data have been used in the JRA Reanalyses and for AMIP experiments.

Key Strengths:

  • Kobe collection improves data coverage compared to earlier releases of ICOADS that were used in other gridded reconstructions (ICOADS 2.5 includes Kobe)

Key Limitations:

  • Compared to modern benchmarks (e.g. HadSST3), the bias adjustments and uncertainty estimates are somewhat primitive

Years of Record

1891/01 to 2017/05
temporal metadataID:
http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/thredds/wcs/Datasets/COBE/sst.mon.mean.nc

Formats

Timestep

Monthly

Data Time Period Extended?

yes, data set is extended

Domain

Global

Spatial Resolution

1°x1°

Ocean or Land

Ocean Only

Missing Data Flag

spatially complete

Vertical Levels

Surface Data Set

Input Data

ICOADS, Kobe Collection, buoys, GTS

Earth system components and main variables

Ocean, SST - sea surface temperature

Data Access: Please Cite data sources, following the data providers' instructions.

  1. JMA: COBE historical monthly mean SSTs (GRIB)
  2. NOAA-ESRL COBE SST2 SST and sea ice gridded monthly (netCDF)

Key Figures

Click the thumbnails to view larger sizes

Thumbnails

Captions
Climate Data Guide Image: COBE SSTs August 2012. COBE SSTs August 2012.

Cite this page

National Center for Atmospheric Research Staff (Eds). Last modified 09 Jun 2017. "The Climate Data Guide: SST data: COBE: Centennial in situ Observation-Based Estimates." Retrieved from https://climatedataguide.ucar.edu/climate-data/sst-data-cobe-centennial-situ-observation-based-estimates.

Acknowledgement of any material taken from this page is appreciated. On behalf of experts who have contributed data, advice, and/or figures, please cite their work as well.