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NCAR Climate Data Guide Content with Tag: ascii

Amundsen Sea Low indices
Years of Record: 1979/01 to 2015/07
The Amundsen Sea Low (ASL) is a climatological low pressure center located over the extreme southern Pacific Ocean, off the coast of West Antarctica.  Atmospheric variability in this region is larger than anywhere else in the Southern Hemisphere, and exhibits significant correlations with both...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: ascii Timestep: Monthly,Seasonal,Annual Domain: Antarctic, SH - Southern Hemisphere, Southern Ocean
See Expert Guidance by Hosking, Scott
Antarctic Seasonal Pressure Reconstructions 1905-2013
Years of Record: 1905/01 to 2013/12
This dataset consists of seasonally resolved timeseries of surface pressure at 18 Antarctic research stations, spanning 1905-2013.  Routine meteorological observations began at most of these stations only around 1960, leaving a very short instrumental record on which to assess Antarctic...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: ascii | Spreadsheet Timestep: Seasonal Domain: Antarctic
APHRODITE: Asian Precipitation - Highly-Resolved Observational Data Integration Towards Evaluation of Water Resources
Years of Record: 1950/01 to 2007/12
APHRODITE’s (Asian Precipitation - Highly-Resolved Observational Data Integration Towards Evaluation) daily gridded precipitation is the only long-term (1951 onward) continental-scale daily product that contains a dense network of daily rain-gauge data for Asia including the Himalayas, South and...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | ascii | binary Timestep: Climatology,Daily Domain: Asia
Atlantic Meridional Transect (AMT)
Years of Record: 1995/01 to 2005/12
"The Atlantic Meridional Transect (AMT) is a multidisciplinary programme which undertakes biological, chemical and physical oceanographic research during an annual voyage between the UK and destinations in the South Atlantic." As of early November, 2013, there have been 23 cruises. AMT data have...
Formats: ascii Timestep: Sub-daily Domain: Atlantic Ocean
AMO index timeseries (contributed by R. Zhang)
Atlantic Multi-decadal Oscillation (AMO)
Years of Record: 1856/01 to 2016/07
The Atlantic Multi-decadal Oscillation (AMO) has been identified as a coherent mode of natural variability occurring in the North Atlantic Ocean with an estimated period of 60-80 years. It is based upon the average anomalies of sea surface temperatures (SST) in the North Atlantic basin, typically...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | ascii Timestep: Monthly Domain: Atlantic Ocean, NH - Northern Hemisphere
See Expert Guidance by Trenberth, Kevin | See Expert Guidance by Zhang, Rong
CARINA: Carbon in the North Altantic
Years of Record: 1978/01 to 2006/12
The CARINA (CARbon dioxide IN the Atlantic Ocean) data synthesis project is an international collaborative effort of the EU IP CARBOOCEAN, and US partners. It has produced a merged internally consistent data set of open ocean subsurface measurements for biogeochemical investigations, in particular...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: ascii Timestep: Sub-daily Domain: Arctic, Atlantic Ocean, Southern Ocean
January mean precipitation in CMAP (contributed by P Arkin)
CMAP: CPC Merged Analysis of Precipitation
Years of Record: 1979/01 to 2019/03
CMAP refers to a collection of precipitation data sets, though the 2.5°x2.5° global monthly version is probably the most widely used. This data set is constructed from an analysis of gauge data and satellite-derived precipitation estimates. An "enhanced" version (CMAP/A) is also available, which...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | ascii Timestep: Monthly,Pentad Domain: Global
See Expert Guidance by Arkin, Phil | See Expert Guidance by Xie, PIngping
Climate Data Guide Image: CRU sc-PDSI
CRU sc-PDSI (self-calibrating PDSI) over Europe & North America
Years of Record: 1901/01 to 2002/12
Maps of the monthly self-calibrating Palmer drought severity index (SCPDSI) have been calculated for the period 1901–2002 for the contiguous United States (20°–50°N and 130°–60°W) and Europe (35°–70°N, 10°W–60°E) with a spatial resolution of 0.5° × 0.5°
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: ascii Timestep: Monthly Domain: Europe, North America
CRU TS Gridded precipitation and other meteorological variables since 1901
Years of Record: 1901/01 to 2015/12
The CRU TS series of data sets (CRU TS = Climatic Research Unit Timeseries) contain monthly timeseries of precipitation, daily maximum and minimum temperatures, cloud cover, and other variables covering Earth's land areas for 1901-2015 (CRU TS4.0 is a recent release). The data set is gridded to 0....
Formats: netCDF | ascii Timestep: Climatology,Monthly Domain: Global
Climate Data Guide Image: Daymet
Daymet: Daily Surface Weather and Climatological Summaries
Years of Record: 1980/01 to 2015/12
Developed by Dr. Peter E Thornton to fulfill the need for daily climatological data necessary for plant growth model inputs, Daymet generates daily, gridded surfaces of temperature, precipitation, humidity, and radiation over large regions and takes into account areas of complex terrain.
Formats: netCDF | ascii Timestep: Climatology,Daily Domain: North America
map indicating tree-ring chronologies used to construct the NADA (courtesey Ed Cook)
Drought atlases from tree rings
Years of Record: 0000/01 to 2005/12
Tree-ring drought atlases provide a paleoclimate analog to modern drought indices, most commonly the Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI).  Produced on a regular lat-lon grid for regions such as North America, Europe, and Australia, these centuries-long datasets are convenient for comparisons...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | ascii Timestep: Annual Domain: North America
See Expert Guidance by Cook, Edward
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. Following the synoptic code (WMO, 1974), observers report the fraction of sky dome covered by all clouds, the fraction of sky dome...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: ascii Timestep: Sub-daily Domain: Global
See Expert Guidance by Norris, Joel
FLUXNET
"FLUXNET is a global network of micrometeorological flux measurement sites that measure the exchanges of carbon dioxide, water vapor, and energy between the biosphere and atmosphere. At present over 140 sites are operating on a long-term and continuous basis. Vegetation under study includes...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | ascii Timestep: Sub-daily Domain: Global
Climate Data Guide Image: Freshwater Discharge
Freshwater Discharge: 1948-2004
Years of Record: 1948/01 to 2004/12
"A dataset of historical monthly streamflow at the farthest downstream stations for the world’s 925 largest ocean-reaching rivers has been created for community use. Compared with previous studies, the new dataset has improved homogeneity and enables more reliable assessments of decadal and long-...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | ascii | binary Timestep: Monthly Domain: Global
GHGH-M temperature anomalies for March 2014 (source NCDC)
GHCN (Global Historical Climatology Network) Related Gridded Products
Years of Record: 1870/01 to 2014/05
Long time series of gridded surface temperature and precipitation data derived from homongenized station data. The gridded anomalies were produced from GHCN-M bias corrected data. GHCN data and CAMS (Climate Anomaly Monitoring System) are combined to produce a high resolution 'real-time' product.
Formats: netCDF | ascii Timestep: Monthly Domain: Global
Distribution of GHCN-D stations (contributed by K. McKinnon)
GHCN-D: Global Historical climatology Network daily temperatures
Years of Record: 1880/01 to 2016/03
The Global Historical Climatology Network Daily database, GHCN-D, contains meteorological measurements from over 90,000 stations across the globe.  The majority of station records contain precipitation data only, however other key variables including maximum temperature, minimum temperature,...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: ascii Timestep: Daily Domain: Global
See Expert Guidance by McKinnon, Karen
NCAR Climate Data Guide Image using GHCNDEX data.
GHCNDEX: Gridded Temperature and Precipitation Climate Extremes Indices (CLIMDEX data)
Years of Record: 1951/01 to 2014/02
GHCNDEX provides gridded, station-based indices of temperature- and precipitation- related climate extremes. It is intended for climate change detection and attribution studies, climate model evaluation, and operational monitoring of extreme climatic events. Twenty-six indices, including daily...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | ascii Timestep: Monthly Domain: Global
Global (land) precipitation and temperature: Willmott & Matsuura, University of Delaware
Years of Record: 1900/01 to 2014/12
A series of gridded temperature and precipitation data sets. Station records that served as bases for the Terrestrial Air Temperature: 1900-2014 Gridded Monthly Time Series (Version 4.01) and Terrestrial Precipitation: 1900-2014 Gridded Monthly Time Series (Version 4.01) archives are used here to...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | ascii Timestep: Climatology,Monthly Domain: Global
See Expert Guidance by Matsuura, Kenji
Global Mean Sea Level from TOPEX & Jason Altimetry
Years of Record: 1992/10 to 2015/10
The global mean sea level timeseries is an excellent, integrative indicator of climate change, providing a record independent of common metrics like global surface air temperature.  The major contributions to the observed sea level trend of 3.3 mm/year include the ocean's thermal expansion,...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: ascii Timestep: Monthly Domain: Global
See Expert Guidance by Nerem, R.S.
Climate Data Guide Image: thermospheric sea level change
Global Ocean Heat and Thermospheric Sea Level Change
Years of Record: 1955/01 to 2010/12
Using updated data from the World Ocean Database (Boyer et al, 2009) and improved ARGO profiling data, new estimates of ocean heat content and thermospheric sea level change (0-2000m) for the period 1955-2010 are derived.
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | ascii Timestep: Monthly,Seasonal,Annual Domain: Global
change of annual temperature in the GISTEMP data; ClimataDataGuide figure.
Global surface temperature data: GISTEMP: NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) Surface Temperature Analysis
Years of Record: 1880/01 to 2018/03
NASA Goddard's Global Surface Temperature Analysis (GISTEMP) combines land surface air temperatures primarily from the GHCN-M version 3 with SSTs of the ERSSTv3b analysis into a comprehensive global surface temperature data set spanning 1880 to the present at monthly resolution, on a 2x2 degree...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | ascii | binary Timestep: Monthly Domain: Global
Change of temperature between 1901:1920 and 1991:2010 based on the HadCRUT4 dataset. Credit: ClimateDataGuide, NCAR
Global surface temperature data: HadCRUT4 and CRUTEM4
Years of Record: 1850/01 to 2019/02
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, CRUTEM4 and the global SST data set, HadSST3. HadCRUT4 is different from the most closely comparable products (e.g. NASA GISTEMP...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | ascii | KML Timestep: Climatology,Monthly Domain: Global
Change of surface temperatures in 5 global data sets. credit: NCAR, climatedataguide
Global Temperature Data Sets: Overview & Comparison Table
Years of Record: 1850/01 to 2013/10
Global surface temperature data sets are an essential resource for monitoring and understanding climate variability and climate change. The most commonly used data sets combine historical observations of near surface air temperatures at land stations with global data sets of sea surface...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | ascii | binary Timestep: Climatology,Monthly Domain: Global
GLODAP: GLobal Ocean Data Analysis Project for Carbon
Years of Record: 2013/09
The GLobal Ocean Data Analysis Project (GLODAP) is a cooperative effort to coordinate global synthesis projects funded through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and the National Science Foundation (NSF) as part of the Joint Global Ocean...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | ascii Timestep: Climatology Domain: Global
GPCC: Global Precipitation Climatology Centre
Years of Record: 1891/01 to 2016/12
The GPCC provides gridded gauge-analysis products derived from quality controlled station data. Two products are for climate: (a) the Full Data Reanalysis Product  (1901-2010) is recommended for global and regional water balance studies, calibration/validation of remote sensing based rainfall...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | ascii Timestep: Climatology,Daily,Monthly Domain: Global
GRACE: Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment: Surface mass, total water storage, and derived variables
Years of Record: 2002/01 to 2012/09
The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) refers to a pair of NASA satellites that has flown in low-Earth orbit since 2002. The satellites use a precise microwave ranging system to measure the distance between themselves due to gravitational acceleration. Onboard GPS instruments determine...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | ascii Timestep: Daily,Monthly Domain: Global
See Expert Guidance by Swenson, Sean
Gridded Climatology of Clouds from Surface Observations Worldwide (1971-2008)
Years of Record: 1954/01 to 2009/12
This digital archive provides multi-year monthly, seasonal, and annual averages in 5x5-degree grid boxes (or 10x10-degree boxes for some quantities over the ocean). Daytime and nighttime averages, as well as the diurnal average (average of day and night), are given. Nighttime averages were computed...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: ascii Timestep: Climatology,Monthly,Seasonal Domain: Global
See Expert Guidance by Norris, Joel
HadDTR: Hadley Centre sea-surface temperature diurnal temperature range climatology
The Hadley Centre sea-surface temperature diurnal temperature range climatology is a 5x5 degree gridded climatology of the diurnal range of sea surface temperature as measured by drifting buoys.
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: ascii Timestep: Climatology Domain: Global
NCAR Climate Data Guide Image using HadEX2 data.
HadEX2: Gridded Temperature and Precipitation Climate Extremes Indices (CLIMDEX data)
Years of Record: 1901/01 to 2010/12
HadEX2 provides gridded, station-based indices of temperature- and precipitation- related climate extremes. It is intended for climate change detection and attribution studies and climate model evaluation. Twenty-nine indices, including daily maximum and minimum temperatures, number of frost days,...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | ascii Timestep: Monthly,Annual Domain: Global
HadGHCNDEX - Gridded Daily Temperature Extremes
Years of Record: 1950/01 to 2011/12
HadGHCND (aka HadGHCNDEX) is a gridded daily dataset of near-surface maximum (TX) and minimum (TN) temperature observations. Anomalies (departures from 1961-1990 climatology) and actual temperatures are distributed in two separate files. The dataset is designed primarily for the analysis of...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: ascii Timestep: Daily Domain: Global
Hurrell North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) Index (PC-based)
Years of Record: 1899/01 to 2018/12
The principal component (PC)-based indices of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) are the time series of the leading Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) of SLP anomalies over the Atlantic sector, 20°-80°N, 90°W-40°E. These indices are used to measure the NAO throughout the year, tracking the...
Formats: ascii Timestep: Monthly,Seasonal,Annual Domain: Atlantic Ocean
Hurrell North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) Index (station-based)
Years of Record: 1865/01 to 2018/04
The winter (December thru March) station-based index of the NAO is based on the difference of normalized sea level pressure (SLP) between Lisbon, Portugal and Stykkisholmur/Reykjavik, Iceland since 1864. Positive values of the NAO index are typically associated with stronger-than-average...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: ascii Timestep: Monthly,Seasonal,Annual Domain: Atlantic Ocean
See Expert Guidance by Hurrell, James
Hurrell wintertime SLP-based Northern Annular Mode (NAM) Index
Years of Record: 1899/01 to 2018/03
The NAM (or Arctic Oscillation) is defined as the first EOF of NH (20°-90°N) winter SLP data. It explains 23% of the extended winter mean (December-March) variance, and it is clearly dominated by the NAO structure in the Atlantic sector. Although there are some subtle differences from the NAO...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: ascii Timestep: Seasonal Domain: Atlantic Ocean, NH - Northern Hemisphere, Pacific Ocean
IBTrACS: Tropical cyclone best track data
IBTrACS (International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship) provides global tropical cyclone best track data in a centralized location to aid our understanding of the distribution, frequency, and intensity of tropical cyclones worldwide. The World Meteorological Organization Tropical Cyclone...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | ascii | shapefile Domain: Global
See Expert Guidance by Schreck, Carl
ICOADS Surface Marine Weather Observations
Years of Record: 1800/01 to 2016/09
ICOADS (International Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set) is the most comprehensive archive of global marine surface climate observations available. Variables include SST, SLP, air temperature, wind speed, cloud amount, and others. There is no processing beyond initial quality control. ICOADS...
Formats: netCDF | ascii | binary | IMMA Timestep: Climatology,Daily,Monthly Domain: Global
See Expert Guidance by Deser, Clara
Japanese Ocean Flux Data sets with Use of Remote Sensing Observations (J-OFURO2)
Years of Record: 1988/01 to 2006/12
These ocean surface flux data sets are derived primarily using data from multiple satellites. The COARE 3.0 bulk algorithm [Fairall et al. (2003)] is used in J-OFURO2 for the estimation of sensible and latent heat fluxes.
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | ascii | binary Timestep: Daily,Monthly Domain: Global
Marshall Southern Annular Mode (SAM) Index (Station-based)
Years of Record: 1957/01 to 2015/09
The station-based index of the Southern Annular Mode (SAM) is based on the zonal pressure difference between the latitudes of 40S and 65S.  As such, the SAM index measures a "see-saw" of atmospheric mass between the middle and high latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere.  Positive values of...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: ascii Domain: Antarctic, SH - Southern Hemisphere, Southern Ocean
See Expert Guidance by Marshall, Gareth
MOCHA: Meridional Overturning Circulation (MOC) and Heatflux Array
Years of Record: 2004/04 to 2012/10
"MOCHA is a collaborative project, partnered with the UK RAPID Program, to measure the meridional overturning circulation (MOC) and ocean heat transport in the North Atlantic Ocean ."
Formats: netCDF | ascii Timestep: Sub-daily Domain: Atlantic Ocean
MSU/AMSU Atmospheric Temperature Climate Data Record, Remote Sensing Systems (RSS)
Years of Record: 1979/01 to 2012/12
A long (30-year+) data set of atmospheric temperatures for 4 tropopsheric and lower stratopsheric layers has been derived from brightness temperatures measured by the Microwave Sounding Unit (MSU) and Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU). This page describes the data sets developed by Remote...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | ascii | binary Timestep: Monthly Domain: Global
See Expert Guidance by Mears, Carl
Multivariate ENSO Index
Years of Record: 1950/01 to 2013/01
The Multivariate ENSO Index (MEI) on the six main observed variables over the tropical Pacific. These six variables are: sea-level pressure (P), zonal (U) and meridional (V) components of the surface wind, sea surface temperature (S), surface air temperature (A), and total cloudiness fraction of...
Formats: ascii Timestep: Monthly Domain: Pacific Ocean
NASA Energy and Water cycle Study (NEWS) Climatology of the 1st Decade of the 21st Century Dataset
Years of Record: 1998/01 to 2010/12
This data set summarizes the original observation-based mean fluxes of Water and Energy Budget (WEB) components during the first decade of the 21st century (specifically: 1998-2010), for each continent and ocean basin.  These data are summarized on both monthly and annual scales, as well as...
Formats: netCDF | ascii | Spreadsheet Timestep: Climatology,Monthly,Annual Domain: Africa, Antarctic, Asia, Atlantic Ocean, Australia, Europe, Indian Ocean, Maritime Continent, North America, South America
NCAR Sea Level Pressure
Years of Record: 1899/01 to 2019/03
NCAR Sea Level Pressure is a gridded analysis of SLP based on land station reports, covering 1899 to present for latitudes 30°N-90°N. Quality controlled raw data plus empirical corrections for changes in instrumentation and station location.
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | ascii | binary Domain: NH - Northern Hemisphere
See Expert Guidance by Hurrell, James | See Expert Guidance by Trenberth, Kevin
Climate Data Guide Image: ThreadEx
NOAA ThreadEx Long-term Station Extremes for America
Years of Record: 1870/01 to 2011/12
ThreadEx is a data set of extreme daily temperature and precipitation values for 270 locations in the United States. For each day of the year at each station, ThreadEx provides the top 3 record high and low daily maximum temperatures, the top 3 record high and low daily minimum temperatures, the...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: ascii Timestep: Daily Domain: North America
North Pacific (NP) Index by Trenberth and Hurrell; monthly and winter
Years of Record: 1899/01 to 2018/12
The North Pacific Index (NP index or NPI) is the area-weighted sea level pressure over the region 30°N-65°N, 160°E-140°W. The NP index is defined to measure interannual to decadal variations in the atmospheric circulation. The dominant atmosphere-ocean relation in the North Pacific is one where...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: ascii Timestep: Monthly,Seasonal Domain: NH - Northern Hemisphere, Pacific Ocean
See Expert Guidance by Hurrell, James
ocean energy budget based on IAP ocean temperature analysis (contributed by L Cheng)
Ocean temperature analysis and heat content estimate from Institute of Atmospheric Physics
Years of Record: 1940/01 to 2016/12
The Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP) ocean temperature analysis features global coverage of the oceans, at 1° x1° horizontal resolution on 41 vertical levels from 1-2000m, and monthly resolution from 1940 to present.  As such, it is aimed at studies of climate variability and change,...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | ascii Timestep: Monthly Domain: Global
See Expert Guidance by Cheng, Lijing
Climate Data Guide Image: ORAS4
ORAS4: ECMWF Ocean Reanalysis and derived ocean heat content
Years of Record: 1958/01 to 2013/04
ECMWF's current ocean reanalysis uses a sophisticated data assimilation methodology which includes a model bias correction. The ocean model used is forced by atmospheric daily surface fluxes, relaxed to SST and bias corrected. The Balmaseda et al (QJRMS 2013) reference provides excellent peer...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | ascii Timestep: Monthly Domain: Global
Overview: Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Data Sets
Years of Record: 1958/01 to 2012/09
Directly measured and continuous records of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) extend back to 1958. CO2 has also been measured in ancient air samples trapped in ice cores, and these records extend back hundreds of thousands of years. More recently, CO2 is being sampled by satellites providing global...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: ascii Timestep: Daily,Monthly,Annual
spatial pattern of the PDO (contributed by C. Deser)
Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO): Definition and Indices
Years of Record: 1900/01 to 2015/12
The Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) is defined by the leading pattern (EOF) of sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in the North Pacific basin (typically, polewards of 20°N).  The SST anomalies are obtained by removing both the climatological annual cycle and the global-mean SST anomaly...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: ascii Timestep: Monthly Domain: Pacific Ocean
See Expert Guidance by Deser, Clara | See Expert Guidance by Trenberth, Kevin
PACIFICA: PACIFic ocean Interior CArbon
Years of Record: 1988/01 to 2000/12
PACIFICA (PACIFic ocean Interior CArbon) was an international collaborative project for the data synthesis of ocean interior carbon and its related parameters in the Pacific Ocean. The North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES), Section of Carbon and Climate (S-CC) supported the project. We...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: ascii Timestep: Sub-daily Domain: Pacific Ocean
Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI)
The Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) uses readily available temperature and precipitation data to estimate relative dryness. It is a standardized index that spans -10 (dry) to +10 (wet). It has been reasonably successful at quantifying long-term drought. As it uses temperature data and a...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | ascii | binary Timestep: Monthly Domain: Global
See Expert Guidance by Dai, Aiguo
Climate Data Guide Image: PREC/L
Precipitation Reconstruction Land (PREC/L): 1948-present
Years of Record: 1948/01 to 2019/03
Precipitation gauge measurements over land from the GHCN-v2 (Global Historical Climatology Network version 2) are interpolated onto 3 grids: at 0.5, 1 and 2.5 degree resolutions via optimal interpolation. Note: As of May, 2011 the GHCN version 3 station data set is available.
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | ascii | binary Timestep: Monthly Domain: Global
Climate Data Guide Image: QBO
QBO: Quasi-Biennial Oscillation
Years of Record: 1953/01 to 2012/09
The quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) is a quasi-periodic oscillation of the equatorial zonal wind between easterlies and westerlies in the tropical stratosphere with a mean period of 28 to 29 months. The alternating wind regimes develop at the top of the lower stratosphere and propagate downwards...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: ascii Timestep: Monthly Domain: Tropics
RAPID: monitoring the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation at 26.5°N
Years of Record: 2004/04 to 2017/02
"The Rapid Climate Change programme (RAPID) explores what causes rapid switches in climate, with a main (but not exclusive) focus on the Atlantic Ocean's thermohaline circulation." "A principal objective of the RAPID programme is the development and maintenance of a pre-operational prototype...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | ascii Timestep: Sub-daily Domain: Atlantic Ocean
SCRIPPS O2 ,CO2 and APO
Years of Record: 1989/01 to 2012/12
"The Scripps O2Program measures changes in atmospheric oxygen levels from air samples collected at stations around the world. This sampling network provides a global and hemispheric perspective on oxygen variability. " Stations include: Alert, NWT, Canada Cold Bay, Alaska Cape Kumukahi, Hawaii...
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Formats: ascii Timestep: Daily,Monthly
Climate Data Guide Image: HADISST ice concentrations
Sea Ice Concentration data from HadISST
Years of Record: 1870/01 to 2018/12
Spanning 1871-present at monthly timesteps, HadISST provides the longest gridded sea ice data available for both the Arctic and Antarctic. It is a 1° x 1° spatially infilled data set that is It is intended as a consistent analyses for input into SST analyses or as boundary conditions for models....
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | ascii Timestep: Monthly Domain: Antarctic, Arctic, NH - Northern Hemisphere, SH - Southern Hemisphere
Arctic sea ice volume anomalies from PIOMASS
Sea Ice Thickness Data Sets: Overview & Comparison Table
While satellite observations of sea ice extent and concentration are available from 1979, long-term high quality (daily and high spatial resolution) observations of sea ice thickness remain limited as a result of few satellite and in situ observations. Reconstructions using numerous observational...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | ascii | binary Timestep: Daily,Monthly,Weekly,Irregular Domain: Antarctic, Arctic
See Expert Guidance by Labe, Zachary
NH Snow Cover Extent, contributed by D. Robinson
Snow Cover Extent (Northern Hemisphere) Climate Data Record, by Rutgers
Years of Record: 1966/10 to 2019/01
The Snow Cover Extent Climate Data Record extends from the late 1960s to present. Historical analyses based on visual inspection have been digitized and combined with modern multi-spectral remote sensing to produce a seamless record on a hemispheric scale. The data are available at weekly and...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | ascii Timestep: Monthly,Weekly Domain: North America
See Expert Guidance by Estilow, Thomas W. | See Expert Guidance by Robinson, David
Annual mean 850hPa westerly wind component (contributed by T Bracegirdle)
Southern Hemisphere westerly jet strength and position
Years of Record: 1979/12 to 2016/12
The dynamics of the Southern Hemisphere westerly jet are described in terms of two indices, jet strength and jet latitude.  Here, these indices are defined using the ERA-Interim reanalysis, although other datasets, including climate models, could be used.  Although closely linked with the...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: ascii Timestep: Seasonal,Annual Domain: Antarctic, SH - Southern Hemisphere, Southern Ocean
See Expert Guidance by Bracegirdle, Thomas J.
Southern Oscillation Indices: Signal, Noise and Tahiti/Darwin SLP (SOI)
Years of Record: 1866/01 to 2019/03
The Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) is a time series used to characterize the large scale sea level pressure (SLP) patterns in the tropical Pacific. Monthly mean SLP at Tahiti [T] and Darwin [D] are used. An optimal SOI can be constructed. It consists of  [T-D] which is a measure of the large...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | ascii Timestep: Monthly Domain: Australia, Pacific Ocean, Tropics
See Expert Guidance by Trenberth, Kevin
Climate Data Guide Image: HadISST v1.1 SST anomalies and sea ice concentration (August 2012).
SST data: HadiSST v1.1
Years of Record: 1870/01 to 2018/12
The Hadley Centre Global Sea Ice and Sea Surface Temperature (HadISST) is a combination of monthly globally complete fields of SST and sea ice concentration for 1871-present. This page focuses on the SST data; see the separate page for discussion of HadISST sea ice. HadISST uses reduced space...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | ascii Timestep: Monthly Domain: Global
Climate Data Guide Image: HadSST3 (Kennedy et al (2011b)
SST data: HadSST3
Years of Record: 1850/01 to 2017/12
HadSST3 provides monthly SST anomalies on a 5°x5° grid for 1850-present. The anomalies are derived from a 30-year climatology spanning 1961-90.Coverage is global but there is no interpolation; Thus, missing data occur in the final product. The primary input data are from ICOADS release 2.5. Bias...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | ascii Timestep: Monthly Domain: Global
See Expert Guidance by Kennedy, John
SST data: NOAA Extended Reconstruction SSTs, version 3 (ERSSTv3 & 3b)
Years of Record: 1854/01 to 2019/03
The NOAA Extended Reconstruction Sea Surface Temperature (ERSST) provides global, spatially complete SST data at a monthly timestep for 1854-present. Version3 is based upon statistical interpolation of the ICOADS release 2.4 data. Version 3 includes satellite AVHRR SST data for 1985 onwards....
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | ascii Timestep: Monthly Domain: Global
See Expert Guidance by Huang, Boyin | See Expert Guidance by Livermore, Jay | See Expert Guidance by Smith, Tom
ERSST v4 timeseries (contributed by B Huang)
SST data: NOAA Extended Reconstruction SSTs, Version 4
Years of Record: 1981/10 to 2019/03
The NOAA Extended Reconstruction Sea Surface Temperature (ERSST) provides global, spatially complete SST data at a monthly timestep for 1854-present.  Compared to the previous version, Version 4 uses the more extensive ICOADS Release 2.5 data and revised quality control, bias adjustment, and...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | ascii Timestep: Monthly Domain: Global
See Expert Guidance by Huang, Boyin
Climate Data Guide Image: NOAA OI SST: SST range (C)
SST data: NOAA Optimal Interpolation (OI) SST Analysis, version 2 (OISSTv2) 1x1
Years of Record: 1981/12 to 2019/03
The NOAA Optimal Interpolation SST analysis provides global, spatially complete SSTs on a weekly and monthly basis for 1982-present.
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | ascii | binary Timestep: Climatology,Monthly,Weekly Domain: Global
See Expert Guidance by Banzon, Viva | See Expert Guidance by Reynolds, Richard
Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI)
Years of Record: 1901/01 to 2014/03
The Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) is an extension of the widely used Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI). The SPEI is designed to take into account both precipitation and potential evapotranspiration (PET) in determining drought. Thus, unlike the SPI, the SPEI...
Formats: netCDF | ascii Timestep: Monthly,Seasonal,Annual Domain: Global
See Expert Guidance by Vicente-Serrano, Sergio M.
Total column ozone (DU) for March 2011 (patched version).
Total Column Ozone: Bodeker Scientific
Bodeker Scientific produces global, daily, total column ozone database by combining measurements from a number of different satellite-based instruments. Offsets and drifts between the different datasets are resolved through comparisons with the Dobson and Brewer ground-based instruments and through...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | ascii Timestep: Daily,Monthly Domain: Global
Tropical Moored Buoy System: TAO, TRITON, PIRATA, RAMA (TOGA)
Years of Record: 1992/01 to 2013/04
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 on time scales of months to years. In order to achieve the TOGA goals, a strategy of large-scale, long-term monitoring of the...
Formats: netCDF | ascii Timestep: Sub-daily,Daily,Monthly,Weekly Domain: Tropics
NOAA CEI
U.S. Climate Extremes Index (CEI)
Years of Record: 1910/01 to 2012/12
The CEI was first presented in 1995 as a framework for quantifying observed changes in climate within the contiguous United States. The index is based on an aggregate set of conventional climate extreme indicators which now includes extremes in land- falling tropical storm and hurricane wind...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: ascii Timestep: Monthly,Seasonal,Annual Domain: North America
UNH/GRDC: Estimated River Runoff
Combines observed river discharge information with a climate-driven Water Balance Model in order to develop composite runoff fields that are consistent with observed discharges. This combination preserves the accuracy of discharge measurements as well as the spatial and temporal distribution of...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: ascii Timestep: Climatology Domain: Global
Walsh and Chapman Northern Hemisphere Sea Ice
Years of Record: 1870/01 to 2011/12
The Walsh and Chapman Sea Ice Data Set provides a long record of Arctic sea ice concentrations on a monthly basis for 1870-2011. Historical observations were gridded and combined with satellite-derived sea ice concentrations for the recent decades. Mostly climatologies before the 1950s. The Walsh...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: ascii Timestep: Monthly Domain: NH - Northern Hemisphere, Arctic
See Expert Guidance by Chapman, William
Water Isotopes from Satellites
Years of Record: 2000/01 to 2012/09
Summary of 7 satellite-derived products providing a global snapshot of water isotope distribution in 3D, with good information on zonal gradients and seasonality.
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | ascii | HDF Timestep: Sub-daily,Daily Domain: Global
See Expert Guidance by Risi, Camille
World Ocean Atlas (WOA09)
World Ocean Atlas 2009 (WOA09) is a set of objectively analyzed (1 degree grid) climatological fields of in situ temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, Apparent Oxygen Utilization (AOU), percent oxygen saturation, phosphate, silicate, and nitrate at standard depth levels for annual, seasonal, and...
Formats: netCDF | ascii Timestep: Climatology,Monthly,Seasonal,Annual Domain: Global
Northwest Atlantic regional Sea Water Salinity Annual fields for period of 1995-2004 at 50m depth (contributed by A. Mishonov)
World Ocean Atlas 2013 (WOA13)
Years of Record: 1955/01 to 2012/12
The World Ocean Atlas (WOA) is a set of climatological mean, gridded fields of oceanographic variables based on in-situ measurements from a wide variety of sources.  Global, decadal averages of temperature, salinity, oxygen and nutrients are provided at monthly, seasonal and annual averaging...
Formats: netCDF | ascii | shapefile Timestep: Climatology,Monthly,Seasonal Domain: Global
See Expert Guidance by Mishonov, Alexey
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