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NCAR Climate Data Guide Content with Tag: netCDF

AIRS and AMSU: Trace Gases (CO2, CO, CH4, O3...); Level 3
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 cloud-cleared thermal IR radiance spectra in the 15 micron band with an accuracy better than 2 ppm. AIRS retrievals have been...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | HDF-EOS Timestep: Sub-daily,Daily,Monthly Domain: Global
AIRS and AMSU: Tropospheric air temperature and specific humidity
Years of Record: 2002/09 to 2011/05
The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) project has generated decadal-length, global, gridded data sets of temperature and specific humidity for several standard levels in the troposphere for the obs4MIPS project. This obs4MIPS version of the AIRS data are available at monthly resolution, 1ºx1º...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF Timestep: Monthly Domain: Global
See Expert Guidance by Tian, Baijun
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
Arctic System Reanalysis (ASR)
Years of Record: 2000/01 to 2012/12
"The Arctic System Reanalysis (ASR) is produced using a high-resolution version of the Polar Weather Forecast Model (PWRF) and the WRF-VAR and High Resolution Land Data Assimilation (HRLDAS) data assimilation systems that have been optimized for the Arctic. ASR-Interim is a 30km data set...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF Timestep: Sub-daily,Monthly Domain: Arctic
Argo float locations Source: http://www-hrx.ucsd.edu/www-argo/statusbig.gif
Argo Ocean Temperature and Salinity Profiles
Years of Record: 2000/01 to 2017/01
Argo is an array of over 3600 profiling floats distributed almost uniformly across the global oceans. First deployed in 2000, Argo floats provide temperature and salinity profiles from the surface to a depth of 2000m. The array has approximately 1 float for every 3 degrees of latitude and...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF Timestep: Monthly,Weekly Domain: Global
See Expert Guidance by Willis, Josh
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
Climate Data Guide Image
AVISO: Satellite derived Sea Surface Height above Geoid
Years of Record: 1992/10 to 2010/12
The sea surface height relative to the geoid (the mean ocean surface of the Earth if the ocean is at rest) is derived from TOPEX/Poseidon, Envisat, Jason-1, and OSTM/Jason-2 altimetry measurements. Altimetry is a technique for measuring height. Satellite altimetry measures the time taken by a radar...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF Timestep: Monthly Domain: Global
CALIPSO
Years of Record: 2006/06 to 2017/01
CALIPSO (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations ) was launched on April 28, 2006 to study the impact of clouds and aerosols on the Earth's radiation budget and climate. It flies in formation with five other satellites in the international "A-Train" constellation for...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF Timestep: Sub-daily,Daily Domain: Global
Wind speed and direction estimated by CCMPv2 (contributed by L. Ricciardulli)
CCMP: Cross-Calibrated Multi-Platform wind vector analysis
Years of Record: 1987/07 to 2016/05
The CCMP wind analysis is a near-global, high spatial and temporal resolution gridded dataset of surface wind vectors spanning 1987-present.  The input data are a combination of inter-calibrated satellite data from numerous radiometers and scatterometers and in-situ data from moored buoys....
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF Timestep: Sub-daily Domain: Global
See Expert Guidance by Ricciardulli, Lucrezia
Tropical Instability Waves (contributed by E. de Boisseson)
CERA-20C: ECMWF's Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Reanalysis of the 20th Century
Years of Record: 1901/01 to 2010/12
The CERA-20C is a global, coupled reanalysis spanning 1901-2010 with a focus on low-frequency climate variability.  Similar to ERA-20C, the surface observations assimilated include surface pressures from the International Surface Pressure Databank v3.2.6 and ICOADS v 2.5.1, and surface winds...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | GRIB Timestep: Sub-daily,Daily,Monthly Domain: Global
See Expert Guidance by Laloyaux, Patrick
CERES EBAF: Clouds and Earth's Radiant Energy Systems (CERES) Energy Balanced and Filled (EBAF)
Years of Record: 2000/03 to 2017/02
The CERES-EBAF product provides 1-degree regional, zonal and global monthly mean Top-of-Atmosphere (TOA) and surface (SFC) longwave (LW), shortwave (SW), and net (NET) fluxes under clear and all-sky conditions. EBAF is used for climate model evaluation, estimating the Earth's global mean...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF Timestep: Monthly Domain: Global
See Expert Guidance by Loeb, Norman
CERES: IGBP Land Classification
The International Geosphere–Biosphere Programme (IGBP) defines ecosystems surface classifications. The CERES (Clouds and Earth's Radiant Energy System)10-minute data can be used to derive the land categories. Other, finer resolution gridded surface data are available.
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | binary Timestep: Climatology Domain: Global
CLARA figure submitted by M. Stengel
CLARA-A1: Cloud properties, surface albedo and surface radiation products based on AVHRR
Years of Record: 1982/01 to 2009/12
"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 the EUMETSAT Satellite Application Facility on Climate Monitoring (CM SAF). The products are derived from measurements of the...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF Timestep: Daily,Monthly,Pentad Domain: Global
See Expert Guidance by Stengel, Martin
Cloud observations from MODIS
Years of Record: 1999/12 to 2017/06
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) is scanning instrument that makes measurements in 36 spectral bands from the visible to the thermal infrared at spatial resolutions from 250 m to 1 km. There are MODIS instruments aboard two sun-synchronous polar-orbiting NASA satellites:...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | HDF-EOS Timestep: Daily,Monthly,Weekly Domain: Global
See Expert Guidance by Pincus, Robert
CloudSat
Years of Record: 2006/06 to 2010/11
CloudSat is a satellite mission designed to measure the vertical structure of clouds from space. The radar data produces detailed images of cloud structures. CloudSat is one of a constellation of satellites known as the A-Train (Cloudsat, CALIPSO, PARASOL, Aqua, Aura, GCOM-W1). The satellites fly...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF Timestep: Monthly Domain: Global
January mean precipitation in CMAP (contributed by P Arkin)
CMAP: CPC Merged Analysis of Precipitation
Years of Record: 1979/01 to 2017/08
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
Heat Content Trend
CMCC Global Ocean Reanalysis System (C-GLORS)
Years of Record: 1982/01 to 2013/12
"The CMCC Global Ocean Physical Reanalysis System (C-GLORS) is used  to simulate the state of the ocean in the last decades. It consists of a variational data assimilation system (OceanVar), capable of assimilating all in-situ observations along with altimetry data, and a forecast step...
Formats: netCDF Timestep: Daily,Monthly,Weekly Domain: Global
See Expert Guidance by Storto, Andrea
Climate Data Guide Image: CMORPH
CMORPH (CPC MORPHing technique): High resolution precipitation (60S-60N)
Years of Record: 2002/12 to 2017/04
"CMORPH (CPC MORPHing technique) produces global precipitation analyses at very high spatial and temporal resolution. This technique uses precipitation estimates that have been derived from low orbiter satellite microwave observations exclusively, and whose features are transported via spatial...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | binary Timestep: Sub-daily,Daily Domain: Global
Combined CloudSat spaceborne radar and CALIPSO spaceborne lidar cloud fraction dataset
Years of Record: 2006/07 to 2011/02
A global (82S-82N) cloud fraction data set, providing a unique view of cloud vertical structure, has been developed based on the complimentary spaceborne remote sensing capabilities of the CloudSat radar and the CALISPSO lidar. The data set provides monthly mean cloud fraction over several vertical...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF Timestep: Monthly,Seasonal,Annual Domain: Global
See Expert Guidance by Kay, Jennifer
COREv2 Air-Sea Surface Fluxes
Years of Record: 1949/01 to 2006/12
The Coordinated Ocean Research Experiments version 2  (COREv2) data set consists of a globally complete set of air-sea fluxes of momentum, heat and freshwater for 1948-2009 at monthly resolution.  This data set serves as a set of common atmospheric boundary conditions that has been used...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF Timestep: Monthly Domain: Global
See Expert Guidance by Yeager, Stephen
CoRTAD: Coral Reef Temperature Anomaly Database (SST)
Years of Record: 1985/01 to 2005/12
"The Coral Reef Temperature Anomaly Database (CoRTAD) is a collection of sea surface temperature (SST) and related thermal stress metrics, developed specifically for coral reef ecosystem applications but relevant to other ecosystems as well. In addition to SST, it contains SST anomaly (SSTA,...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF Timestep: Weekly Domain: Global
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
Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE): 1985-89
Years of Record: 1985/01 to 1989/12
The Goddard Space Flight Center built the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS) on which the first ERBE instruments were launched by the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1984. ERBE instruments were also launched on two National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather monitoring satellites, NOAA...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF Timestep: Monthly Domain: Global
SLP anomaly in DJF 1925-26 in ERA-20C
ERA-20C: ECMWF's atmospheric reanalysis of the 20th century (and comparisons with NOAA's 20CR)
Years of Record: 1900/01 to 2011/01
The ECMWF's first atmospheric reanalysis of the 20th Century, ERA-20C, provides a long, gridded dataset of many climate variables, spanning 1900-2010.  Observations assimilated include surface pressures from the International Surface Pressure Databank v3.2.6 and ICOADS v 2.5.1, and surface...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | GRIB Timestep: Sub-daily,Daily,Monthly Domain: Global
See Expert Guidance by Poli, Paul
Climate Data Guide Image: ERA-Interim
ERA-Interim
Years of Record: 1979/01 to 2017/07
Using a much improved atmospheric model and assimilation system from those used in ERA-40, ERA-Interim represents a third generation reanalysis. Several of the inaccuracies exhibited by ERA-40 such as too-strong precipitation over oceans from the early 1990's onwards and a too-strong Brewer-Dobson...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | GRIB Timestep: Sub-daily,Daily,Monthly Domain: Global
See Expert Guidance by Dee, Dick
ERA-Interim: derived components
Years of Record: 1979/01 to 2015/12
Era-Interim data are used to derive monthly mass, moisture and energy budget products. Each term is available. Atmospheric energy, mass, and moisture budgets can be computed by vertically integrating reanalysis fields and employing suitable corrections (e.g. mass). The budgets are uniquely...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF Timestep: Monthly Domain: Global
ERA40
Years of Record: 1957/09 to 2002/08
ERA 40 is a second generation reanalysis. It is the first reanalysis to directly assimilate satellite radiance data (TOVS, SSM/I, ERS and ATOVS). Cloud Motion Winds are also used. The result is better circulation over the tropics and southern hemisphere. However, unless comparing  to previous...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | GRIB Timestep: Sub-daily,Monthly Domain: Global
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
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
Climate Data Guide Image: GHRSST
GHRSST: Group for High Resolution Sea Surface Temperature
Years of Record: 2006/01 to 2012/12
The Group for High-Resolution Sea Surface Temperature (SST; GHRSST) provides a new generation of global high-resolution (
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF Timestep: Sub-daily,Daily Domain: Global
Mean annual temperature from UDEL v3.0.1 (credit: D Schneider, ClimateDataGuide)
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
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
zonal-mean trend in ocean salinity
Global Ocean Salinity Change, 1950-2008 (Durack-Wijffels)
Years of Record: 1950/01 to 2009/04
Using data from the Indian Ocean Hydrobase (IOHB) (Kobayashi et al., 2006), Hydrobase2 (Curry, 2002), and Southern Ocean Atlas (Orsi and Whitworth, 2010) databases along with the improved spatial and temporal coverage provided by ARGO profiling data, new estimates of ocean salinity and temperature...
Formats: netCDF | Image Timestep: Climatology 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 2016/11
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 2017/07
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 temperature in the MLOST data set.
Global surface temperature data: MLOST: NOAA Merged Land-Ocean Surface Temperature Analysis
Years of Record: 1871/01 to 2016/11
NOAA's Merged Land-Ocean Surface Temperature Analysis (MLOST) combines land surface air temperatures primarily from the Global Historical Climatology Network, Monthly (GHCN-M) version 3 with SSTs of the ERSSTv3b analysis into a comprehensive global surface temperature data set spanning 1880 to the...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | binary Timestep: Monthly Domain: Global
Change of temperature in the Berkeley Earth data Set.
Global surface temperatures: BEST: Berkeley Earth Surface Temperatures
Years of Record: 1701/01 to 2013/03
The Berkeley Earth Surface Temperatures (BEST) are a set of data products, originally a gridded reconstruction of land surface air temperature records spanning 1701-present, and now including an 1850-present merged land-ocean data set that combines the land analysis with an interpolated...
Formats: netCDF Timestep: Climatology,Daily,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
GODAS: NCEP Global Ocean Data Assimilation System
Years of Record: 2016/01 to 2016/12
GODAS is a real-time ocean analysis and a reanalysis. It is used for monitoring, retrospective analysis as well as for providing oceanic initial conditions for the CFS. Both temperature and synthetic salinity profiles are assimilated in a 3DVAR scheme. Beginning with March 2007, altimetry sea level...
Formats: netCDF | GRIB Timestep: Monthly,Pentad Domain: Global
GPCC: Global Precipitation Climatology Centre
Years of Record: 1900/01 to 2010/12
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,Monthly Domain: Global
Zonal-mean rain frequency in GPCC 1dd (contributed by A. Pendergrass)
GPCP (Daily): Global Precipitation Climatology Project
Years of Record: 1996/10 to 2015/11
The 1DD product provides precipitation estimates on a 1-degree grid over the entire globe at 1-day (daily) for the period October 1996 - present. Both the Pentad and 1DD products are consistent with the Version 2 monthly product in the sense that the Pentad and 1DD approximately sum to the monthly...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | binary Timestep: Daily Domain: Global
See Expert Guidance by Pendergrass, Angeline
Map of significant trends in precipitation, according to GPCP v2.2. (contributed by A. Pendergrass)
GPCP (Monthly): Global Precipitation Climatology Project
Years of Record: 1979/01 to 2015/11
Data from rain gauge stations, satellites, and sounding observations have been merged to estimate monthly rainfall on a 2.5-degree global grid from 1979 to the present. The careful combination of satellite-based rainfall estimates provides the most complete analysis of rainfall available to date...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | binary Timestep: Climatology,Monthly Domain: Global
See Expert Guidance by Pendergrass, Angeline
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
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
Historical land-cover changes and land-use conversions global data set by Meiyappan and Jain
Years of Record: 1800/01 to 2010/12
A set of three estimates of land-cover types and annual transformations of land use are provided on a global 0.5°x0.5° grid at annual timesteps. The longest of the three estimates spans 1770-2010. The three estimates use three different data sets of cropland and pastureland. Common input data...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF Timestep: Annual Domain: Global
See Expert Guidance by Meiyappan, Prasanth
HOAPS: Hamburg Ocean Atmosphere Parameters and Fluxes from Satellite Data
Years of Record: 1987/01 to 2008/12
The Hamburg Ocean Atmosphere Parameters and Fluxes from Satellite Data (HOAPS) set is a satellite-based climatology of precipitation, evaporation and freshwater budget (evaporation minus precipitation) as well as related turbulent heat fluxes and atmospheric state variables over the global ice free...
Formats: netCDF Timestep: Climatology,Sub-daily,Monthly,Pentad Domain: Global
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
ISCCP: International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project
Years of Record: 1983/07 to 2009/12
The International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) makes use of routine observations by operational weather satellites to provide a long-term (1983-2009), gridded, global record of cloud properties. ISCCP uses observations in the visible and infrared window portions of the spectrum to...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | binary | HDF Timestep: Climatology,Sub-daily,Monthly Domain: Global
See Expert Guidance by Pincus, Robert
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
Kaplan Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies
Years of Record: 1856/01 to 2017/08
The most up-to-date version is known as Kaplan Extended SST v2, which combines statistically infilled grids of UK Met Office SSTs for 1856-1981 with a statistically reduced and coarser resolution version of Smith and Reynolds Optimally Interpolated (OI) SSTs for 1981 to present. Those desiring only...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF Timestep: Monthly Domain: Global
See Expert Guidance by Kaplan, Alexy
Liquid Water Path (LWP): UWisc climatology
Years of Record: 1998/01 to 2008/12
"This work describes a new climatology of cloud liquid water path (LWP), termed the University of Wisconsin (UWisc) climatology, derived from 18 yr of satellite-based passive microwave observations over the global oceans. The climatology is based on a modern retrieval methodology applied...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF Timestep: Climatology,Monthly Domain: Global
MEaSUREs Northern Hemisphere Terrestrial Snow Cover Extent Daily 25km EASE-Grid 2.0
Years of Record: 1999/01 to 2012/01
"This data set offers users 25 km Northern Hemisphere snow cover extent represented by four different variables. Three of the snow cover variables are derived from the Interactive Multisensor Snow and Ice Mapping System, MODIS Cloud Gap Filled Snow Cover, and passive microwave brightness...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF Timestep: Daily Domain: NH - Northern Hemisphere
MEaSUREs: Northern Hemisphere Terrestrial Snow Cover Extent Weekly 100km EASE-Grid 2.0
Years of Record: 1966/10 to 2012/12
"This data set offers users weekly 100 km Northern Hemisphere snow cover extent represented by three different variables. Two of the variables are derived from individual source products: the NOAA/NCDC Northern Hemisphere Snow Cover Extent Climate Data Record and Defense Meteorological Satellite...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF Timestep: Weekly Domain: NH - Northern Hemisphere
Merged Hadley-NOAA/OI Sea Surface Temperature & Sea-Ice Concentration (Hurrell et al, 2008)
Years of Record: 1870/01 to 2016/03
The merged Hadley-OI sea surface temperature (SST) and sea ice concentration (SIC) data sets were specifically developed as surface forcing data sets for AMIP style uncoupled simulations of the Community Atmosphere Model (CAM). The Hadley Centre's SST/SIC version 1.1 (HADISST1), which is derived...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF Timestep: Monthly Domain: Global, Antarctic, Arctic, NH - Northern Hemisphere, SH - Southern Hemisphere
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
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
NASA MERRA
Years of Record: 1979/01 to 2016/11
The Modern Era Retrospective-Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) was undertaken by NASA’s Global Modeling and Assimilation Office with two primary objectives: to place observations from NASA’s Earth Observing System satellites into a climate context and to improve upon the hydrologic...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | HDF Timestep: Sub-daily,Monthly Domain: Global
NCAR Sea Level Pressure
Years of Record: 1899/01 to 2017/07
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
NCEP Reanalysis (R2)
Years of Record: 1979/01 to 2017/09
NCEP-DOE Reanalysis II (R2) is an improved version of the NCEP-NCAR Reanalysis I (R1). The improvements include an updated model with better physical parameterizations, assorted data assimilation errors were fixed and additional data were included. Still, it is still a 'first generation' product.
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | GRIB Timestep: Sub-daily,Daily,Monthly Domain: Global
NCEP-NCAR (R1): An Overview
Years of Record: 1948/01 to 2017/09
NCEP-NCAR (R1) is the original reanalysis effort. It uses a frozen global state-of-the-art global data assimilation system (as of 11 January 1995). The original database was enhanced (additional, quality checked datasets) by NCAR's Data Support Section. Originally planned to span 1957-96 ("40-Year...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | GRIB Timestep: Sub-daily,Daily,Monthly Domain: Global
Climate Data Guide Image: NLDAS July 1980-2009 climatologies
NLDAS: North American Land Data Assimilation System
Years of Record: 1980/01 to 2014/12
The goal of the North American Land Data Assimilation System (NLDAS) is to construct quality-controlled, and spatially and temporally consistent, land-surface model (LSM) datasets from the best available observations and model output to support modeling activities. Data sets are available on hourly...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | GRIB Timestep: Climatology,Sub-daily,Monthly Domain: North America
Climate Data Guide image
NOAA 20th-Century Reanalysis, Version 2 and 2c
Years of Record: 1850/12 to 2014/12
The Twentieth Century Reanalysis (20CR) provides a comprehensive global atmospheric circulation data set spanning 1850-2014. Its chief motivation is to provide an observational validation data set, with quantified uncertainties, for assessing climate model simulations of the 20th century, with...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | GRIB Timestep: Sub-daily,Daily,Monthly Domain: Global
Climate Data Guide Image: OAFlux
OAFlux: Objectively Analyzed air-sea Fluxes for the global oceans.
Years of Record: 1958/01 to 2012/12
"The OAFlux project aims to provide consistent, multi-decade, global analysis of air-sea heat, freshwater (evaporation), and momentum fluxes for use in studies of global energy budget, water cycle, atmosphere and ocean circulation, and climate. The OAFlux project is so called because it applies...
Formats: netCDF Timestep: Daily,Monthly Domain: Global
Ocean heat content: ARGO
Ocean heat content for 10-1500m depth based on Argo
Years of Record: 2005/01 to 2011/12
A regularly updated monthly timeseries of ocean heat content, based on Argo profiles, is integrated over 10-1500m depth and the latitudes 60°S-60°N. Coverage begins in 2005. It is estimated based on the method described in von Schuckmann and Le Traon (2011) and discussed in the context of other...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF Timestep: Monthly Domain: Global
See Expert Guidance by von Schuckmann, Karina
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
Outgoing Longwave Radiation (OLR): HIRS
Years of Record: 1979/01 to 2012/12
"The new Climate Data Record (CDR) provides daily global climate data that are valuable as inputs into Radiation Budget Studies and verifying numerical models and can identify the variations in tropical clouds and rainfall that drive global weather patterns. The daily climate data of OLR can...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF Timestep: Daily,Monthly Domain: Global
Outgoing Longwave Radiation (OLR): AVHRR
Years of Record: 1974/06 to 2013/12
OLR (Outgoing Longwave Radiation) is a measure of the amount of energy emitted to space by earth's surface, oceans and atmosphere. As such, it is a critical component of the earth's radiation budget. In a different context, OLR values are often used as a proxy for convection in tropical and...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF Timestep: Climatology,Sub-daily,Daily,Monthly Domain: Global
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
rainfall estimates during Hurican Katrina from PERSIANN-CDR (contributed by H. Ashouri)
PERSIANN-CDR: Precipitation Estimation from Remotely Sensed Information using Artificial Neural Networks - Climate Data Record
Years of Record: 1983/01 to 2017/06
The Precipitation Estimation from Remotely Sensed Information using Artificial Neural Networks- Climate Data Record (PERSIANN-CDR) provides daily rainfall estimates at a spatial resolution of 0.25 degrees in the latitude band 60S - 60N from 1983 to the near-present. The precipitation...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | binary Timestep: Sub-daily,Daily Domain: Global
See Expert Guidance by Ashouri, Hamed | See Expert Guidance by Gehne, Maria
Climate Data Guide Image: PREC/L
Precipitation Reconstruction Land (PREC/L): 1948-present
Years of Record: 1948/01 to 2017/08
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
PRISM 30-year normal precipitation climatology
PRISM High-Resolution Spatial Climate Data for the United States: Max/min temp, dewpoint, precipitation
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 United States. In-situ point measurements are ingested into the PRISM (Parameter elevation Regression on Independent Slopes Model)...
Formats: netCDF | ARC/INFO ASCII GRID Timestep: Climatology,Monthly Domain: North America
Climate Data Guide QuikSCAT image1
QuikSCAT: near sea-surface wind speed and direction
Years of Record: 1999/08 to 2009/10
The QuikSCAT mission was intended to obtain sea-surface wind speed and direction data under all weather and cloud conditions over Earth's oceans. SeaWinds, an active radar scatterometer, is the main instrument on the QuikSCAT satellite. The microwave backscatter measured by SeaWinds is dependent on...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | binary Timestep: Daily,Monthly,Weekly Domain: Global
See Expert Guidance by Ricciardulli, Lucrezia
Radiative kernels from climate models
The radiative kernel technique is a method used to quantify radiative feedbacks in response to global warming.  Radiative kernels are commonly calculated for the water vapor, lapse rate, temperature and albedo feedbacks.  Radiative kernels are used to deconstruct the various contributions...
Formats: netCDF Timestep: Climatology Domain: Global
See Expert Guidance by Pendergrass, Angeline
RAPID: monitoring the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation at 26.5°N
Years of Record: 2004/04 to 2015/10
"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
Sea Ice Concentration data from AMSR-E, AMSR2 & SSMIS, U Bremen and U Hamburg ASI algorithm
Years of Record: 2002/06 to 2011/10
The sea ice data derived from AMSR-E using the ARTIST sea ice (ASI) algorithm offer a factor of 4 finer spatial resolution than most sea ice data sets from passive microwave satellite instruments. ASI is based on the difference of vertically and horizontally polarized brightness temperatures at 89...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | HDF | GeoTIFF Timestep: Daily Domain: NH - Northern Hemisphere, SH - Southern Hemisphere, Antarctic, Arctic
Climate Data Guide Image: HADISST ice concentrations
Sea Ice Concentration data from HadISST
Years of Record: 1870/01 to 2017/06
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
Climate Data Guide Image: Sea Ice Concentration data; Goddard Bootstrap
Sea Ice Concentration data from NASA Goddard and NSIDC based on Bootstrap algorithm
Years of Record: 1978/10 to 2014/12
Bootstrap sea ice refers to a well-known algorithm used to estimate sea ice concentration from passive microwave brightness temperatures. It can be applied to data from many satellite instruments, such as SMMR, SSMI, and AMSR-E. This page discusses the algorithm itself and the long-term data set ("...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | binary Timestep: Daily,Monthly Domain: Antarctic, Arctic, NH - Northern Hemisphere, SH - Southern Hemisphere
Artic sea ice: NASA Team
Sea Ice Concentration data from NASA Goddard and NSIDC based on NASA Team algorithm
Years of Record: 1978/10 to 2014/12
NASA Team sea ice refers to a well-known algorithm used to estimate sea ice concentration from passive microwave brightness temperatures. This page discusses the algorithm itself and the long-term data set ("NSIDC 0051") produced by scientists at NASA Goddard and distributed by NSIDC. The NASA Team...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | binary Timestep: Daily,Monthly Domain: Antarctic, Arctic, NH - Northern Hemisphere, SH - Southern Hemisphere
Arctic sea ice: NOAA OI
Sea Ice Concentration data from NOAA OI
Years of Record: 1854/01 to 2016/12
The NOAA Optimal Interpolation (OI) v2 sea ice data set contains gridded, weekly or monthly resolution sea ice concentration estimates for both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. It is intended as a consistent analyses for input into SST analyses (and is the basis for calculating SSTs in sea...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF Timestep: Monthly,Weekly Domain: Antarctic, Arctic, NH - Northern Hemisphere, SH - Southern Hemisphere
Artic sea ice: Eumetsat reprocessed.
Sea Ice Concentration data reprocessed from SSMR & SSMI, by Eumetsat
Years of Record: 1978/10 to 2009/10
The Eumetsat Ocean and Sea Ice Satellite Applications Facility provides a "reprocessed" data set of Arctic and Antarctic sea ice concentration for 1978-2009. Source data are the SMMR and SSM/I passive microwave brightness temperatures. Three algorithms are utilized: the Technical University of...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF Timestep: Daily Domain: NH - Northern Hemisphere, SH - Southern Hemisphere, Antarctic, Arctic
Arctic sea ice: Climate Data Record
Sea Ice Concentration: NOAA/NSIDC Climate Data Record
Years of Record: 1978/10 to 2015/05
The NOAA/NSIDC Climate Data Record (CDR) of sea ice concentration is available at 25 x 25 km spatial resolution in daily or monthly timesteps for 1987-2014. It provides a consistent interpretation of sea ice for the satellite record, with the intent of being suitable for studies of climate...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF Timestep: Daily,Monthly Domain: Antarctic, Arctic, NH - Northern Hemisphere, SH - Southern Hemisphere
See Expert Guidance by Meier, Walter
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
SEVIRI: Cloud Mask Dataset: Very High Resolution
Years of Record: 2004/01 to 2012/12
The SEVIRI cloud mask dataset has been generated and released by the EUMETSAT Satellite Application Facility on Climate Monitoring (CM SAF) to enhance the cloud property dataset CLAAS. The SEVIRI cloud mask dataset contains the cloud mask in 15 minutes temporal resolution. The dataset is pixel...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | HDF Timestep: Sub-daily,Daily,Monthly Domain: Africa, Atlantic Ocean, Europe
NH Snow Cover Extent, contributed by D. Robinson
Snow Cover Extent (Northern Hemisphere) Climate Data Record, by Rutgers
Years of Record: 1966/10 to 2017/06
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
SOCAT: Surface Ocean CO2 Atlas
Years of Record: 1970/01 to 2007/12
SOCAT (Surface Ocean CO2 Atlas)  represents an effort to "provide a comprehensive, publicly available, regularly updated, global data set of marine surface CO2, which had been subject to quality control (QC)." The data sets are comprised of observations (ship track) and gridded data.
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF Timestep: Climatology,Monthly,Annual Domain: Global
SODA: Simple Ocean Data Assimilation
Years of Record: 1870/01 to 2010/12
The Simple Ocean Data Assimilation, or SODA, analysis is an ocean reanalysis data set consisting of gridded variables for the global ocean, as well as several derived fields. The goal is to provide an improved estimate of ocean state from those based solely on observations or numerical simulations.
Formats: netCDF Timestep: Monthly Domain: Global
Southern Oscillation Indices: Signal, Noise and Tahiti/Darwin SLP (SOI)
Years of Record: 1866/01 to 2016/01
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: SSMI (v7) monthly mean rain rate for July, 2012.
SSMI Version 7: Ocean Product Suite
The Ocean Product Suite (v7) from Remote Sensing Systems (RSS) is available in netCDF (v4) format. The RSS Ocean Product Suite includes numerous data products for the SSMI/SSMIS instruments on the DMSP F08, F10, F11, F13, F14, F15, F17 polar orbiting satellites. These are part of the NASA Making...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF Timestep: Sub-daily,Daily,Monthly Domain: Global
Climate Data Guide Image: AMSR-E: Standard error of 'tos' (SST) for July 2006.
SST (AMSR-E): Sea Surface Temperature from Remote Sensing Systems
Years of Record: 2002/06 to 2010/12
High resolution (0.25°) SSTs were derived from the AMSR-E, a passive microwave radiometer flying on NASA's AQUA satellite. Remote Sensing Systems distributes the data in high spatial and temporal (daily, weekly, monthly) resolutions for both daytime and nighttime averages. Monthly versions are...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | binary Timestep: Daily,Monthly,Weekly Domain: Global
Climate Data Guide Image: SST data: AVHRR Pathfinder v5.2, NOAA NODC
SST data: AVHRR Pathfinder v5.2, NOAA NODC
Years of Record: 1981/01 to 2011/12
"The AVHRR Pathfinder Version 5.2 (PFV52) data set was computed using an entirely modernized system, based on SeaDAS and incorporating several key changes over the older Pathfinder V5.0 and V5.1 datasets. PFV52 is viewed as a significant step forward in preparation for the future Version 6 (PFV6)...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF Timestep: Sub-daily Domain: Global
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 2017/06
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 2014/10
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
Climate Data Guide ERSST anomalies contributed by B Huang
SST data: NOAA Extended Reconstruction SSTs, version 3 (ERSSTv3 & 3b)
Years of Record: 1854/01 to 2017/08
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: 1854/01 to 2016/12
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
SST data: NOAA High-resolution (0.25x0.25) Blended Analysis of Daily SST and Ice, OISSTv2
Years of Record: 1981/09 to 2017/08
"NOAA’s Optimum Interpolation Sea Surface temperature (OISST, also known as Reynolds’ SST) is a series of global analysis products, including the weekly OISST on a 1° grid to the more recent daily on a ¼° grid. An SST analysis is a spatially gridded product created by interpolating and...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | binary Timestep: Daily Domain: Global
See Expert Guidance by Banzon, Viva | See Expert Guidance by Reynolds, Richard
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 2017/08
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.
Vertical profiles of December climatologies at (65N,270E) for Forcing and RPC.
Stratospheric & Tropospheric Ozone: ACC/SPARC (Atmospheric Chemistry and Climate / Stratospheric Processes and their Role in Climate)
Years of Record: 1850/01 to 2099/12
"The AC...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF Timestep: Monthly Domain: Global
Climate Data Guide Image: CCMVal2 climatological O3 range (1979-2007).
Stratospheric Ozone: Vertically Resolved, zonal mean based on BDBP
Years of Record: 1979/01 to 2007/12
Combined monthly mean vertical ozone profile database spanning the period 1979 to 2007. The database is completely filled such that there are no missing data. The raw individual ozone data are sourced from the BDBP database.  Monthly means are calculated from individual ozone measurements...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF Timestep: Monthly Domain: Global
See Expert Guidance by Hassler, Birgit
NOCv2.0 Surface Flux and Meteorological Dataset (contributed by E. Kent)
Surface Flux and Meteorological Dataset: National Oceanography Centre (NOC) V2.0
Years of Record: 1973/01 to 2014/12
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 fluxes constructed using optimal interpolation. Input for the period 1973 to 2006 are ICOADS Release 2.4 ship data and the...
Formats: netCDF Timestep: Monthly Domain: Global
See Expert Guidance by Kent, Elizabeth
Surface Solar Radiation Data Set - Heliosat (SARAH) -Edition 1
Years of Record: 1983/01 to 2013/12
"The Surface Solar Radiation Data Set - Heliosat (SARAH) is a satellite-based climatology of the solar surface irradiance (SIS), the surface direct normalized irradiance (DNI) and the effective cloud albedo (CAL) derived from satellite observations of the visible channels of the MVIRI and SEVIRI...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF Timestep: Sub-daily,Daily,Monthly Domain: Africa, Europe, NH - Northern Hemisphere, SH - Southern Hemisphere
Surface Solar Radiation for Europe, Africa and the Atlantic based on MVIRI visible channnels
Years of Record: 1983/01 to 2005/12
The EUMETSAT Satellite Application Facility on Climate Monitoring (CM SAF) provides a regional dataset of surface solar radiation, incoming direct radiation and effective cloud albedo at uniquely high spatial (0.03 deg) and temporal (up to hourly) resolutions for 1983 to 2005. The data set covers...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF Timestep: Sub-daily,Daily,Monthly Domain: Africa, Europe, South America, Atlantic Ocean
See Expert Guidance by Trentmann, Jörg
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
TRMM: Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission
Years of Record: 1998/01 to 2016/10
Note: After 17 years (1997-4/2015)  the TRMM mission came to an end. NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) stopped TRMM’s science operations and data collection on April 8, 2015 after the spacecraft depleted its fuel reserves. The Global Precipitation Mission (GPM) is the...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF | HDF Timestep: Sub-daily,Daily,Monthly Domain: Tropics
See Expert Guidance by Huffman, George J. | See Expert Guidance by Pendergrass, Angeline
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
Climate Data Guide Image: WASWind
WASWind: Wave and Anemometer-based Sea Surface Wind
Years of Record: 1950/01 to 2011/12
"WASWind (Wave and Anemometer-based Sea Surface Wind) provides a bias-corrected marine surface wind dataset over the global oceans. Variables include scalar, zonal and meridional winds at 10-meter high, and zonal and meridional components of wind stress. WASWind has been constructed from wind...
Main variables and Earth System components:
Formats: netCDF Timestep: Monthly Domain: Global
See Expert Guidance by Tokinaga, Hiroki
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
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