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Facilitating Access to Global Observing Systems Data and Information

Observational Datasets in Support of the IPCC

** These links represent only a selected subset of the datasets used by the IPCC **

Updated April 16, 2010

Data Access Links:

  • GCOS Essential Climate Variable (ECV) Data Access Matrix
  • AR4 Observations (CRUTEM3, NCDC, GISS, LUGINA et al.) four datasets were used in the report to evaluate trends over the past century. These are available either as global and hemispheric aggregates or as low resolution (5 degrees by 5 degrees) spatial fields.
  • IPCC High Resolution Observational Climatologies: a high resolution data set prepared by the Climatic Research Unit (CRU). This dataset is not, however, considered to have the same reliability for studies of long term trends as the low resolution CRU dataset which was included in the AR4 assessment. This dataset is available in NetCDF and GeoTIFF (GIS compatible) format.
  • Climatic Research Unit (CRU) data The CRU is widely recognised as one of the world's leading institutions concerned with the study of natural and anthropogenic climate change. The aim of the CRU is to improve scientific understanding in three areas: past climate history and its impact on humanity, the course and causes of climate change during the present century and prospects for the future.
  • Previous version of Climatic Research Unit (CRU) data These data have been superced by the new versions above, but are preserved in the archive.
  • Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set (COADS) at NOAA The historical surface marine record, presently covering more than 200 years, is maintained through the ICOADS project. The original COADS project, and the continuing US contribution toward the new international database, ICOADS, is the result of a cooperative effort between NOAA -- its NESDIS/National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) and its OAR/Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL) -- and the National Science Foundation's National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). ICOADS provides a standard of comparison and gives meaning and context to the environmental measurements being collected daily around the globe.
  • Climate Diagnostics Centre at NOAA The Climate Diagnostics Center conducts weather and climate research to observe and understand Earth's physical environment, and to improve weather and climate predictions on global-to-local scales.
  • Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) GPCP provides global analyses of monthly precipitation derived from satellite and surface measurements.
  • Global Precipitation Climatology Centre (GPCC) The GPCC provides global precipitation analyses for monitoring and research of the earth's climate. The centre is a German contribution to the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) and to the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) and is located at the Deutscher Wetterdienst.
  • World Data Center for Meteorology - Asheville WDC-A is one component of a global network of discipline subcenters that facilitate international exchange of scientific data. In accordance with the principles set forth by ICSU, the WDC-A acquires, catalogues, and archives data and makes them available to requesters in the international scientific community. Data are exchanged with counterparts, WDC for Meteorology, Obninsk and WDC for Meteorology, Beijing as necessary to improve access. Special research data sets prepared under international programs such as the IGY, World Climate Program (WCP), Global Atmospheric Research Program (GARP), etc., are archived and made available to the research community. All data and special data sets contributed to the WDC are available to scientific investigators without restriction.
  • NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis Data More than 20 different data products are output from the Reanalysis data assimilation, model run, and model forecast. These products are defined in terms of the NCAR archive names, physical variables, resolutions (temporal and spatial), and media storage size.CD/ DVD are also used to distribute selected reanalysis products.
  • National Centre for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Data Support System (DSS) This 55-terabyte-and-growing archive, composed of more than 600 datasets, is made up of a high-quality collection of observations and analyzed atmospheric, oceanographic, and related data.
  • Access to other Climate Research Data Sources

Reference Documents and Web Sites: