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Solar Energy - the amount of energy received by the Earth at the top of the atmosphere, before it is absorbed and scattered by molecules and aerosols (solid or liquid particles) in the atmosphere. 		Data Set:  

Average Temperature - the monthly average temperature in degrees Celsius during 1987. 		Data Set:  

Cloud Cover - the amount of clouds in 1987 expressed as a percent, from 0% (cloud free) to 100% (totally cloud covered). 		Data Set:  

Precipitation - the total accumulation of precipitation during each month of 1987. 		Data Set:  

Soil Moisture - the fraction of the volume of soil that was water during each month of 1987. 		Data Set:  

Vegetation - a measure of the amount of vegetation based on data from NOAA satellites for each month of 1987.
Month:  Solar Energy map for January,1987 Average Temperature map for January,1987 Cloud Cover map for January,1987 Precipitation map for January,1987 Soil Moisture map for January,1987 Vegetation map for January,1987
Month:  Solar Energy map for February,1987 Average Temperature map for February,1987 Cloud Cover map for February,1987 Precipitation map for February,1987 Soil Moisture map for February,1987 Vegetation map for February,1987
Month:  Solar Energy map for March,1987 Average Temperature map for March,1987 Cloud Cover map for March,1987 Precipitation map for March,1987 Soil Moisture map for March,1987 Vegetation map for March,1987
Month:  Solar Energy map for April,1987 Average Temperature map for April,1987 Cloud Cover map for April,1987 Precipitation map for April,1987 Soil Moisture map for April,1987 Vegetation map for April,1987
Month:  Solar Energy map for May,1987 Average Temperature map for May,1987 Cloud Cover map for May,1987 Precipitation map for May,1987 Soil Moisture map for May,1987 Vegetation map for May,1987
Month:  Solar Energy map for June,1987 Average Temperature map for June,1987 Cloud Cover map for June,1987 Precipitation map for June,1987 Soil Moisture map for June,1987 Vegetation map for June,1987
Month:  Solar Energy map for July,1987 Average Temperature map for July,1987 Cloud Cover map for July,1987 Precipitation map for July,1987 Soil Moisture map for July,1987 Vegetation map for July,1987
Month:  Solar Energy map for August,1987 Average Temperature map for August,1987 Cloud Cover map for August,1987 Precipitation map for August,1987 Soil Moisture map for August,1987 Vegetation map for August,1987
Month:  Solar Energy map for September,1987 Average Temperature map for September,1987 Cloud Cover map for September,1987 Precipitation map for September,1987 Soil Moisture map for September,1987 Vegetation map for September,1987
Month:  Solar Energy map for October,1987 Average Temperature map for October,1987 Cloud Cover map for October,1987 Precipitation map for October,1987 Soil Moisture map for October,1987 Vegetation map for October,1987
Month:  Solar Energy map for November,1987 Average Temperature map for November,1987 Cloud Cover map for November,1987 Precipitation map for November,1987 Soil Moisture map for November,1987 Vegetation map for November,1987
Month:  Solar Energy map for December,1987 Average Temperature map for December,1987 Cloud Cover map for December,1987 Precipitation map for December,1987 Soil Moisture map for December,1987 Vegetation map for December,1987
Information about the datasets: Parameter derived from satellite observations.

ERBE data from GEDEX CD-ROM.


R. A. Schiffer, 1992. NASA GEDEX CD-ROM Greenhouse Effect Detection Experiment, Selected Datasets for Global Change Research. (USA_NASA_NCDS_GEDEX_003).

ERBE: Earth Radiation Budget Experiment.
GEDEX: Greenhouse Effect Detection Experiment.

Parameter derived from direct measurements and reanalysis model results.

NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis data obtained from NWS.

The NCEP/NCAR 40-Year Reanalysis Project.
E. Kalnay, M. Kanamitsu, R. Kistler, W. Collins, D. Deaven, L. Gandin, M. Iredell, S. Saha, G. White, J. Woollen, Y. Zhu, A. Leetmaa, R. Reynolds
(NCEP Environmental Modeling Center), M. Chelliah, W. Ebisuzaki, W.Higgins, J. Janowiak, K. C. Mo, C. Ropelewski, J. Wang,
(NCEP Climate Prediction Center), Roy Jenne, Dennis Joseph (NCAR) Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, March 1996.

NCEP: National Center for Environmental Predication.
NCAR: National Center for Atmospheric Research.
NWS: National Weather Service.

Parameter derived from direct measurements and satellite observations.

Data from ISCCP C2 dataset obtained from NASA/GISS.

Rossow, W.B., L.C. Garder, P.J. Lu, and A.W. Walker, 1991: International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) Documentation of Cloud Data.
WMO/TD-No. 266, World Meteorological Organization, 76 pp.

ISCCP: International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project
NASA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration
GISS: Goddard Institute for Space Studies.

Parameter derived from direct measurements and satellite observations.

Data from GPCP dataset on ISLSCP CD-ROM.

Thanks to B. Rudolf and U. Schneider of the WCRP Global Precipitation Climatology Centre for Providing the GPCP/GPCC, 1994: Preliminary
1987/88 continental precipitation data sets for ISLSCP on a 1 degree grid based on precipitation-gauge measurements.
B. W. Meeson, F. E. Corprew, J.M.P. McManus, D.M. Myers, J.W. Closs, K.-J. Sun, D.J. Sunday, P.J. Sellers, 1995.
ISLSCP Initiative 1-Global Data Sets for Land-Atmosphere Models, 1987-1988. Volumes 1-5.
Published on CD by NASA (USA_NASA_GDAAC_ISLSCP_001- USA_NASA_GDACC_ISLSCP_005).

GPCP: Global Precipitation Climatology Project.
ISLSCP: International Satellite Land Surface Climatology Project.

Parameter derived from reanalysis model results; no direct measurements.

Mass fraction is the ratio of the mass of water to the mass of dry soil.

NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis data obtained from NWS.

The NCEP/NCAR 40-Year Reanalysis Project.
E. Kalnay, M. Kanamitsu, R. Kistler, W. Collins, D. Deaven, L. Gandin, M. Iredell, S. Saha, G. White, J. Woollen, Y. Zhu, A. Leetmaa, R. Reynolds
(NCEP Environmental Modeling Center), M. Chelliah, W. Ebisuzaki, W.Higgins, J. Janowiak, K. C. Mo, C. Ropelewski, J. Wang,
(NCEP Climate Prediction Center), Roy Jenne, Dennis Joseph (NCAR) Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, March 1996.

NCEP: National Center for Environmental Predication.
NCAR: National Center for Atmospheric Research.
NWS: National Weather Service.

Parameter derived from satellite observations.

Vegetation index represents the fraction of available light used by plants for photosynthesis. To derive the vegetation index a special formula is used to compare two different colors or frequencies of light. Vegetation absorbs more light in one of these bands than the other. So by comparing the amount of radiation observed in these two bands we can get a measure of how much vegetation there is. A high value indicates a lot of vegetation and a low value indicates little vegetation.

FASIR-NDVI data from ISLSCP CD-ROM.

Los, S.O., C.O. Justice, C.J. Tucker, 1994. A global 1 by 1 degree NDVI data set for climate studies derived from the GIMMS continental NDVI data.
International Journal of Remote Sensing, 15(17):3493-3518.
B. W. Meeson, F. E. Corprew, J.M.P. McManus, D.M. Myers, J.W. Closs, K.-J. Sun, D.J. Sunday, P.J. Sellers, 1995.
ISLSCP Initiative 1-Global Data Sets for Land-Atmosphere Models, 1987-1988. Volumes 1-5.
Published on CD by NASA (USA_NASA_GDAAC_ISLSCP_001- USA_NASA_GDACC_ISLSCP_005).

NDVI: Normalized Difference Vegetation Index.
ISLSCP: International Satellite Land Surface Climatology Project.

This display was created for GLOBE by the Geospatial Data Services Group at NOAA's National Geophysical Data Center.
Please send questions or comments to ngdc.gdsg@noaa.gov.