GISS Surface Temperature Analysis

This version of NASA dataset dataset was updated to use NOAA's ERSST v4 on Sep 2 2015. Previously, V3b was used as the SST input.
Go To: Temporal Coverage | Spatial Coverage | Levels | Update Schedule | Download/Plot Data | Restrictions | Details | Caveats | File Naming | Citation | References | Original Source | Contact

One-Line Description:

  • Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) surface temperature analysis for the globe.

Temporal Coverage:

  • Monthly anomalies 1880/01 to present (NASA uses 1951-1980 base period).

Spatial Coverage:

  • 2.0 degree latitude x 2.0 degree longitude global grid (360x180).
  • 89.0N - 80.0S, 1.0E - 359.5E.
Latest available data: Click to Enlarge

Levels:

  • N/A

Update Schedule:

  • Monthly

Download/Plot Data:

Archive parameters:

Variable Statistic Level Download File Create Plot/Subset
Air Temperature Monthly Anomaly: 250km smoothed Surface air.2x2.mon.anom.land.nc plot
Air Temperature Monthly Anomaly: 1200km smoothed Surface air.2x2.mon.anom.land.nc plot
Combined SST/Air Temperature Monthly Anomaly: 250km smoothed Surface air.2x2.mon.anom.comb.nc plot
Combined SST/Air Temperature Monthly Anomaly: 1200km smoothed Surface air.2x2.mon.anom.comb.nc plot

Usage Restrictions:

  • None

Detailed Description:

  • From the NASA webpage: Temperature data is updated "around the middle of every month using current data files from NOAA GHCN v3 (meteorological stations), ERSST v4 (ocean areas), and SCAR (Antarctic stations), combined as described in our December 2010 publication (Hansen et al. 2010). These updated files incorporate reports for the previous month and also late reports and corrections for earlier months." Please refer to the NASA webpage for more details, caveats, and products.

Caveats:

  • None

Related File Naming & Structure Information:

File Names:

  • var.time.stat.nc   (In directory: /Datasets/gistemp/)

Dataset Format and Size:

  • 4 PSD standard NetCDF4 monthly files.

Missing Data:

  • Missing data is flagged with a value of 9999.f

Citation:

  • Please note: If you acquire GISTEMP data products from PSD, we ask that you acknowledge us in your use of the data. This may be done by including text such as GISTEMP data provided by the NOAA/OAR/ESRL PSD, Boulder, Colorado, USA, from their Web site at http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/ in any documents or publications using these data. We would also appreciate receiving a copy of the relevant publications. This will help PSD to justify keeping the GISTEMP data set freely available online in the future. Thank you!

References:

Original Source:

Contact:

  • Physical Sciences Division: Data Management
    NOAA/ESRL/PSD
    325 Broadway
    Boulder, CO 80305-3328
    esrl.psd.data@noaa.gov