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Main navigation Climate Data Guide CDG Contact Us Search Home About Mission & Vision People & Sponsors Board of Advisors Get Involved Climate Data Atmosphere Climate Indices Cryosphere Land Ocean Paleoclimate Reanalysis Tools & Methods Network of Experts Updates Search CDG Contact Us Data discovery guided by experts Gain data wisdom "One golden observation is worth a thousand simulations." - from the Ten Extra Commandments for Climate Modeling by J.E. Kutzbach Welcome to the Climate Data Guide ! The Climate Data Guide (or " Guide ") is an expert knowledge portal providing concise and reliable information on the strengths and limitations of the climate data that are essential for measuring and predicting physical climate risk. The Guide publishes data summaries with access links, intercomparisons, and expert commentaries on the utility of climate data for addressing a wide variety of questions in climate science. The Guide has helped over a million readers from around the world gain an insider’s perspective on data ranging from AI-generated precipitation data to state-of-the-art data assimilation products (e.g. reanalysis) to paleoclimate records from tree rings and corals. Learn More Dataset categories View our datasets by the main variables and Earth System components Atmosphere Atmospheric variables include temperature, precipitation, wind, pressure, clouds, greenhouse gases, and much more. Explore overview pages and a curated list of the most-used data sets, many of them discussed by experts. Climate Indices Climate indices are simple diagnostic quantities that are used to characterize an aspect of a geophysical system such as a circulation pattern. Climate Indices track droughts, ENSO events, wind patterns, internal modes of climate variability, and extreme events like wildfires and heatwaves. Climate indices play a key role in climate monitoring and prediction. Cryosphere Cryospheric variables include sea ice concentration, sea ice thickness, snow cover, permafrost, and more. See a curated list of the most-used data sets, many of them discussed by experts. Land Soil moisture, vegetation coverage, surface radiation budgets and more. See a carefully curated list of the most-used data sets, many of them discussed by experts. Ocean Sea surface temperature, salinity, currents, air-sea heat fluxes, sea level, ocean heat content, and more. Paleoclimate Paleoclimate data are derived from Earth’s natural climate archives, including tree rings, ice cores, corals, speleothems, and ocean sediments. Such records are used to broaden the sampling of climate variability beyond what is possible from the instrumental record. Reanalysis Comprehensive weather and climate datasets, reanalyses assimilate a variety of observations of the atmosphere, land surface, and ocean into a forecast model to provide a dynamically consistent estimate of the climate state at each time step. Explore all datasets NCAR NCAR Homepage ACOM | Atmospheric Chemistry Observations & Modeling CGD | Climate & Global Dynamics CISL | Computational & Information Systems EdEC | Education, Engagement & Early-Career Development EOL | Earth Observing Laboratory HAO | High Altitude Observatory MMM | Mesoscale & Microscale Meteorology RAL | Research Applications Laboratory UCAR UCAR Homepage Community Programs Diversity & Inclusion Education & Training For Staff Government Relations & External Engagement Member Institutions Tech Transfer & Engagement University Collaboration Climate Data Guide Funded by NSF Based at NCAR Project of Climate Analysis Section in Climate and Global Dynamics Laboratory Created by Climate Data Guide PIs and Staff Follow Climate & Global Dynamics © 2024 UCAR Privacy Cookies Accessibility Terms of Use Copyright Issues Sponsored by U.S. NSF Report Ethics Concern Staff Login Postal Address: P.O. Box 3000, Boulder, CO 80307-3000 • Shipping Address: 3090 Center Green Drive, Boulder, CO 80301 This material is based upon work supported by the NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research, a major facility sponsored by the U.S. National Science Foundation and managed by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science...