CRUTEM4 dataset

Update: CRUTEM4 has been updated to version CRUTEM.4.2.0.0. Details of this update can be found here.

CRUTEM4 is a gridded dataset of global historical near-surface air temperature anomalies over land. Data are available for each month from January 1850 to present, on a 5 degree grid. The dataset is a collaborative product of the Met Office Hadley Centre and the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia. Release notes for this version (CRUTEM.4.2.0.0) are available here. Previous versions of the CRUTEM4 dataset are available here.

The CRUTEM4 dataset is updated on a monthly basis. Although CRUTEM4 supersedes CRUTEM3, updates to the CRUTEM3 dataset are still available from the CRUTEM3 hadobs page.

Brief description of the data

The gridded data are based on an archive of monthly mean temperatures provided by more than 5500 weather stations distributed around the world. Each station temperature is converted to an anomaly from the 1961-90 average temperature for that station, and each grid-box value is the mean of all the station anomalies within that grid box. As well as the mean anomaly, estimates are made of the uncertainties arising from thermometer accuracy, homogenisation, sampling grid boxes with a finite number of measurements available, large-scale biases such as urbanisation and estimation of regional averages with non-complete global measurement coverage.

Data are available from the download page without charge for the purposes of private study and scientific research, but please read the terms and conditions. You do not have to register, but it will help us if you do. For problems getting or understanding the data, or to suggest some improvement please leave feedback. If you find the data useful, please return and tell us what you did with it. Commercial and media enquiries You can access the Met Office Customer Centre, any time of the day or night by phone, fax or e-mail. Trained staff will help you find the information or products that are right for you. Contact the Met Office Customer Centre References When using the data set in a paper, the following is the correct citation to use: Jones, P. D., D. H. Lister, T. J. Osborn, C. Harpham, M. Salmon, and C. P. Morice (2012), Hemispheric and large-scale land surface air temperature variations: An extensive revision and an update to 2010, J. Geophys. Res., 117, D05127, doi:10.1029/2011JD017139

Other information

Various diagnostics are produced from the monthly gridded fields. These include global and regional time-series.

Dataset version information and previous versions.

Dataset produced in collaboration with:

Maintained by: Colin Morice Last updated: 25/01/2012 Expires: 25/01/2013 Hosted by: Met Office Hadley Centre

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