Climate Data Service

UPDATE: I’ve already received some feedback, so before long I’ll be offering more options — e.g., choose csv or tab-delimited files. As I say, the service will evolve based on subscriber feedback.

Also, to let folks know, the first release will include over 500 time series at monthly resolution and a smattering of daily data. More will be added as time progresses and requests accumulate, and won’t necessarily be limited to time series data.

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UPDATE 2:

To the many who have subscribed already, thank you.

You’ll receive your first installment tomorrow (Apr. 12). As with everything new, there are bound to be some rough edges. Improvement will depend on subscriber feedback, so don’t be shy.

Of particular note is the format (by which I mean, how data are split into files and in what order they appear). All decisions are up to the management (me), but believe me when I say that your opinions count. Together, we can make this better and better.

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We love climate data. We love to see it for ourselves, plot it in new ways, just go exploring for what we can find. Fortunately, a great deal of it is freely available on the internet.

But — it’s not always so easy to work with. Everybody’s data file is in a different format. Some are easy to use and import to various programs, but some are a royal pain. And, there are some things we always want to do — like transforming data to anomaly values — which we then have to do ourselves. We may want to compare different data sources, which can require loading multiple files, formatting them, computing anomalies, aligning the data sources. And we have to go through the whole thing again when new data are released. Winnie the Pooh would describe it as a “bother.”

Wouldn’t it be nice if the major sources of climate data were retrieved for you on a regular basis? If different sources were combined into a small number of files, properly time-aligned? If anomalies were already computed where appropriate? If they were delivered in a friendly form — as csv files?

I’ve decided to offer a new service, a climate data subscription service. All the data are available online, what this service does is make them easy as pie to play with, and deliver them to your inbox twice a month. If you subscribe by April 30th, the fee is only $25 for a 1-year subscription, which works out to a mere $2.08 per month. That will get you data files twice a month for twelve months … at which time you can renew your subscription if you wish.

Data will come in “csv” format — the most friendly, accessible to almost all computer programs, and will include:

Global and Hemispheric temperature from the major sources, including NASA GISS, NOAA/NCEI, HadCRU, RSS, and UAH

CO2 concentration from Mauna Loa

Multivariate el Niño Index MEI

Sea Level from the University of Colorado

Sea ice extent and area, both monthly and daily

Snow cover

U.S. State-by-State temperature, precipitation, and drought severity

Central England Temperature (mean, max, and min), both monthly and daily

Sunspot counts

Data will be released on the 7th and 21st of each month, except this month’s initial release will be on the 12th (this upcoming Tuesday).

This is just the beginning; service will grow as time passes, and of course subscribers are encouraged to request additions. Furthermore, other services will be made available to subscribers. I intend that as the year progresses, it will expand to cover the needs — and wants — of people everywhere who are interested in climate. As a subscriber, you’ll have a voice in how it evolves.

To enroll, step 1: donate $25 at Peaseblossom’s Closet; step 2: post a comment here (which I will not make public) including your e-mail address, so I know where to send it.