A climate data record of atmospheric moisture and sea surface temperature from satellite observations

Climate Data Description

Dataset Title: A climate data record of atmospheric moisture and sea surface temperature from satellite observations

Data Period: June 2002 to May 2022

Spatial Resolution: 0.25° × 0.25° grid

Data Variables: CWV (Column Water Vapor) and SST (Sea Surface Temperature)

1.      Dataset Overview

This climate data record (CDR) provides monthly mean values of two essential climate variables: CWV and SST, covering the period from June 2002 to May 2022. The data is presented at a spatial resolution of 0.25° × 0.25° longitude-latitude grid, providing global ocean coverage.

2.      Data Source

The raw data used to develop the CDR of CWV and SST were derived from observations by three satellite instruments with close local observation time. These instruments are:

§   AMSR-E (Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for Earth Observing System) onboard NASA’s Aqua satellite;

§   AMSR2 (Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-2) onboard JAXA’s Global Change Observation Mission first-Water (GCOM-W1) satellite;

§   MWRI (MicroWave Radiometer Imager) onboard the FengYun-3B (FY3B) satellite, developed by the National Satellite Meteorological Center (NSMC) of the China Meteorological Administration.

3.      Variable Description

CWV: CWV represents the total amount of water vapor in a column of air, measured in units of mm (or kg/m²). This variable affects the global water cycle, particularly the frequency and severity of heavy precipitation and drought events, which have significant impacts on human life and economies.

SST: SST refers to the temperature of the ocean's surface, measured in units of K. SST is a key indicator of human-induced global warming. Changes in SST also influence the ocean-atmosphere exchange of sensible and latent heat fluxes, as well as atmospheric dynamic and thermodynamic processes, through ocean-atmosphere coupling.

4.      File Format

The file name is “Mean_CWV_SST_CDR_S200206_E202205_C202412.nc”, where “S200206”, “E202205”, and “C202412” correspond to the start date, end date, and creation date, respectively.

The dataset is provided in NetCDF format (.nc), a widely-used format for climate and atmospheric data. Each file contains the following variables (dimensions):

§   time (240): the days since 2000-01-01;

§   lon (1440): longitude, unites: degree east;

§   lat (721): latitude, units: degree north;

§   cwv (240,1440,721): Column Water Vapor, units: mm;

§   sst (240,1440,721): Sea Surface Temperature, units: K.