ERALClim - annual global climate variables derived from ERA5-Land reanalysis data

If you use this dataset please cite the accompanying paper (Lea et al., 2024)

Maps of key (bio-)climatic variables derived from all currently available ERA5-Land reanalysis data (Muñoz Sabater et al., 2019). These have been calculated for:

1. Annual timescales from 1951-2022 (this dataset); and

2. All possible World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) 30 year climate baseline periods, including: 1951 to 1980; 1961 to 1990; 1971 to 2000; 1981 to 2010; and 1991 to 2020 (see link).

Annual timescale data are calculated using monthly statistics using calendar months that account for leap years. WMO baseline maps are calculated by taking the mean of all annual timescale ERALClim maps that fall within the time periods stated above (inclusive). Image bands are named to map onto equivalent BioClim variables (Fick and Hijmans, 2017).

Global data are provided here in GeoTIFF format as multiband images (where each band represents a different year/variable depending on the data downloaded) at a spatial scale of 0.1 degrees within a WGS84 grid (EPSG:4326). If users require data from point locations and/or subset regions for a specific time range or for a custom range of variables, these can be easily accessed using the Google Earth Engine Climate Tool (GEEClimT; Lea et al.). Access to this tool requires a Google Earth Engine account, and is free to use for academic research and education purposes. If you use any data extracted using this tool, please cite Lea et al., 2024.

Descriptions of each band within the dataset are listed below:

bio1 - Mean 2 m air temperature derived from hourly data (units: degrees C).

bio2 - Annual mean of monthly mean diurnal 2 m air temperature ranges (units: degrees C).

bio3 - Isothermality (100 * bio2 / bio7) (no units).

bio4 - Standard deviation of monthly mean 2 m air temperatures (units: degrees C).

bio5 - Mean of maximum 2 m air temperature for the warmest month (units: degrees C).

bio6 - Mean of minimum 2 m air temperature for the coldest month (units: degrees C).

bio7 - Annual range of 2 m air temperature (bio5 - bio6) (units: degrees C).

bio8 - Mean 2 m air temperature of wettest 3 month period (units: degrees C).

bio9 - Mean 2 m air temperature of driest 3 month period (units: degrees C).

bio10 - Mean 2 m air temperature of warmest 3 month period (units: degrees C).

bio11 - Mean 2 m air temperature of coldest 3 month period (units: degrees C).

bio12 - Total annual precipitation (units: mm).

bio13 - Total precipitation of wettest month (units: mm).

bio14 - Total precipitation of driest month (units: mm).

bio15 - Precipitation Seasonality (Coefficient of Variation, based on monthly total precipitation data) (no units).

bio16 - Total precipitation in wettest 3 month period (units: mm).

bio17 - Total precipitation in driest 3 month period (units: mm).

bio18 - Total precipitation in warmest 3 month period (units: mm).

bio19 - Total precipitation in coldest 3 month period (units: mm).