ISLSCP II Climate Research Unit CRU05 Monthly Climate Data ############################################################################# File Name Convention -------------------- This data set contains a mean monthly climatology for several climate variables averaged over the period from 1961 to 1990. There are 23 data files in this data set which includes 22 compressed (*.zip) files and 1 ASCII changemap file. The .zip files are named using the following convention: cru5_variable_Xdeg_1961-90.zip where: cru5 - identifies these data as CRU version 5. variable - is the climate variable name. See the table below for a list of the variables and abbreviations used in the file names. Xdeg - identifies the spatial resolution of the data: Can be "1d" for 1-degree or "hd" for half-degree resolutions in both latitude and longitude. 1961-90 -identifies the data as monthly averages for the entire period of record 1961 through 1990. There is also 1 changemap ASCII file; see the file names and descriptions below: 1. cru5_cloud_covr_1d_1961-90.zip - 12 *.asc files (1 per month averaged for 1961-1990) 2. cru5_cloud_covr_hd_1961-90.zip - 24 files: 12 *.asc files and 12 *.dif files (1 per month averaged for 1961-1990) 3. cru5_diurnal_tmp_1d_1961-90.zip - 12 *.asc files (1 per month averaged for 1961-1990) 4. cru5_diurnal_tmp_hd_1961-90.zip - 24 files: 12 *.asc files and 12 *.dif files (1 per month averages for 1961-1990) 5. cru5_frost_freq_1d_1961-90.zip - 12 *.asc files (1 per month averaged for 1961-1990) 6. cru5_frost_freq_hd_1961-90.zip - 24 files: 12 *.asc files and 12 *.dif files (1 per month averaged for 1961-1990) 7. cru5_precip_1d_1961-90.zip - 12 *.asc files (1 per month averaged for 1961-1990) 8. cru5_precip_hd_1961-90.zip - 24 files: 12 *.asc files and 12 *.dif files (1 per month averaged for 1961-1990) 9. cru5_radiation_1d_1961-90.zip - 12 *.asc files (1 per month averaged for 1961-1990) 10. cru5_radiation_hd_1961-90.zip - 24 files: 12 *.asc files and 12 *.dif files (1 per month averaged for 1961-1990) 11. cru5_temp_max_1d_1961-90.zip - 12 *.asc files (1 per month averaged for 1961-1990) 12. cru5_temp_max_hd_1961-90.zip - 24 files: 12 *.asc files and 12 *.dif files (1 per month averaged for 1961-1990) 13. cru5_temp_mean_1d_1961-90.zip - 12 *.asc files (1 per month averaged for 1961-1990) 14. cru5_temp_mean_hd_1961-90.zip - 24 files: 12 *.asc files and 12 *.dif files (1 per month averaged for 1961-1990) 15. cru5_temp_min_1d_1961-90.zip - 12 *.asc files (1 per month averaged for 1961-1990) 16. cru5_temp_min_hd_1961-90.zip - 24 files: 12 *.asc files and 12 *.dif files (1 per month averaged for 1961-1990) 17. cru5_vapor_pres_1d_1961-90.zip - 12 *.asc files (1 per month averaged for 1961-1990) 18. cru5_vapor_pres_hd_1961-90.zip - 24 files: 12 *.asc files and 12 *.dif files (1 per month averaged for 1961-1990) 19. cru5_wetday_frq_1d_1961-90.zip - 12 *.asc files (1 per month averaged for 1961-1990) 20. cru5_wetday_frq_hd_1961-90.zip - 24 files: 12 *.asc files and 12 *.dif files (1 per month averaged for 1961-1990) 21. cru5_wind_1d_1961-90.zip - 12 *.asc files (1 per month averaged for 1961-1990) 22. cru5_wind_hd_1961-90.zip - 24 files: 12 *.asc files and 12 *.dif files (1 per month averaged for 1961-1990) 23. cru6_mean_hd_changemap.asc - ascii file, half degree change map: gridded ASCII map showing the results of applying the land/sea mask: all points added ("1"), unchanged ("0"), and all points removed ("-1"). There is only a file for the half-degree data, as the 1-degree data was created through averaging. ################################################################################ ASCII Data Format ----------------- All of the 22 compressed (*.zip) data files files are in standard ESRI ArcGIS ArcInfor ASCII grid format. This file format consists of numerical fields of varying lenght, which are delimited by a single space and arranged in columns and rows. The half-degree files (with "_hd_" in the file name) are at a resolution of 0.5 x 0.5 degrees and thus have 720 columns by 360 rows. The 1.0 degree files (with "_1d" in the file name) are at a resolution of 1.0 x 1.0 degree and thus have 360 columns by 180 rows. All values in these files are written as real numbers. Missing data cells are given the value of -99 over water and -88 over land (mostly Antarctica). These files are all gridded to a common equal-angle latitude/longitude grid, where the coordinates of the upper left corner of the files are located at 180 degrees W, 90 degrees N and the lower right corner coordinates are located at 180 degrees E, 90 degrees S. Data in the files are ordered from North to South and from West to East beginning at 180 degrees West and 90 degrees North. ####################################################################### Climate Variable Listing ------------------------ The following climate variables are included in this data set: 1) 1961-1990 Monthly Mean Climatology Abbreviation Variable --------------- -------- cloud_covr Cloud Cover diurnl_tmp Diurnal Temperature Range frost_freq Ground-frost Frequency precip Precipitation radiation Radiation temp_max Maximum Temperature temp_mean Mean Temperature temp_min Minimum Temperature vapor_pres Vapor Pressure wetday_frq Wet Day Frequency wind Wind