Climate Data at the IUB Libraries

The U.S. Federal Government has collected statistical information about weather and climatological changes since the 1850's. This data includes temperature highs and lows, precipitation, snowfall, wind, and related information. It has been collected on hourly, daily, and monthly basis at weather stations throughout the world. Some has also been collection on a 15 minute basis since the 1980s. As with all statistics, coverage may vary depending on how it was collected and where, i.e. weather stations have been re-located, increased and decreased as the nation changed. For general citizen access, there is a Weather Portal: http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/Environment_Agriculture/Climate.shtml.

This guide is a selected list of resources held at the IUB Libraries and housed in Government Information and Kent Cooper Services, to assist in identifying and using the data.

QUICK LINKS TO MAJOR WEB SITES WITH CLIMATE INFORMATION:

• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: http://www.ipcc.ch/  (includes visualization application http://www.ipcc-data.org/ddc_visualisation.html)
• Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change: www.nipccreport.org/
• United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP): www.unep.org/  (For data specifically use http://geodata.rrcap.unep.org/
• World Resources Institute: http://www.wri.org/

Current Local Weather & Maps

• Indiana University Bloomington, Weather Information. Weather data back to 2008: http://www.utilities.indiana.edu/weather_report.html
• Indiana Climate Page. Indiana State Climate Office at Purdue University: http://climate.agry.purdue.edu/climate/index.as
  
  

Climate Data on the Web

To access basic temperature and precipation data by weather station for the United States, try the National Weather Service's website. Most of the data is historical as well as current. This site allows you to select the continent, country, state, and weather station. Time coverage and availability of the data depends on the geographic selection and when and if the data was collected for the specific station selected. For instance, data for 15 minute precitipation is not available for Bloomington, IN but daily surface data is given back to 1901.

Other Web quick links

• World Weather Records: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/wdc/index.php?name=worldweatherrecords "Have been published since 1927, and include monthly mean values of pressure, temperature, precipitation, and where available, station metadata notes documenting observation practices and station configurations."
• National Climate Data Center Weather Archives: Excellent site for acquisition of historical weather data but not all accessible free of charge. http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/ncdc.html [NOTE: They charge for data BUT not for educational institutions so it is free to IU students (accessing with an email of .edu extension).
• NWS Fax Charts: http://weather.noaa.gov/fax/nwsfax.html. Includes links to maps/charts of weather depiction, Thunderstorm Probability/Freezing, Pressure Charge, etc.)
• Heliophysics at the National Space Science Data Center: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/space/. Includes information and links to NASA weather related data.
• Storm Prediction Center: http://www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/ Provides links to various storm data including the Monthly Tornado Statistics and other reports on hail, wind, and severe weather archives.
• Hydrologic Information Center: http://www.weather.gov/hic/xindex.php (includes links to the National Flood Summary, River/Streamflow Conditions, Droughts, Hydrometeorological Outlooks, Water Supply)
• National Snow and Ice Data Center: http://nsidc.org/

CD-ROM Products available

For large quantities of data including historical access, it is sometimes easier to use the data from a number of products produced on CD-ROM. A few of the more heavily used are listed as examples. Check IUCAT for other holdings or ask Reference staff in ET2 Wells library.

Title: Cooperative Summary of the Day
Description: Is one of a set containing the ASCII data files and associated documentation for the Surface/Land, Daily Cooperative Summary of the Day, the National Climatic Data Center's Tape Deck 3200.
Call No: ET2 WELLS: C 55.281/2-4:

Title: Global Daily Summary: Temperature and Precipitation
Call No: C 55.281/2:
Available: ET2 WELLS May Circulate

Title: NCDC 15 Minute Precipitation
Call No: QC925.1 .U63 1996
Available: ET 2 WELLS

Title NCDC Hourly Precipitation, [VARIOUS REGIONS AVAILABLE]
Call No: QC925.1 .U8 C4 1996
Available: ET 2 WELLS May Circulate

Title Radiosonde Data of North America, 1946-1989; 1990-2000
Description:
Call No: C 55.281/2-2:R 11/v.1-3/993/CD
Available: ET 2 WELLS May circulate

Title: Tide & Tidal Current Tables
Description:
Call No: C 55.421/5:
Available: ET 2 WELLS

Title: U.S. Navy Marine Climatic Atlas of the World
Call No: D 201.40:AT 6/CD
Available on: ET 2 WELLS

In addition, Government Information, East Tower 2 Wells Library, receives individual studies and publications from the NOAA's National Weather Service, including items like the Forecasters Handbook, histories of tornadoes, earthquakes, and hurricanes; directories of seismograph stations, among others. We also receive publications from the World Meteorological Organization. Check IUCAT or consult the reference staff (libet2@indiana.edu) in ET2 Wells.