Global 30-Year Mean Monthly Climatology, 1930-1960

Monthly averages of mean temperature, temperature range, precipitation, rain days, and sunshine hours are provided for the terrestrial surface of the globe. The data is gridded at a 0.5-degree longitude/latitude resolution and represents a 30-year climatology from 1930 to 1960. It was generated from a large database using a partial thin-plate splining algorithm.

Use Cases

• Modeling historical climate baselines based on 30-year monthly averages.
• Analyzing spatial patterns of temperature and precipitation using a 0.5-degree grid.
• Comparing sunshine hours and rain days across global terrestrial surfaces.
• Validating climate reconstruction algorithms using the thin-plate splining method.

Strengths

• Provides a 30-year climatology (1930-1960), offering a stable historical baseline.
• Uses a documented interpolation method (partial thin-plate splining) developed by Michael F. Hutchinson.
• Is a major update of a known reference database (Leemans and Cramer 1991).

Limitations

• Metadata conflicts exist: one platform shows a last update in 2026, while another shows 1960.
• Specific row counts, file sizes, and detailed column names are not provided.
• The license is ambiguously listed as 'other-license-specified' without details.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Generated from a large database using the partial thin-plate splining algorithm.

Time Range

1930-1960

Freshness

2026-04-10 03:14:37.980503

Geography

Terrestrial surface of the globe