CRU05 Monthly Climate Normals 1961-1990

1961-1990 mean monthly climatology for global land areas, interpolated from thousands of station normals using thin-plate splines. The dataset includes 23 files at 0.5 and 1.0 degree resolutions, containing variables like precipitation, temperature, radiation, vapor pressure, wind speed, and cloud cover. It was produced by the Climate Research Unit and is hosted by NASA.

Use Cases

• Bias correction of climate model outputs by comparing simulated precipitation and temperature against the 1961-1990 normals.
• Analysis of global patterns in diurnal temperature range and frost frequency for agricultural risk assessment.
• Studying correlations between elevation, latitude, and climate variables like vapor pressure and radiation.
• Creating baseline maps of wet-day frequency and cloud cover for hydrological and solar energy studies.
• Validation of reanalysis data products using the interpolated station data for mean, maximum, and minimum temperature.

Strengths

• Derived from a large network of station normals, with up to 19,800 stations for precipitation and 3,615 for wind speed.
• Provides a consistent 30-year baseline (1961-1990) for multiple climate variables, useful for model comparison.
• Data is spatially interpolated using thin-plate splines as a function of latitude, longitude, and elevation, creating a continuous global grid.
• Available at two standard spatial resolutions (0.5 and 1.0 degree), offering flexibility for different analysis scales.

Limitations

• Conflicting metadata: the last update date is reported as 2026-03-13 on Data.gov but 1995-12 31 on NASA Earthdata, suggesting possible platform errors.
• The specific license is listed only as 'other-license-specified' without clear terms for reuse.
• Column names and exact file structures are not detailed in the provided metadata, requiring investigation of the 23 files.

Provenance

Source

Climate Research Unit (CRU), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Station climatological normals were interpolated using thin-plate splines as a function of latitude, longitude, and elevation.

Time Range

1961-1990

Freshness

2026-03-13 01:33:59.196735

Geography

Global land areas