ERSST v5: Global Sea Surface Temperature Reconstruction Since 1854

Global monthly ocean surface temperatures and anomalies reconstructed on a 2-degree grid since 1854. The dataset is produced by the NASA NOAA Climate Data Record program, using in-situ observations from sources like ICOADS and Argo floats, with anomalies calculated against a 1971-2000 climatology. Version 5 implements improved statistical methodologies and new data sources for better representation of El Niño and La Niña events.

Use Cases

• Analyzing long-term global warming trends based on the 1854-present historical reconstruction.
• Studying the spatial structure of El Niño and La Niña events based on improved anomaly fields.
• Validating and calibrating climate models using the gridded temperature and estimated error fields.
• Investigating historical ocean temperature anomalies relative to the 1971-2000 baseline.

Strengths

• Provides a continuous, globally gridded reconstruction spanning over 168 years, since 1854.
• Version 5 includes new data sources like Argo floats and improved versions of ICOADS and HadISST.
• Implements improved statistical methodologies, including bias correction to modern buoy observations.
• Data is provided in a standard netCDF format with CF1.6 compliant metadata.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and dataset size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.

Provenance

Source

NASA NOAA Climate Data Record (CDR) Program

Collection Method

Statistical reconstruction from in-situ observations (e.g., ICOADS, GTS, Argo floats) accounting for sampling biases.

Time Range

1854 to present

Freshness

null

Geography

Global ocean