3270 stations across the Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, Laccadive, and Andaman & Nicobar Seas provide surface meteorological data from 1976 onward. Data includes sea surface temperatures, dry and wet bulb temperatures, wind direction and speed, pressure, cloud type and amount, and sea state. Observations were collected during cruises of R.V. Gaveshani and ORV Sagar Kanya, supplemented by wind data from the Indian Meteorological Department for eight coastal stations from 1980 to 1984.
Use Cases
- Model regional climate trends based on long-term sea surface temperature records.
- Analyze wind patterns and storm events based on wind direction and speed data.
- Study air-sea interactions based on paired dry bulb and wet bulb temperature measurements.
- Assess atmospheric pressure variability across the Indian Ocean basin.
- Correlate cloud cover and sea state observations with other meteorological variables.
Strengths
- 3270 stations provide a spatially distributed network.
- Time series spans from 1976 to present, offering long-term coverage.
- Includes data from dedicated research vessels R.V. Gaveshani and ORV Sagar Kanya.
- Wind data from eight coastal stations at 6-hourly intervals for 1980-84 adds temporal granularity.
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
- Data may reflect geographic and temporal bias inherent to the specific vessel cruises and coastal stations.
Provenance
- Source
- SCIOPS
- Collection Method
- Observations collected during research vessel cruises and from coastal meteorological stations.
- Time Range
- 1976 to present, with specific coastal wind data for 1980-1984.
- Geography
- Indian Ocean, including Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, Laccadive, Andaman & Nicobar Seas.