Meteorological, Climatological, and Oceanic Information
DoD Sources
Navy Enterprise Portal – Oceanography (NEP–Oc)
https://nepoc.oceanography.navy.mil/
Website offers a portal to various meteorology, oceanography, tropical, and climatology products, including the following (DoD access required):
- Advanced Climate Analysis and Forecasting (ACAF) system
- Global and regional ocean wave prediction charts (WW3)
- Global sea surface temperature and sea surface temperature anomaly charts (NCODA)
- Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVO) currents, waves, and oceanographic data
- Ocean temperatures, salinity, and velocity structure information
- Tropical cyclone tracks
Navy Coastal Ocean Model from the Naval Research Laboratory
http://www7320.nrlssc.navy.mil/projects.php
Website offers a range of ocean data, including:
- NRL mixed layer depths
- Altimeter wave heights
- Satellite sea surface height
- Sea surface temperatures
U.S. Air Force 14th Weather Squadron
http://www.afweather.af.mil/weatherproducts/index.asp
Website offers access to various Air Force weather and climate products, including the following (DoD access required for some products):
- Advanced Climate Modeling and Environmental Simulations (ACMES)
- Operational Climatic Data Summaries (OCDS-II)
- Wind-Stratified Conditional Climatology (WSCC)
- Modeled diurnal curves
- Real-time nephanalysis
- Wind roses
- Worldwide Climatic Extremes/Percentile Reference (ExPERT)
Naval Research Laboratory Forecaster Handbooks, Port Guides
http://www.nrlmry.navy.mil/pubs.htm
Website offers a range of climatological and weather information, including:
- Forecaster Handbooks with detailed climate narratives for various ocean regions and seas
- Port Guides and Hurricane/Typhoon Havens Handbooks
- Additional reference guides and handbooks
Civilian Sources
NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory
http://esrl.noaa.gov/research/products/#products
Products website offers portal to various datasets, including:
- Seasonal Climate Forecast Guidance
- Ground-based GPS Meteorology Network
- Meteorological Assimilation Data Ingest System (MADIS)
- NOAA Profiler Network
- Precipitation Anomalies Product
- Climate Products Map Room
International Research Institute (IRI) for Climate and Society
http://portal.iri.columbia.edu/portal/server.pt
Website provides access to global climate information, including:
- Data Library
- Map Rooms
- Climate Predictability Tool and other software packages
- ENSO information and resources
NCAR CISL Research Data Archive
http://rda.ucar.edu/
Website offers portal to range of data products, including:
- Reanalysis datasets
- Oceans data
- Sea surface winds
- Hydrography
- Subsurface temperature
- Salinity
- Additional products
- Atmospheric data
- Global Historical Climatology Network
- Climate Forecast System
- Temperature and precipitation statistics
- Additional products
- Climate Indicators
NOAA Climate Prediction Center
http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/
Website provides access to longer-term forecast products, including:
- 6-10 Day Outlooks
- 8-14 Day Outlooks
- One Month Outlooks
- Three Month Outlooks
- Hazards Outlooks
- Drought information
NOAA National Climatic Data Center
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/
Website serves as portal to meteorological and climatological data archives from various observing platforms, including:
- Land-based station data
- Satellite data
- Radar data
- Model data
- Radiosonde data
- Marine/ocean data
- Severe weather data
NOAA National Ocean Service
http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/dataexplorer/
Website offers a range of geospatial datasets, including:
- NOAA nautical charts, bathymetry, and shoreline data
- Coastal change and analysis data (LiDAR and IfSAR data), remotely sensed imagery and aerial photography
- Benthic habitat maps, National Marine Sanctuaries boundaries and protected areas data
- Environmental Sensitivity Index maps
- Geodetic control benchmarks
NOAA National Operational Model Archive & Distribution System
http://nomads.ncdc.noaa.gov/data.php?name=inventory
A repository of weather and climate model output data sets, including links to the source information.
NOAA Coastal Services Center Historical Hurricane Tracks
http://csc.noaa.gov/hurricanes/#
Map-based interface allowing hurricane tracks to be displayed based on basin and time of year.
WaveWatch III
http://polar.ncep.noaa.gov/waves/index2.shtml
Product viewer provides access to WaveWatch III model products, including:
- Significant wave height and peak wave period
- Wind sea wave height and period
- Primary swell wave height and period
- Secondary swell wave height and period
- Wind speed and direction
World Ocean Atlas 2009
http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/OC5/WOA09/pr_woa09.html
Website provides access to range of data sets, including:
- Ocean temperature
- Salinity
- Ocean chemistry
National Oceanographic Data Center
http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/
Website provides a portal to several types of ocean data, including:
- Temperature
- Ocean currents
- Waves
- Regional & monthly climatologies
Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment
http://usgodae.org/
Website uses FNMOC and NCEP data to provide:
- Real-time forecasts
- Seasonal-to-decadal climate forecasts
NCAR/NCEP Reanalysis data
http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/data/gridded/data.ncep.reanalysis.derived.html#plot
Website provides daily and monthly values for several sets of global parameters.
- Pressure levels
- Surface data
- Surface flux data
- Radiation and cloud cover
- Tropopause temperatures
- Divergence, vorticity, and other spectral coefficients
References and Additional Information
The following sources provide additional background knowledge for understanding and using climatology.
Introduction to Statistics for Climatology
Using Climatological Products in Common Operations
MJO, Equatorial Waves, and Tropical Cyclogenesis
Introduction to Tropical Meteorology 2nd Edition, Chapter 3, Global Circulation
includes:
- Variability of the Monsoon > El Nino-Southern Oscillation
- Variability of the Monsoon > Indian Ocean Dipole or Zonal Mode
Introduction to Tropical Meteorology 2nd Edition, Chapter 4 Tropical Variability
includes: