Tools and Data

Tool

A spreadsheet application is needed to analyze the data. Microsoft Excel is used in this chapter and is available as part of Microsoft Office.

Excel is part of the suite of Microsoft Office software. Students and educators may be able to purchase this software at a reduced cost. The Student and Home Edition is sufficient for use in the Earth Exploration Toolbook chapters.

Data Set 1

Global Summary of the Day (GSOD) data is daily average temperature data from U.S. weather stations. There are often 100 years of data available, although the amount varies from station to station. The data is freely available from an NCDC data portal.

Provided by the National Climactic data Center (NCDC) at its Geoportal:
http://www.climate.gov/#dataServices

Data Set 2

Sources for the GHCN-Daily data set include, but are not limited, to U.S. Cooperative Summary of the Day, U.S. Fort data, U.S. Climate Reference Network, Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network, and numerous international sources. The dataset contains measurements from over 25,000 stations worldwide. The data is freely available from an NCDC data portal.

A description of variables can be viewed at FAQs.

Provided by the National Climactic Data Center (NCDC) at its Geoportal:
http://www.climate.gov/#dataServices