Global temperatures have been
monitored by satellite since 1979 with the Microwave Sounding Units (MSU)
flying on
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's
(NOAA) TIROS-N series of polar-orbiting weather satellites. Data from nine
separate satellites have been combined to provide a global record of temperature
fluctuations in the lower troposphere (the lowest 5 miles of the atmosphere)
and the lower stratosphere (covering an altitude range of about 9-12 miles).
The lower tropospheric
data are often cited as evidence against global warming, because they
have as yet failed to show any warming trend when averaged over
the entire Earth. The lower stratospheric data show a significant cooling
trend, which is consistent with ozone depletion. In addition to the recent
cooling,
large temporary warming perturbations may be seen in the data due to
two major volcanic eruptions: El Chichon in March 1982, and Mt. Pinatubo
in June 1991.
New names have been introduced as of 1 June 2002 reflecting the latest version
of the MSU/AMSU datasets. This is version 5.0. For information on each of the
products, look into the directories for the appropriate readme file.
The new name for the lower troposphere
will be TLT or tlt, dropping the "2" because
we now have AMSU data in the mix which utilizes AMSU channel 5 (similar to
MSU channel 2). For the mid-troposphere we shall use TMT or tmt and for the
lower stratosphere, TLS or tls.
The files to be placed on the
server after 1 Jun 2002 have an extension of "5.0".
These include all corrections (non-linear diurnal adjustment for LT and MT,
orbit decay, instrument-body effect etc.)
**** X = lt, mt or ls in subdirectories tlt, tmt and tls.
tXday_5.0 daily anomalies of global, hemispheric
tXdayamz_5.0 daily anomalies of global, hemispheric and zonal
tXglhmam_5.0 monthly anomalies of global and hemispheric
tXmonamg.YYYY_5.0 monthly gridded anomalies of product "X" in year "YYYY"
Annual Cycle absolute values X = lt, mt or ls.
tXdayac79YY_5.0
tXdayacz79YY_5.0
tXmonacg_5.0
tXmonacg_5.0
YY = last year included in mean annual cycle calculation.
REVIEW OF FILE NOMENCLATURE:
LT, lt = lower troposphere
MT, mt = mid troposphere
LS, ls = lower stratosphere
****
MON = MONTHLY ( 12 PER YEAR)
DAY = DAILY
AM = ANOMALY
AC = ANNUAL CYCLE
G = GRIDPOINT (2.5 DEG)
Z = ZONAL
GL = GLOBAL
HM = HEMISPHERE
JOHN CHRISTY UAH: 256-961-7763
christy@nsstc.uah.edu
Data can be ordered and questions addressed at http://ghrc.nsstc.nasa.gov/.
To order this data or for further information, please contact:
Global Hydrology Resource Center
User Services
320 Sparkman Drive
Huntsville, AL 35805
Phone: 256-961-7932
E-mail: ghrc@eos.nasa.gov
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