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Full catalog/CDR ATMOSPHERIC
CDR ATMOSPHERIC·dataset

Decades-long climate records of the atmosphere (NOAA)

NOAA Atmospheric Climate Data Records
atmosphere NOAA NOAA active
In plain English

What it measures. Long, carefully checked time series of atmospheric conditions designed to reveal how the air around us is changing over many decades.

How it's made. Assembled by NOAA by applying modern analysis methods to historical satellite data, vetted against national scientific standards and kept up to date.

How & where you'd use it. Trusted reference for studying climate trends and variability in the atmosphere and for grounding climate research in solid long-term data.

What's measured

aws-pdsagricultureclimatemeteorologicalsustainabilityweather

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span— → ongoing

What you can do with it

  • Map air pollutants — NO₂, aerosols, ozone
  • Track greenhouse gases and Earth's energy budget
  • Feed weather and air-quality analysis
Official description

NOAA's Climate Data Records (CDRs) are robust, sustainable, and scientifically sound climate records that provide trustworthy information on how, where, and to what extent the land, oceans, atmosphere and ice sheets are changing. These datasets are thoroughly vetted time series measurements with the longevity, consistency, and continuity to assess and measure climate variability and change. NOAA CDRs are vetted using standards established by the National Research Council (NRC). Climate Data Records are created by merging data from surface, atmosphere, and space-based systems across decades. NOAA’s Climate Data Records provides authoritative and traceable long-term climate records. NOAA developed CDRs by applying modern data analysis methods to historical global satellite data. This process can clarify the underlying climate trends within the data and allows researchers and other users to identify economic and scientific value in these records. NCEI maintains and extends CDRs by applying the same methods to present-day and future satellite measurements. Atmospheric Climate Data Records are measurements of several global variables to help characterize the atmosphere at or just above the land and ocean surface as well as other upper air composition variables.

Get the data

noaa_access.py
# NOAA Open Data on AWS — public S3, no login
import s3fs

fs = s3fs.S3FileSystem(anon=True)
# find this dataset's bucket in the docs link in the sidebar, then:
# files = fs.ls("noaa-<bucket>/...")
# open NetCDF/GRIB with xarray, COGs with rioxarray
NOAA Open Data is on public AWS S3 — no login at all (anonymous access).