Climate Charts, Data and RClimate Scripts

While there are many online climate data resources, the source data files are in numerous data formats, presenting a challenge to climate citizen scientists who want to retrieve and analyze several climate indicators at the same time.

I have been working to develop a consolidated open access data file and RClimate scripts that users can use to retrieve climate data, conduct their own analysis  and generate their own climate charts.  My goal is to make it easier for climate citizen scientists to get their hands on the data in a simple,  usable format (CSV). This post updates the status of my RClimate efforts.

RClimate: Converting 5 Global Temperature Anomaly Series to A Common Baseline

The 5 global land-ocean temperature anomaly (LOTA) series use different baseline periods, making direct comparisons between the series more difficult than it would be if each series had the same baseline period.

This post shows how to convert the 5 major LOTA series to a common baseline. Links to on-line source data file and RClimate script are provided. Here is long term LOTA trends using a 133 month moving average and 1979-2008 baseline.

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Nov 2010 Year-To-Date Global Temperature Anomaly 1st in 2 Series, 2nd in 3 Series: Update

This post shows the YTD global land – ocean temperature anomaly (LOTA) trends for the 5 major series through November, 2010 and how  2010 YTD ranks over the entire record for each series.  The source data  file link is provided.

Oct 2010 Year-To-Date Global Temperature Anomaly 1st in 2 Series, 2nd in 3 Series

This post shows the YTD global land – ocean temperature anomaly (LOTA) trends for the 5 major series through October, 2010 and how  2010 YTD ranks over the entire record for each series. The source data  file link is provided.

RClimate Tools for Do It Yourself Climate Trend Analysis – Nov, 2010 Update

I have made several updates to  RClimate tools for do-it-yourself  climate scientists.  The downloadable monthly climate trends file  (link to csv file) now includes the 5 major global land-ocean temperature anomaly time series (GISS, HAD, NOAA, RSS, UAH) as well as  PDO, AMO and NINI34 indexes.  Stay tuned, I plan to add several more series in the next few weeks. Do you have any suggestions?

I have also added several functions to my on-line RClimate.txt file to help DIY  citizen climate scientists to quickly and easily retrieve up to date climate trend data so that they can spend their time analyzing the  temperature anomaly and climate oscillation trends rather than slugging through data downloads and reformatting.

2010 On Track to Being 2nd Warmest Year Since 1880

In this post I present a 5 panel trend charts which show the year-to-date  anomaly trends for the 5 major global temperature anomaly series and a table that shows how  2010 YTD ranks over the entire record for each series. The source data and RClimate script file links are provided.

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September Anomaly Trends Show Global Warming Continues: Update 1

In this post I present a trend chart which shows the September anomaly trends for the 5 major global temperature anomaly series and a table that shows how September 2010 ranks over the entire record for each series. The source data and RClimate script file links are provided.

Update 1: In a comment,  ChristianP  suggested the addition of a loess regression fit to the trend line chart. Thanks ChristianP.

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Checking Do-It-Yourself Climate Science

Do-it-yourself citizen scientists need to conduct proper data analysis to reach valid conclusions.

In this post I show how the blogger Inconvenient Skeptic misleads himself on the role of the Atlantic Multi-decadal Oscillation in  global warming because he misinterprets his own trend charts and implies causation from correlation.

Arctic Sea Ice Extent Trends: 1979-2010; Update 1

Now that the 2010 Arctic sea ice melt season is over, we can see how 2010 fits into the long-term trends Arctic  Sea Ice Extent. This post shows an R Climate chart that I have made to look at the annual  NSIDC Arctic Sea Ice Extent maximum, minimum and seasonal melt trends for the 32 year period, 1979 to 2010. Data and RClimate scripts are provided.
Update 1 (10/6/10) Added trend lines to plots based on suggestion from reader.

Here’s my RClimate script trend chart of 1979-2010  NSIDC Arctic Sea Ice Extent data.  I have plotted NSIDC’s maximum and minimum sea ice extent for each year and my calculated value for seasonal melt (maximum – minimum). (Click image to enlarge)

Arctic Oscillation: 1 – Trends (Update 1)

arctic oscillation (AO): 1 -  trends Since 1950

In this post, I begin a series on the Arctic Oscillation (AO) .  This post  presents a chart of monthly AO Index from 1950 to the present and introductory information on AO .  I will be updating this chart each month as NOAA updates the data series.  A link to the RClimate script that downloads the source data from NOAA is provided.

Update 1: Reader skrafner noticed that my plot legend indicated a 60-day moving average while the script actually calculated a 60-month moving avg. I’ve updated  the script and plot.