The data is copied from UEA CRU.
This dataset is a combination of land air temperature anomalies (Jones, 1994) and sea surface temperature
anomalies (Parker et al., 1995) on a 5° x 5° grid-box basis. The merging of the two datasets is
discussed in Parker et al. (1994). Both components of the dataset are expressed as anomalies from 1961-90,
as this makes computation much easier.
The dataset has been extensively used in the various IPCC reports (see, e.g., Nicholls et al., 1996).
An absolute temperature climatology is being developed.
Jones, P.D., 1994: Hemispheric surface air temperature variations: a reanalysis and an update to 1993. J. Climate7, 1794-1802.
Jones, P.D., Osborn, T.J. and Briffa, K.R., 1997: Estimating sampling errors in large-scale temperature averages. J. Climate10, 2548-2568.
Nicholls, N., Gruza, G.V., Jouzel, J., Karl, T.R., Ogallo, L.A. and Parker, D.E., 1996: Observed climate variability and change. In (J.T. Houghton, L.G. Meira Filho, B.A. Callander, N. Harris, A. Kattenberg and K. Maskell, Eds.) Climate Change 1995: The IPCC Second Assessment, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 133-192.
Parker, D.E., Jones, P.D., Bevan, A. and Folland, C.K., 1994: Interdecadal changes of surface temperature since the late 19th century. Journal of Geophysical Research99, 14373-14399.
Parker, D.E., Folland, C.K. and Jackson, M., 1995: Marine surface temperature: observed variations and data requirements. Climatic Change31, 559-600.