Weather and Climate Datasets

Catalog description

Anticipating weather events first requires an understanding of typical (or expected) conditions at a particular site. Such climatologies are constructed primarily from historical observations but may also include numerically derived forecasts and analyses. In this course, students will learn a variety of methods for accessing appropriate weather and climate datasets available from government and research institutions. Working with very large datasets in a computationally efficient manner will be stressed, as will consideration of factors that affect data reliability. Students will be encouraged to consider numerous possibilities for presenting weather and climate data with a minimum of quantitative analysis. In addition, numerous examples and case studies will augment discussions on such topics as numerical reanalysis datasets, self-describing archives, and typical problems encountered with environmental observations. Finally, students will learn to construct a site-specific or regional climatology and to communicate a qualitative analysis of those data to others.