Abstract:
This set of 9 CD-ROMs contains raw and objectively analyzed fields of
surface marine anomalies of fluxes of heat, momentum, and fresh water
along with other parameters of interest. Revised monthly mean fields
are derived from individual observations in the Comprehensive
Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set (COADS Release 1 and an interim release for
the 1980s) from January 1945
... to December 1993, and are analyzed on a
1-degree by 1-degree global grid. Corrections have been made to reduce
wind speed bias associated with an erroneous Beaufort equivalent
scale, to quality control night-time fractional cloud cover
observations according to the brightness of the sky, to consider
weather-associated "sky obscured" cloudiness observations as valid
observations of 100% cloud cover, and to correct for erroneously
missing "clear" present weather observations after 1981. The data
are in the Unidata NetCDF format. Access subroutines in FORTRAN are
included on the CD-ROMs for those unfamiliar with NetCDF.
NOTE: Advanced programming skills are strongly recommended for users of
this data product.
NOAAServer Codes: [OL 90 -80 180 -180] ; nodateline obtain
The Atlas of Surface Marine Data is divided into five volumes. Volume
1 contains in depth documentation of the data set, including all
parameterizations, calculations, analysis methods and bias corrections.
Volumes 2 through 5 contain graphical representations of the data,
including seasonal contour plots of climatology, standard deviation,
and anomalies of the analyzed quantities.
The data files associated with the Atlas are available on CD-ROM and
Exabyte tape. Both analyzed and unanalyzed parameters are available.
The parameters include:
Directly Observed Quantities
----------------------------
fractional cloudiness (%)
specific humidity
sea level air temperature
sea level air pressure
sea surface temperature
zonal wind
meridional wind
wind speed
Heat and Momentum Flux Quantities
---------------------------------
short wave cloudiness sensitivity parameter
long wave Chi sensitivity parameter
long wave vapor pressure sensitivity parameter
ocean friction velocity cubed
latent heat flux
net long wave radiation
constrained net heat flux
sensible heat flux
net short wave radiation
zonal wind stress
meridional stress
Fresh Water Flux Quantities
---------------------------
constrained buoyancy flux minus precipitation
constrained evaporation minus precipitation
evaporation rate
precipitation rate
zonal moisture flux
meridional moisture flux
Miscellaneous Derived Quantities
--------------------------------
sea level air density
qsea minus q
sea level saturation specific humidity
relative humidity
sea minus air temperature
zonal heat flux
meridional heat flux
vapor pressure
virtual temperature
Additional Quantities
--------------------
ice masks
monthly salinity
More information about the data, as well as ordering information, can
be found on the NODC WWW home page: http://www.nodc.noaa.gov
[This summary was condensed from NOAA/NESDIS Earth System Monitor
Vol. 6, No. 2, December 1995.]
(http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/OC5/ASMD94/pr_asmd.html) 
