U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Https

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock () or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Breadcrumb

  1. Home

Global Historical Climatology Network - Daily (GHCN-Daily), Version 2 (Version Superseded)

**Please note, this dataset has been superseded by a newer version (see below). Users should not use this version except in rare cases (e.g., when reproducing previous studies that used this version).** The Global Historical Climatology Network - Daily (GHCN-Daily) dataset addresses the need for historical daily records over global land areas. Like its monthly counterpart (GHCN-Monthly), GHCN-Daily is a composite of climate records from numerous sources that were merged and then subjected to a suite of quality assurance reviews. The meteorological elements measured for the data set include, but are not limited to, daily maximum and minimum temperature, temperature at the time of observation, precipitation (i.e., rainfall and snow water equivalent), snowfall and snow depth. GHCN-Daily serves as the official archive for daily data from the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) Surface Network (GSN) and is particularly well suited for monitoring and assessment activities related to the frequency and magnitude of extremes. Sources for the GHCN-Daily data set include, but are not limited, to U.S. Cooperative Summary of the Day, U.S. Fort data, U.S. Climate Reference Network, Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network, and numerous international sources. The dataset contains measurements from over 75,000 stations worldwide,about two thirds of which are for precipitation measurement only. Approximately 8500 are regularly updated with observations from within the last month. While most of these sites report precipitation, daily maximum and minimum temperatures are available at more than 25,000 of them, and over 24,000 contain records of snowfall and/or snow depth. The process of integrating data from multiple sources into the GHCN-Daily dataset takes place in three steps: screening the source data for stations whose identity is unknown or questionable; classifying each station in a source dataset either as one that is already represented in GHCN-Daily or as a new site; and mingling the data from the different sources. The first two of these steps are performed whenever a new source dataset or additional stations become available, while the actual mingling of data is part of the automated processing that creates GHCN-Daily on a regular basis. GHCN-Daily data are subject to a suite of quality assurance checks. The checks consist of several types of carefully evaluated tests that detect duplicated data, climatological outliers, and various inconsistencies (internal, temporal, and spatial). Manual review of random samples of flagged values was used to set the threshold for each procedure such that the tests false-positive rate is minimized. In addition, the tests are performed in a deliberate sequence in an effort to enhance the performance of the later checks by detecting errors with the checks applied earlier in the sequence.

About this Dataset

Updated: 2024-02-22
Metadata Last Updated: 2025-11-20T02:54:15.966Z
Date Created: N/A
Data Provided by:
Dataset Owner: N/A

Access this data

Contact dataset owner Access URL
Table representation of structured data
Title Global Historical Climatology Network - Daily (GHCN-Daily), Version 2 (Version Superseded)
Description **Please note, this dataset has been superseded by a newer version (see below). Users should not use this version except in rare cases (e.g., when reproducing previous studies that used this version).** The Global Historical Climatology Network - Daily (GHCN-Daily) dataset addresses the need for historical daily records over global land areas. Like its monthly counterpart (GHCN-Monthly), GHCN-Daily is a composite of climate records from numerous sources that were merged and then subjected to a suite of quality assurance reviews. The meteorological elements measured for the data set include, but are not limited to, daily maximum and minimum temperature, temperature at the time of observation, precipitation (i.e., rainfall and snow water equivalent), snowfall and snow depth. GHCN-Daily serves as the official archive for daily data from the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) Surface Network (GSN) and is particularly well suited for monitoring and assessment activities related to the frequency and magnitude of extremes. Sources for the GHCN-Daily data set include, but are not limited, to U.S. Cooperative Summary of the Day, U.S. Fort data, U.S. Climate Reference Network, Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network, and numerous international sources. The dataset contains measurements from over 75,000 stations worldwide,about two thirds of which are for precipitation measurement only. Approximately 8500 are regularly updated with observations from within the last month. While most of these sites report precipitation, daily maximum and minimum temperatures are available at more than 25,000 of them, and over 24,000 contain records of snowfall and/or snow depth. The process of integrating data from multiple sources into the GHCN-Daily dataset takes place in three steps: screening the source data for stations whose identity is unknown or questionable; classifying each station in a source dataset either as one that is already represented in GHCN-Daily or as a new site; and mingling the data from the different sources. The first two of these steps are performed whenever a new source dataset or additional stations become available, while the actual mingling of data is part of the automated processing that creates GHCN-Daily on a regular basis. GHCN-Daily data are subject to a suite of quality assurance checks. The checks consist of several types of carefully evaluated tests that detect duplicated data, climatological outliers, and various inconsistencies (internal, temporal, and spatial). Manual review of random samples of flagged values was used to set the threshold for each procedure such that the tests false-positive rate is minimized. In addition, the tests are performed in a deliberate sequence in an effort to enhance the performance of the later checks by detecting errors with the checks applied earlier in the sequence.
Modified 2025-11-20T02:54:15.966Z
Publisher Name N/A
Contact N/A
Keywords Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Temperature > Surface Temperature > Maximum/Minimum Temperature , Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Temperature > Surface Temperature > Air Temperature , Earth Science > Atmosphere > Precipitation > Precipitation Amount , Earth Science > Atmosphere > Precipitation > Solid Precipitation > Snow , Earth Science > Terrestrial Hydrosphere > Snow/Ice > Snow Depth , Geographic Region > Global Land , Vertical Location > Land Surface , DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCDC > National Climatic Data Center, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce , DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI > National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce , climatologyMeteorologyAtmosphere
{
    "identifier": "gov.noaa.ncdc:C00838",
    "accessLevel": "public",
    "contactPoint": {
        "@type": "vcard:Contact",
        "fn": "Your contact point",
        "hasEmail": "mailto:[email protected]"
    },
    "programCode": [
        "010:000"
    ],
    "landingPage": "",
    "title": "Global Historical Climatology Network - Daily (GHCN-Daily), Version 2 (Version Superseded)",
    "description": "**Please note, this dataset has been superseded by a newer version (see below). Users should not use this version except in rare cases (e.g., when reproducing previous studies that used this version).** The Global Historical Climatology Network - Daily (GHCN-Daily) dataset addresses the need for historical daily records over global land areas. Like its monthly counterpart (GHCN-Monthly), GHCN-Daily is a composite of climate records from numerous sources that were merged and then subjected to a suite of quality assurance reviews. The meteorological elements measured for the data set include, but are not limited to, daily maximum and minimum temperature, temperature at the time of observation, precipitation (i.e., rainfall and snow water equivalent), snowfall and snow depth. GHCN-Daily serves as the official archive for daily data from the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) Surface Network (GSN) and is particularly well suited for monitoring and assessment activities related to the frequency and magnitude of extremes. Sources for the GHCN-Daily data set include, but are not limited, to U.S. Cooperative Summary of the Day, U.S. Fort data, U.S. Climate Reference Network, Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network, and numerous international sources. The dataset contains measurements from over 75,000 stations worldwide,about two thirds of which are for precipitation measurement only. Approximately 8500 are regularly updated with observations from within the last month. While most of these sites report precipitation, daily maximum and minimum temperatures are available at more than 25,000 of them, and over 24,000 contain records of snowfall and\/or snow depth. The process of integrating data from multiple sources into the GHCN-Daily dataset takes place in three steps: screening the source data for stations whose identity is unknown or questionable; classifying each station in a source dataset either as one that is already represented in GHCN-Daily or as a new site; and mingling the data from the different sources. The first two of these steps are performed whenever a new source dataset or additional stations become available, while the actual mingling of data is part of the automated processing that creates GHCN-Daily on a regular basis. GHCN-Daily data are subject to a suite of quality assurance checks. The checks consist of several types of carefully evaluated tests that detect duplicated data, climatological outliers, and various inconsistencies (internal, temporal, and spatial). Manual review of random samples of flagged values was used to set the threshold for each procedure such that the tests false-positive rate is minimized. In addition, the tests are performed in a deliberate sequence in an effort to enhance the performance of the later checks by detecting errors with the checks applied earlier in the sequence.",
    "language": "",
    "distribution": [
        {
            "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
            "mediaType": "application\/json",
            "accessURL": "https:\/\/www.ncei.noaa.gov\/metadata\/geoportal\/\/rest\/metadata\/item\/gov.noaa.ncdc%3AC00838"
        },
        {
            "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
            "mediaType": "text\/html",
            "accessURL": "https:\/\/www.ncei.noaa.gov\/metadata\/geoportal\/\/rest\/metadata\/item\/gov.noaa.ncdc%3AC00838\/html"
        },
        {
            "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
            "mediaType": "application\/xml",
            "accessURL": "https:\/\/www.ncei.noaa.gov\/metadata\/geoportal\/\/rest\/metadata\/item\/gov.noaa.ncdc%3AC00838\/xml"
        }
    ],
    "bureauCode": [
        "010:04"
    ],
    "modified": "2025-11-20T02:54:15.966Z",
    "publisher": {
        "@type": "org:Organization",
        "name": "Your Publisher"
    },
    "theme": "",
    "keyword": [
        "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Temperature > Surface Temperature > Maximum\/Minimum Temperature",
        "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Temperature > Surface Temperature > Air Temperature",
        "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Precipitation > Precipitation Amount",
        "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Precipitation > Solid Precipitation > Snow",
        "Earth Science > Terrestrial Hydrosphere > Snow\/Ice > Snow Depth",
        "Geographic Region > Global Land",
        "Vertical Location > Land Surface",
        "DOC\/NOAA\/NESDIS\/NCDC > National Climatic Data Center, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce",
        "DOC\/NOAA\/NESDIS\/NCEI > National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce",
        "climatologyMeteorologyAtmosphere"
    ]
}