ICOADS

ICOADS stands for the International Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set. It is a long-term, quality-controlled collection of historical marine surface weather and oceanographic observations. These observations are crucial for understanding past climate variability, validating climate models, and supporting climate change research. ICOADS combines data from a variety of sources, including ships, buoys, and other marine platforms, spanning a period from the mid-17th century to the present day.

The data within ICOADS undergoes a rigorous quality control process to identify and correct errors, ensuring the reliability of the dataset. This process involves automated checks and manual inspection by experts. The dataset is organized into monthly summary files, which are widely used by climate scientists worldwide. Its comprehensive nature and long temporal coverage make it an invaluable resource for studying trends in sea surface temperature, air temperature, wind speed, precipitation, and other key climate variables over oceans. The development and maintenance of ICOADS are a collaborative effort involving several international institutions.