Description: A global historical Radiosondes and Tracked Balloons Archive on standard pressure levels back to the 1920s Earth System Science Data Discussions, 6, 837-874, 2013 Author(s): L. Ramella Pralungo, L. Haimberger, A. Stickler, and S. Brönnimann Long observed time series of climate state quantities are needed to extend our understanding of global weather, climate variability and monitoring not only at the Earths surface but also the free atmosphere, since climate anomalies and climate change have a three-dimensional spatial structure. Radiosonde data before 1958 and tracked balloon (PILOT) data are rarely available at standard times on standard pressure levels, which complicates their use for climate studies. This paper describes an upper air dataset on standard pressure levels at 00:00 GMT and 12:00 GMT for parameters temperature and wind. The input data sources of this dataset are the Comprehensive Historical Upper Air Network (CHUAN version 1.7), the Integrated Global Radiosonde Archive (IGRA) and upper air observations from the reanalysis datasets ERA-40 and ERA-Interim. As such it contains many data that have been digitized and collected in the EU FP7 project ERA-CLIM. Those data, which partly exist at asynoptic times and on altitude levels instead of pressure levels, have been brought to synoptic times and standard pressure levels using state of the art interpolation techniques, employing geopotential information National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration (NOAA) 20th Century Reanalysis (NOAA 20CR) to aid the interpolation. The standardized time series have been merged if necessary, taking care that the data are traceable back to their original sources. Only time series longer than 300 days have been saved in the merged archive, since the main purpose of this dataset is to aid climatological studies. If possible WMO numbers have been given to the station records. For some records which have never been identified by a WMO number, a local ID above 100 000 has been attached. This paper describes the merging procedure, data count and data quality and how traceability of the data is ensured. It does not describe a homogenization procedure for both temperature and wind data. Homogeneity adjustments for both temperature and wind will be provided in a forthcoming paper. All the archives and metadata files are available in the PANGAEA archive with associated DOI http://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.823617 . If users prefer netCDF files, they can be downloaded via http://www.univie.ac.at/theoret-met/research/raobcore/ .

Description: Soil, snow, weather, and sub-surface storage data from a mountain catchment in the rain–snow transition zone Earth System Science Data Discussions, 6, 811-835, 2013 Author(s): P. R. Kormos, D. Marks, C. J. Williams, H. P. Marshall, P. Aishlin, D. G. Chandler, and J. P. McNamara A comprehensive hydroclimatic data set is presented for the 2011 water year to improve understanding of hydrologic processes in the rain-snow transition zone. This type of dataset is extremely rare in scientific literature because of the quality and quantity of soil depth, soil texture, soil moisture, and soil temperature data. Standard meteorological and snow cover data for the entire 2011 water year are included, which include several rain-on-snow events. Surface soil textures and soil depths from 57 points are presented as well as soil texture profiles from 14 points. Meteorological data include continuous hourly shielded, unshielded, and wind corrected precipitation, wind speed, air temperature, relative humidity, dew point temperature, and incoming solar and thermal radiation data. Sub-surface data included are hourly soil moisture data from multiple depths from 7 soil profiles within the catchment, and soil temperatures from multiple depths from 2 soil profiles. Hydrologic response data include hourly stream discharge from the catchment outlet weir, continuous snow depths from one location, intermittent snow depths from 5 locations, and snow depth and density data from ten weekly snow surveys. Though it represents only a single water year, the presentation of both above and below ground hydrologic condition makes it one of the most detailed and complete hydro-climatic datasets from the climatically sensitive rain-snow transition zone for a wide range of modeling and descriptive studies. Data are available at doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.819837 .

Description: High resolution atmospheric reconstruction for Europe 1948–2012: coastDat2 Earth System Science Data Discussions, 6, 779-809, 2013 Author(s): B. Geyer The coastDat data sets were produced to give a consistent and homogeneous database mainly for assessing weather statistics and long-term changes for Europe, especially in data sparse regions. A sequence of numerical models was employed to reconstruct all aspects of marine climate (such as storms, waves, surges etc.) over many decades. Here, we describe the atmospheric part of coastDat2 (Geyer and Rockel, 2013, doi:10.1594/WDCC/coastDat-2_COSMO-CLM ). It consists of a regional climate reconstruction for entire Europe, including Baltic and North Sea and parts of the Atlantic. The simulation was done for 1948 to 2012 with a regional climate model and a horizontal grid size of 0.22° in rotated coordinates. Global reanalysis data were used as forcing and spectral nudging was applied. To meet the demands on the coastDat data set about 70 variables are stored hourly.

Description: The IRHUM (Isotopic Reconstruction of Human Migration) database – bioavailable strontium isotope ratios for geochemical fingerprinting in France Earth System Science Data Discussions, 6, 761-777, 2013 Author(s): M. Willmes, L. McMorrow, L. Kinsley, R. Armstrong, M. Aubert, S. Eggins, C. Falguères, B. Maureille, I. Moffat, and R. Grün Strontium isotope ratios ( 87 Sr/ 86 Sr) are a key geochemical tracer used in a wide range of fields including archaeology, ecology, food and forensic sciences. These applications are based on the principle that the Sr isotopic ratios of natural materials reflect the sources of strontium available during their formation. A major constraint for current studies is the lack of robust reference maps to evaluate the source of strontium isotope ratios measured in the samples. Here we provide a new dataset of bioavailable Sr isotope ratios for the major geologic units of France, based on plant and soil samples (Pangaea data repository doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.819142 ). The IRHUM (Isotopic Reconstruction of Human Migration) database is a web platform to access, explore and map our dataset. The database provides the spatial context and metadata for each sample, allowing the user to evaluate the suitability of the sample for their specific study. In addition, it allows users to upload and share their own datasets and data products, which will enhance collaboration across the different research fields. This article describes the sampling and analytical methods used to generate the dataset and how to use and access of the dataset through the IRHUM database. Any interpretation of the isotope dataset is outside the scope of this publication.

Description: Global carbon budget 2013 Earth System Science Data Discussions, 6, 689-760, 2013 Author(s): C. Le Quéré, G. P. Peters, R. J. Andres, R. M. Andrew, T. Boden, P. Ciais, P. Friedlingstein, R. A. Houghton, G. Marland, R. Moriarty, S. Sitch, P. Tans, A. Arneth, A. Arvanitis, D. C. E. Bakker, L. Bopp, J. G. Canadell, L. P. Chini, S. C. Doney, A. Harper, I. Harris, J. I. House, A. K. Jain, S. D. Jones, E. Kato, R. F. Keeling, K. Klein Goldewijk, A. Körtzinger, C. Koven, N. Lefèvre, A. Omar, T. Ono, G.-H. Park, B. Pfeil, B. Poulter, M. R. Raupach, P. Regnier, C. Rödenbeck, S. Saito, J. Schwinger, J. Segschneider, B. D. Stocker, B. Tilbrook, S. van Heuven, N. Viovy, R. Wanninkhof, A. Wiltshire, S. Zaehle, and C. Yue Accurate assessment of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions and their redistribution among the atmosphere, ocean, and terrestrial biosphere is important to better understand the global carbon cycle, support the development of climate policies, and project future climate change. Here we describe datasets and a methodology to quantify all major components of the global carbon budget, including their uncertainties, based on the combination of a range of data, algorithms, statistics and model estimates and their interpretation by a broad scientific community. We discuss changes compared to previous estimates consistency within and among components, alongside methodology and data limitations. CO 2 emissions from fossil-fuel combustion and cement production ( E FF ) are based on energy statistics, while emissions from Land-Use Change ( E LUC ), including deforestation, are based on combined evidence from land-cover change data, fire activity in regions undergoing deforestation, and models. The global atmospheric CO 2 concentration is measured directly and its rate of growth ( G ATM ) is computed from the annual changes in concentration. The mean ocean CO 2 sink ( S OCEAN ) is based on observations from the 1990s, while the annual anomalies and trends are estimated with ocean models. The variability in S OCEAN is evaluated for the first time in this budget with data products based on surveys of ocean CO 2 measurements. The global residual terrestrial CO 2 sink ( S LAND ) is estimated by the difference of the other terms of the global carbon budget and compared to results of Dynamic Global Vegetation Models. All uncertainties are reported as ± 1 sigma, reflecting the current capacity to characterise the annual estimates of each component of the global carbon budget. For the last decade available (2003–2012), E FF was 8.6 ± 0.4 GtC yr −1 , E LUC 0.8 ± 0.5 GtC yr −1 , G ATM 4.3 ± 0.1 GtC yr −1 , S OCEAN 2.6 ± 0.5 GtC yr −1 , and S LAND 2.6 ± 0.8 GtC yr −1 . For year 2012 alone, E FF grew to 9.7 ± 0.5 GtC yr −1 , 2.2% above 2011, reflecting a continued trend in these emissions; G ATM was 5.2 ± 0.2 GtC yr −1 , S OCEAN was 2.9 ± 0.5 GtC yr −1 , and assuming and E LUC of 0.9 ± 0.5 GtC yr −1 (based on 2001–2010 average), S LAND was 2.5 ± 0.9 GtC yr −1 . G ATM was high in 2012 compared to the 2003–2012 average, almost entirely reflecting the high E FF . The global atmospheric CO 2 concentration reached 392.52 ± 0.10 ppm on average over 2012. We estimate that E FF will increase by 2.1% (1.1–3.1%) to 9.9 ± 0.5 GtC in 2013, 61% above emissions in 1990, based on projections of World Gross Domestic Product and recent changes in the carbon intensity of the economy. With this projection, cumulative emissions of CO 2 will reach about 550 ± 60 GtC for 1870–2013, 70% from E FF (390 ± 20 GtC) and 30% from E LUC (160 ± 55 GtC). This paper is intended to provide a baseline to keep track of annual carbon budgets in the future. All data presented here can be downloaded from the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center ( 10.3334/CDIAC/GCP_2013_v1.1 ).

Description: Description of the ERA-CLIM historical upper-air data Earth System Science Data Discussions, 6, 641-687, 2013 Author(s): A. Stickler, S. Brönnimann, S. Jourdain, E. Roucaute, A. Sterin, D. Nikolaev, M. A. Valente, R. Wartenburger, H. Hersbach, L. Ramella-Pralungo, and D. Dee Historical, i.e. pre-1957, upper-air data are a valuable source of information on the state of the atmosphere, in some parts of the World back to the early 20th century. However, to date reanalyses have only partially made use of these data, and only of observations made after 1948. Even for the period between 1948 (the starting year of the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis) and the International Geophysical Year in 1957 (the starting year of the ERA-40 reanalysis), when the global upper-air coverage reached more or less its current status, many observations have not been digitised until now. The Comprehensive Historical Upper-Air Network (CHUAN) already compiled a large collection of pre-1957 upper-air data. In the framework of the European project ERA-CLIM, significant amounts of additional upper-air data have been catalogued (〉 1.3 mio station days), imaged (〉 200 000 images) and digitised (〉 700 000 station days) in order to prepare a new input dataset for upcoming reanalyses. The records cover large parts of the globe, focussing on so far less well covered regions such as the Tropics, the polar regions and the Oceans, and on very early upper-air data from Europe and the US. The total number of digitised/inventoried records is 61/101 for moving upper-air data, i.e. data from ships etc., and 735/1783 for fixed upper-air stations. Here, we give a detailed description of the resulting dataset including the metadata and the quality checking procedures applied. The data will be included in the next version of CHUAN. The data are available on http://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.821222 .

Description: Measurements of total alkalinity and inorganic dissolved carbon in the Atlantic Ocean and adjacent Southern Ocean between 2008 and 2010 Earth System Science Data Discussions, 6, 621-639, 2013 Author(s): U. Schuster, A. J. Watson, D. C. E. Bakker, A. M. de Boer, E. M. Jones, G. A. Lee, O. Legge, A. Louwerse, J. Riley, and S. Scally Water column dissolved inorganic carbon and total alkalinity were measured during five hydrographic sections in the Atlantic Ocean and Drake Passage. The work was funded through the Strategic Funding Initiative of the UK's Oceans2025 programme, which ran from 2007 to 2012. The aims of this programme were to establish the regional budgets of natural and anthropogenic carbon in the North Atlantic, the South Atlantic, and the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean, as well as the rates of change of these budgets. This paper describes the dissolved inorganic carbon and total alkalinity data collected along east-west sections at 55–60° N (Arctic Gateway), 24.5° N, and 24° S in the Atlantic and across two Drake Passage sections. Other hydrographic and biogeochemical parameters were measured during these sections, yet are not covered in this paper. Over 95% of samples taken during the 24.5° N, 24° S, and the Drake Passage sections were analysed onboard and subjected to a 1st level quality control addressing technical and analytical issues. Samples taken during Arctic Gateway were analysed and subjected to quality control back in the laboratory. Complete post-cruise 2nd level quality control was performed using cross-over analysis with historical data in the vicinity of measurements, and data are available through the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC) and are included in the Global Ocean Data Analyses Project, version 2 (GLODAP 2).

Description: The CRUTEM4 land-surface air temperature dataset: construction, previous versions and dissemination via Google Earth Earth System Science Data Discussions, 6, 597-619, 2013 Author(s): T. J. Osborn and P. D. Jones The CRUTEM4 (Climatic Research Unit Temperature version 4) land-surface air temperature dataset is one of the most widely used records of the climate system. Here we provide an important additional dissemination route for this dataset: online access to monthly, seasonal and annual data values and timeseries graphs via Google Earth. This is achieved via an interface written in Keyhole Markup Language (KML) and also provides access to the underlying weather station data used to construct the CRUTEM4 dataset. A mathematical description of the construction of the CRUTEM4 dataset (and its predecessor versions) is also provided, together with an archive of some previous versions and a recommendation for identifying the precise version of the dataset used in a particular study. The CRUTEM4 dataset used here is available from doi:10.5285/EECBA94F-62F9-4B7C-88D3-482F2C93C468 .

Description: Fluxes of sedimenting material from sediment traps in the Atlantic Ocean Earth System Science Data Discussions, 6, 541-595, 2013 Author(s): S. Torres-Valdés, S. C. Painter, A. P. Martin, R. Sanders, and J. Felden We provide a data set assemblage of directly observed and derived fluxes of sedimenting material (total mass, POC , PON , BSiO 2 , CaCO 3 , PIC and lithogenic/terrigenous fluxes) obtained using sediment traps. This data assemblage contains over 5900 data points distributed across the Atlantic, from the Arctic Ocean to the Southern Ocean. Data from the Mediterranean Sea are also included. Data were compiled from a variety of sources: data repositories (e.g., BCO-DMO, PANGAEA), time series sites (e.g., BATS, CARIACO), published scientific papers and data provided by originating PI's. All sources are specified within the combined data set. Data from the World Ocean Atlas 2009 were extracted to coincide with flux data to provide additional environmental information where available. Specifically, contemporaneous data were extracted for temperature, salinity, oxygen (concentration, AOU and percentage saturation), nitrate, phosphate and silicate. Data show a broad range of flux estimates, with marked differences between ocean domains. Data also reveal important differences in the contribution that a given variable provides to the total mass flux, which is relevant towards understanding the factors that control the strength of the biological carbon pump. The dataset is archived on the data repository PANGAEA® ( http://www.pangaea.de ) under doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.807946 .

Description: Atmospheric ozone above Troll station, Antarctica observed by a ground based microwave radiometer Earth System Science Data Discussions, 6, 513-540, 2013 Author(s): M. Daae, C. Straub, P. J. Espy, and D. A. Newnham This paper describes the stratospheric and mesospheric ozone profiles retrieved from spectral measurements of the 249.96 GHz O 3 line, using the British Antarctic Survey's ground-based Microwave Radiometer at Troll (BAS-MRT), Antarctica (72°01' S, 02°32' E, 62° Mlat). The instrument operated at Troll from February 2008 through January 2010, and hourly averaged spectra were used to retrieve approximately 22 ozone profiles per day. The ozone profiles cover the pressure range from 3 to 0.02 hPa (approximately 38 to 72 km) which includes the topside of the stratospheric ozone layer and the peak of the tertiary maximum. Comparing the retrieved ozone volume mixing ratio (vmr) values to Aura/MLS and SD-WACCM shows no significant bias to within the instrumental uncertainties. The long-term variations (〉 20 days) between MLS and SD-WACCM agree well with BAS-MRT at all altitudes with significant correlation coefficients of at least 0.9 (0.7 with SD-WACCM) in the upper stratosphere and middle mesosphere. A weaker correlation is found for the long-term variations in summer when most of the vmr values are below the random noise level of Aura/MLS. The correlation of short-term variations ( 〈 20 days) between MLS and BAS-MRT agree well at all altitudes with significant correlation coefficients of at least 0.7 in the upper stratosphere and middle mesosphere. The ozone profiles retrieved at Troll, Antarctica extend the sparse data coverage of middle atmospheric ozone above Antarctica, where, due to the dynamic nature of the ozone concentrations, systematic observations with a high temporal resolution are desirable. The O 3 profiles presented here are stored at the UK's Polar Data Centre ( http://doi.org/nc3 ) and are available for public scientific use.