NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis Data, Surface Temperature

  • The NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis 1 project provides surface air temperature data from 1948 to the present, with a temporal resolution of 6 hours and a spatial resolution of 2.5 degrees.

  • This dataset is a joint effort between the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) to produce new atmospheric analyses using historical and current data.

  • The data is available in Earth Engine and can be accessed using the ee.ImageCollection("NCEP_RE/surface_temp") code snippet.

  • There are no restrictions on the use of this dataset.
NCEP_RE/surface_temp
Dataset Availability
1948-01-01T00:00:00Z–2025-09-30T18:00:00Z
Dataset Provider
Earth Engine Snippet
ee.ImageCollection("NCEP_RE/surface_temp")
Cadence
6 Hours
Tags
atmosphere climate geophysical ncep noaa reanalysis temperature

Description

The NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis Project is a joint project between the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP, formerly "NMC") and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). The goal of this joint effort is to produce new atmospheric analyses using historical data as well as to produce analyses of the current atmospheric state (Climate Data Assimilation System, CDAS). The NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis 1 project is using a state-of-the-art analysis/forecast system to perform data assimilation using past data from 1948 to the present. The data have 6-hour temporal resolution (0000, 0600, 1200, and 1800 UTC) and 2.5 degree spatial resolution.

Bands

Pixel Size
278300 meters

Bands

Name Units Min Max Pixel Size Description
air K 187.3* 323.5* meters

Surface air temperature
* estimated min or max value

Terms of Use

Terms of Use

There are no restrictions on the use of these datasets.

Citations

Citations:

Explore with Earth Engine

Code Editor (JavaScript)

var dataset = ee.ImageCollection('NCEP_RE/surface_temp')
                  .filter(ee.Filter.date('2018-08-01', '2018-08-15'));
var surfaceAirTemperature = dataset.select('air');
var surfaceAirTemperatureVis = {
  min: 230.0,
  max: 308.0,
  palette: [
    '800080', '0000ab', '0000ff', '008000', '19ff2b', 'a8f7ff', 'ffff00',
    'd6d600', 'ffa500', 'ff6b01', 'ff0000'
  ],
};
Map.setCenter(71.72, 52.48, 3.0);
Map.addLayer(
    surfaceAirTemperature, surfaceAirTemperatureVis, 'Surface Air Temperature');
Open in Code Editor
The NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis Project is a joint project between the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP, formerly "NMC") and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). The goal of this joint effort is to produce new atmospheric analyses using historical data as well as to produce analyses of the current …
NCEP_RE/surface_temp, atmosphere,climate,geophysical,ncep,noaa,reanalysis,temperature
1948-01-01T00:00:00Z/2025-09-30T18:00:00Z
-90 -180 90 180
Google Earth Engine