How do I select data from a specific time or location?

Data from a specific time and location can be selected in a number of ways and a few of them are described below

For step-by-step examples and a more thorough explanation of the data selection options, see Part II of the Data Library Tutorial.

Finding data for a specific station(s) or locations

From the main dataset page for each dataset, such as this one for the GHCN, you can...

  1. Click on the dot representing the desired station on the map. If the area of interest has many stations, you can zoom the map in and out with either the zoom pull-down at the left of the map or by adjusting the lat/lon limits of the map and clicking "Redraw". If you want to obtain data for all of the stations within the new area or just see the name of these stations, then click the "List of stations in current view" link.

    If the dataset is gridded, such as this one for the the Reanalysis monthly soil temperature, you should select the "Data Selection" link in the table at the top of the page. You can then enter the lat/lon limits of your desired region in the Setting Ranges table, click "Restrict Ranges", and then click "Stop Selecting" when you are satisfied with your selections.

  2. Click on the "Searches" link to the right of the map, enter the name of the desired station in the Name column of the search table, and then click "Search NOAA NCDC GHCN v2". You will then get all the stations in the database matching that name. For example, if we type in New York, then it returns 3 different stations in the New York City area. If we want to look only at the data from Central Park and Fort Totten, then we select the boxes next to their names and then click "Get Marked Stations".

    If you are looking for data from more than one station, then you can enter lat/lon limits in the Search table and some Search Tables even offer you the option to search by country.

Finding data for a specific time period

It is often easiest to select your desired time period after selecting the data variable in which you are interested. For example, from the main dataset page for GHCN mean temperature data, you can...

Click on the "Data Selection" link in the table at the top of the page. You can then select your desired time period. For best results, enter the text in format of the text already in the box. Then click "Restrict Ranges" and then "Stop Selecting" when you are satisified with your data limits.