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International Comprehensive Ocean Atmosphere Data Set (ICOADS) R3.0 in Near-Real-Time (NRT)

Published by DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI > National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce | Metadata Last Checked: January 27, 2026 | Last Modified: 2019-09-15T00:00:00.000+00:00
The International Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set (ICOADS) Near-Real-Time (NRT) product is an extension of the official ICOADS data set based on preliminary Global Telecommunication System (GTS) data. The data are considered 'preliminary' until fully incorporated into a full major ICOADS data set release. The NRT data set is a merged product of various marine GTS data sources providing surface marine in situ observations from different observing platforms. Observations in the NRT product are primarily from ships (merchant, research, fishing, navy, etc.), moored and drifting buoys, and coastal stations. Each report contains individual observations of meteorological and oceanographic variables, such as sea surface and air temperatures, winds, pressure, humidity, wet bulb, dew point, ocean waves and cloudiness. The data are provided in the ICOADS common International Maritime Meteorological Archive (IMMA) data format and NetCDF. Useful metadata have been added in the global and variable attributes of each file to make the netCDF self-contained. R3.0 includes changes designed to enable more effective exchange of information describing data quality between ICOADS, reanalysis centers, data set developers, scientists and the public. These user-driven innovations include the assignment of a unique identifier (UID) to each marine report, to enable tracing of observations, linking with reports and improved data sharing. Many new input data and metadata sources have been assembled, and updates and improvements to existing data sources, or removal of erroneous data, made. For NRT creation the data are first quality controlled and blended together, with duplicates (Intermediate product) retained. The duplicates are then compared and removed for the Final product and a statistical output summary file providing justifications for duplicate deletions that occurred during the blending process. User groups include sea surface temperature analyses, global surface temperature analyses, model/reanalysis input, and general ocean research. The data set is produced and archived monthly. Spatial coverage is global and the current period of record for these files begins in January 2008 to the most current complete month.

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Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Pressure > Atmospheric Pressure Measurements Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Pressure > Pressure Tendency Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Pressure > Sea Level Pressure Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Pressure > Surface Pressure Earth Science > Oceans > Ocean Pressure > Sea Level Pressure Earth Science > Oceans > Ocean Temperature > Sea Surface Temperature Earth Science > Oceans > Ocean Temperature > Water Temperature Earth Science > Oceans > Ocean Waves > Sea State Earth Science > Oceans > Ocean Waves > Swells Earth Science > Oceans > Ocean Waves > Wave Height Earth Science > Oceans > Ocean Waves > Wave Period Earth Science > Oceans > Ocean Waves > Wave Speed/Direction Earth Science > Oceans > Ocean Waves > Wind Waves Earth Science > Oceans > Ocean Winds > Surface Winds Earth Science > Oceans > Sea Ice > Ice Edges Earth Science > Oceans > Sea Ice > Icebergs Earth Science > Oceans > Sea Ice > Sea Ice Concentration Oceanic - Surface - Sea-surface Temperature Atmospheric - Surface - Air Temperature Atmospheric - Surface - Wind Speed And Direction Atmospheric - Surface - Pressure Ocean Vertical Location > Sea Surface ICOADS > International Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set Anemometers Barometers Hygrometers Drifting Buoys Wind Vane Thermometers Aneroid Pressure Sensor Visual Observations Ships C-MAN > Coastal Marine Network Buoys Ocean Platforms Moorings Ocean Weather Stations TAO > Tropical Atmosphere Ocean TRITON > TRIangle Trans-Ocean Buoy Network Floats NDBC Moored Buoy Point Resolution Hourly - < Daily 1 minute - < 1 hour DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI > National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce

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