Introduction
The GMSLP2.1f is a fully global mean sea-level pressure (GMSLP)
data set, developed in collaboration with CSIRO (Scientific and
Industrial Research for Australia), Australia and NIWA (National
Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research), New Zealand. It
is an historical, 5° x 5° gridded monthly dataset covering the
period 1871-1994. GMSLP2.1f consists of in-situ marine and land
station MSLP observations, blended with several gridded analysis
datasets (from Australia and the USA) to create globally complete
fields.
The Met Office Hadley Centre recently produced the HadSLP1 dataset
which replaces the Global Mean Sea Level Pressure (GMSLP) data sets, and is a
unique combination of monthly globally-complete fields of land and sea pressure
observations a 5 degree latitude-longitude grid from 1871 to 1998.
The
advantages of HadSLP1 over GMSLP2 are an improved land station data base, new
interpolation scheme and the incorporation of local detail while safeguarding
against random errors. Like GMSLP2, HadSLP1 was developed by Tracy Basnett and
David Parker, in collaboration with R.J. Allan (previously at CSIRO and now at
the Met Office) and M.J. Salinger (NIWA).
Marine observations were taken from the Met Office Marine Data Bank (MDB) and
from the NOAA Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set (COADS) (Woodruff et al,
1987). The MDB data were given priority in the blend, which is described in
Basnett and Parker (1997). Land observations are a combination of data obtained
from CSIRO (Australia), NIWA (New Zealand), CRU (University of East Anglia),
GHCN, and operationally-received "CLIMAT" messages. The latter were
used mainly for updating station series and for the Arctic.
HadSLP1 pressures are reconstructed using a reduced-space optimal interpolation
procedure, followed by superposition of quality-improved gridded observations
onto the reconstructions to restore local detail. A spatially incomplete product
(HadSLP1.0), created prior to the reconstruction, is also available.
HadSLP2 is now being developed by Tara Ansell and Rob Allan. This new product
contains monthly globally-complete fields from 1850-2004 and is available from the Hadley Centre.
Access Restrictions
The Met Office wish to monitor the use of these analyses and
require an acknowledgement of the data source if they are used
in any publication.
The online application
for access to the Met Office Global Mean Sea Level Pressure data
requires acceptance of the Met Office Conditions of use.
Please note that the Met Office data sets are available for
bona fide academic research only, on a per person per project basis (i.e. all members on a same project who will be using the data must individually apply for access to the data).
Your application for accessing the Global Mean Sea Level data will be processed within a day of receipt and you will receive a confirmation email. Provided
your application is complete and fully meets the Met Office conditions, a web account
will be activated to allow you access to the GMSLP data directories via your login account from the BADC
WWW Browse Archive pages.
Please read the 00README
file available under /badc/ukmo-gmslp/ directory to guide you through
the tree structure and the data directory.
Data file format
The data held at the BADC, are stored in a simple ASCII format
(plain text and "human" readable).
The GMSLP2.1f data file format is documented in GMSLP2.1f file_format.
The HadSLP1 data file format is documented in
HadSLP1
file format).
Documentation, Links to further information and references
The BADC provides a Documentation
file containing background information on the Met Office GMSLP2 data held at the BADC. This document is adapted
from "Development of the Global Mean Sea Level Pressure Data Set GMSLP2" by T.A.Basnett and D.E.Parker, 1997.
The Met Office Hadley Centre for Climate Change observational datasets site www.hadobs.org.
The main reference to this dataset is "Development of
the Global Mean Sea Level Pressure Data Set GMSLP2",Basnett,
T.A. and Parker,D.E. Hadley Centre Climate Research Technical
Note CRTN 79, May 1997.
The GMSLP2.1f has already been used in various analyses, especially
studies of ENSO (Allan et al., 1996, El Niño Southern Oscillation
and climatic variability, CSIRO, Australia, 408pp) and for
model validation (Mullan et al., 1997, Simulation of climate
variability for 1871-1994 forced by observed sea surface temperatures,
from Research activities in atmospheric and oceanic modelling,
CAS/JSC report No.25, edited by A.Staniforth. WMO.).
Citation
UK Meteorological Office, Hadley Centre, CSIRO (Scientific and Industrial Research for Australia), Australia and NIWA (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research), New Zealand. Met Office - Global Mean Sea-Level Pressure datasets (GMSLP and HadSLP1), [Internet]. NCAS British Atmospheric Data Centre, 2000, Date of citation. Available from http://badc.nerc.ac.uk/view/badc.nerc.ac.uk__ATOM__dataent_GMSLP
Who to contact
If you have queries about these pages or about obtaining the
Met Office GMSLP data from the BADC then you should contact
BADC Support.
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