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Global Historical Climatology Network - Daily (GHCN-Daily), Version 3

Published by NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce | Catalog Last Checked: August 03, 2026 at 06:40 AM | Dataset Last Updated: September 24, 2012 at 12:00 AM
The Global Historical Climatology Network - Daily (GHCN-Daily/GHCNd) dataset integrates daily climate observations from approximately 30 different data sources. Version 3 was released in September 2012 with the addition of data from two additional station networks. Changes to the processing system associated with the version 3 release also allowed for updates to occur 7 days a week rather than only on most weekdays. Version 3 contains station-based measurements from well over 90,000 land-based stations worldwide, about two thirds of which are for precipitation measurement only. Other meteorological elements include, but are not limited to, daily maximum and minimum temperature, temperature at the time of observation, snowfall and snow depth. Over 25,000 stations are regularly updated with observations from within roughly the last month. The dataset is also routinely reconstructed (usually every week) from its roughly 30 data sources to ensure that GHCNd is generally in sync with its growing list of constituent sources. During this process, quality assurance checks are applied to the full dataset. Where possible, GHCNd station data are also updated daily from a variety of data streams. Station values for each daily update also undergo a suite of quality checks.

Resources

19 resources available

  • NCEI Dataset Landing Page

    TEXT/HTML
    Visit Page

  • NCEI project page

    TEXT/HTML
    Visit Page

  • GHCNd README File

    TEXT
    Download

  • GHCNd Station Inventory

    TEXT
    Download

  • CDO Dataset Documentation

    PDF
    Download

  • NCEI Direct Download

    TEXT/HTML
    Visit Page

  • NCEI Common Access Search

    TEXT/HTML
    Visit Page

  • NCEI GIS Map Viewer

    TEXT/HTML
    Visit Page

  • ESRI ArcGIS Service for the dataset.

    TEXT/HTML
    Visit Page

  • KMZ file for dataset

    KML
    Download

  • GHCN-D PDF Sample

    PDF
    Download

  • GHCN-D CSV Sample

    CSV
    Download

  • Registry of Open Data on AWS

    TEXT/HTML
    Visit Page

  • AWS S3 Explorer (Region: us-east-1)

    TEXT/HTML
    Visit Page

  • Google Cloud Landing Page (Region: US-central-1)

    TEXT/HTML
    Visit Page

  • DSMR Publication at the NOAA Institutional Repository

    TEXT/HTML
    Visit Page

  • AMS Journals Online: An Overview of the Global Historical Climatology Network-Daily Database

    PLACEHOLDER/VALUE
    Download

  • Global Historical Climatology Network - Daily (GHCN-Daily), Version 2 (Version Superseded)

    TEXT/HTML
    Visit Page

  • Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Keywords

    TEXT/HTML
    Visit Page

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Complete Metadata
@type dcat:Dataset
accessLevel non-public
accrualPeriodicity R/P1D
contactPoint 
{
  "fn": "DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI > National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce",
  "@type": "vcard:Contact",
  "hasEmail": "mailto:ncdc.ghcnd@noaa.gov"
}
describedByType application/octet-steam
description The Global Historical Climatology Network - Daily (GHCN-Daily/GHCNd) dataset integrates daily climate observations from approximately 30 different data sources. Version 3 was released in September 2012 with the addition of data from two additional station networks. Changes to the processing system associated with the version 3 release also allowed for updates to occur 7 days a week rather than only on most weekdays. Version 3 contains station-based measurements from well over 90,000 land-based stations worldwide, about two thirds of which are for precipitation measurement only. Other meteorological elements include, but are not limited to, daily maximum and minimum temperature, temperature at the time of observation, snowfall and snow depth. Over 25,000 stations are regularly updated with observations from within roughly the last month. The dataset is also routinely reconstructed (usually every week) from its roughly 30 data sources to ensure that GHCNd is generally in sync with its growing list of constituent sources. During this process, quality assurance checks are applied to the full dataset. Where possible, GHCNd station data are also updated daily from a variety of data streams. Station values for each daily update also undergo a suite of quality checks.
distribution 
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    "title": "NCEI Dataset Landing Page",
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    "description": "Landing page for the dataset.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
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    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
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    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Project page with dataset information.",
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    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "GHCNd README File",
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    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "GHCNd Station Inventory",
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    "mediaType": "text/plain",
    "description": "Contains the name, country, most recent location, and network affiliation of each station.",
    "downloadURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/global-historical-climatology-network-daily/doc/ghcnd-stations.txt",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
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    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "CDO Dataset Documentation",
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    "description": "Documentation of the dataset via CDO, including a data description, format layout and other metadata.",
    "downloadURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/global-historical-climatology-network-daily/doc/GHCND_documentation.pdf",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
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    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "NCEI Direct Download",
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    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Direct download for dataset files.",
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  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "NCEI Common Access Search",
    "accessURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/search/dataset-search?text=ghcnd",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Search for data via the interface.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "NCEI GIS Map Viewer",
    "accessURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/maps/daily/",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Dynamic GIS mapping application to locate stations and data for selected layers.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "ESRI ArcGIS Service for the dataset.",
    "accessURL": "https://gis.ncdc.noaa.gov/arcgis/rest/services/cdo/ghcnd/MapServer",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "ArcGIS Server REST API for the dataset.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "KMZ file for dataset",
    "format": "KML",
    "mediaType": "application/vnd.google-earth.kmz",
    "description": "Direct download link for KMZ file.",
    "downloadURL": "https://gis.ncdc.noaa.gov/kml/ghcnd.kmz",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "GHCN-D PDF Sample",
    "format": "PDF",
    "mediaType": "application/pdf",
    "description": "This sample data file shows how the data are formatted in PDF and is for example purposes only.",
    "downloadURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/global-historical-climatology-network-daily/doc/GHCND_sample.pdf",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "GHCN-D CSV Sample",
    "format": "CSV",
    "mediaType": "text/csv",
    "description": "This sample data file shows how the data are formatted in CSV and is for example purposes only.",
    "downloadURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/global-historical-climatology-network-daily/doc/GHCND_sample.csv",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "Registry of Open Data on AWS",
    "accessURL": "https://registry.opendata.aws/noaa-ghcn/",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Information on AWS data access.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "AWS S3 Explorer (Region: us-east-1)",
    "accessURL": "https://noaa-ghcn-pds.s3.amazonaws.com/index.html",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Browse view to explore the S3 bucket.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "Google Cloud Landing Page (Region: US-central-1)",
    "accessURL": "https://console.cloud.google.com/marketplace/details/noaa-public/ghcn-d",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Information on Google Cloud data access.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "DSMR Publication at the NOAA Institutional Repository",
    "accessURL": "https://doi.org/10.25923/dybz-jn13",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Report documenting the Scientific Data Stewardship Maturity for this dataset.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
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  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "AMS Journals Online: An Overview of the Global Historical Climatology Network-Daily Database",
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  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "Global Historical Climatology Network - Daily (GHCN-Daily), Version 2 (Version Superseded)",
    "accessURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/metadata/geoportal/rest/metadata/item/gov.noaa.ncdc:C00838/html",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "For more information about the immediate predecessor to this version, please follow the link. This dataset has been superseded by a newer version. Users should not use this version except in rare cases (e.g., when reproducing previous studies that used this version).",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Keywords",
    "accessURL": "https://earthdata.nasa.gov/about/gcmd/global-change-master-directory-gcmd-keywords",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "The information provided on this page seeks to define how the GCMD Keywords are structured, used and accessed. It also provides information on how users can participate in the further development of the keywords.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  }
]
identifier https://data.noaa.gov/waf/NOAA/NESDIS/ncei/aim/iso/xml/C00861.xml
issued 2012-09-24T00:00:00.000+00:00
keyword 
[
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Temperature > Surface Temperature > Maximum/Minimum Temperature",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Temperature > Surface Temperature > Air Temperature",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Precipitation > Precipitation Amount",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Precipitation > Solid Precipitation > Snow",
  "Earth Science > Terrestrial Hydrosphere > Snow/Ice > Snow Depth",
  "Land Surface",
  "Geographic Region > Global Land",
  "Vertical Location > Land Surface",
  "NOAA OneStop Project",
  "DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCDC > National Climatic Data Center, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce",
  "DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI > National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce"
]
language 
[]
license https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
modified 2012-09-24T00:00:00.000+00:00
publisher 
{
  "name": "NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information",
  "@type": "org:Organization"
}
references 
[
  "https://doi.org/10.25923/dybz-jn13",
  "https://doi.org/10.1175/JTECH-D-11-00103.1",
  "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/metadata/geoportal/rest/metadata/item/gov.noaa.ncdc:C00838/html"
]
rights otherRestrictions
spatial 180.0,-90.0,-180.0,83.0
temporal 1880-01-01T00:00:00+00:00/1880-01-01T00:00:00+00:00
theme 
[
  "geospatial"
]
title Global Historical Climatology Network - Daily (GHCN-Daily), Version 3

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