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International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) Climate Data Record, H-Series

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 | Catalog Last Checked: April 12, 2026 at 09:19 PM | Dataset Last Updated: June 15, 2017 at 12:00 AM
The International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) focuses on the distribution and variation of cloud radiative properties to improve the understanding of the effects of clouds on climate, the radiation budget, and the long-term global hydrologic cycle. The ISCCP H-Series Climate Data Record consists of several parts: (1) ISCCP H-Series dataset, (2) ISCCP-Basic H-Series, and (3) Ancillary and input datasets. ISCCP H Series data The full ISCCP dataset consists of netCDF files containing various derived cloud parameters. The H-Series data includes several products. These include: * HXS (H-series pixel level single satellite - not in netcdf), * HXG (H-series pixel level gridded), * HGG (H-series Gridded Global), * HGH (H-series gridded monthly by hour), and * HGM ( H-series Gridded Monthly). The netCDF files are not structured with CF-standard names. Data variables are unitless and rely on data tables that are needed to represent each geophysical variable. Keeping ISCCP H-Series in this native format ensures that existing "power users" will be able to continue using the data. ISCCP Basic H Series ISCCP Basic files contains a subset of the cloud variables and products available in the full ISCCP dataset. It consists of remapped, calibrated, and subsetted variables following CF-conventions. In addition, the netCDF files follow full netCDF CF and ACDD Conventions. These files are intended to be use by new and/or less advanced users that may want to use cloud data, but do not need the full ISCCP dataset. Ancillary and Input data Ancillary and Input data used in the production of ISCCP are also archived. These consist of B1U geostationary satellite data, B1U and GAC calibration/HBT tables, and ancillary files for nnHIRS, AEROSOL, SNOWICE, and OZONE datasets.

Resources

13 resources available

  • NCEI Dataset Landing Page

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    Visit Page

  • Cloud Properties - ISCCP

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    Visit Page

  • ISCCP Product Page

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  • NCEI THREDDS Data Server - ISCCP "Basic"

    TEXT/HTML
    Visit Page

  • NCEI Direct Download

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  • Registry of Open Data on AWS

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

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  • Azure Landing Page (Region: us-east)

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  • The International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP): The First Project of the World Climate Research Programme

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    Download

  • ISCCP D-Series (Superseded)

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  • Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Keywords

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  • GCOS Essential Climate Variables

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  • NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)

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Earth Science > Atmosphere > Clouds Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Radiation Atmospheric - Upper-air - Cloud Properties Atmospheric - Upper-air - Earth Radiation Budget Geographic Region > Global Vertical Location > Land Surface Vertical Location > Boundary Layer Vertical Location > Troposphere

Complete Metadata
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accessLevel non-public
accrualPeriodicity R/P3M
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describedByType application/octet-steam
description The International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) focuses on the distribution and variation of cloud radiative properties to improve the understanding of the effects of clouds on climate, the radiation budget, and the long-term global hydrologic cycle. The ISCCP H-Series Climate Data Record consists of several parts: (1) ISCCP H-Series dataset, (2) ISCCP-Basic H-Series, and (3) Ancillary and input datasets. ISCCP H Series data The full ISCCP dataset consists of netCDF files containing various derived cloud parameters. The H-Series data includes several products. These include: * HXS (H-series pixel level single satellite - not in netcdf), * HXG (H-series pixel level gridded), * HGG (H-series Gridded Global), * HGH (H-series gridded monthly by hour), and * HGM ( H-series Gridded Monthly). The netCDF files are not structured with CF-standard names. Data variables are unitless and rely on data tables that are needed to represent each geophysical variable. Keeping ISCCP H-Series in this native format ensures that existing "power users" will be able to continue using the data. ISCCP Basic H Series ISCCP Basic files contains a subset of the cloud variables and products available in the full ISCCP dataset. It consists of remapped, calibrated, and subsetted variables following CF-conventions. In addition, the netCDF files follow full netCDF CF and ACDD Conventions. These files are intended to be use by new and/or less advanced users that may want to use cloud data, but do not need the full ISCCP dataset. Ancillary and Input data Ancillary and Input data used in the production of ISCCP are also archived. These consist of B1U geostationary satellite data, B1U and GAC calibration/HBT tables, and ancillary files for nnHIRS, AEROSOL, SNOWICE, and OZONE datasets.
distribution 
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    "title": "The International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP): The First Project of the World Climate Research Programme",
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    "title": "Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Keywords",
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    "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.",
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    "description": "Overview of the GCOS Essential Climate Variables.",
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identifier https://data.noaa.gov/waf/NOAA/NESDIS/ncei/aim/iso/xml/C00956.xml
isPartOf The International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP): The First Project of the World Climate Research Programme
issued 2017-06-15T00:00:00.000+00:00
keyword 
[
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Clouds",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Radiation",
  "Atmospheric - Upper-air - Cloud Properties",
  "Atmospheric - Upper-air - Earth Radiation Budget",
  "Geographic Region > Global",
  "Vertical Location > Land Surface",
  "Vertical Location > Boundary Layer",
  "Vertical Location > Troposphere",
  "ISCCP > International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project",
  "Earth Remote Sensing Instruments, Passive Remote Sensing, Spectrometers/Radiometers, Imaging Spectrometers/Radiometers, Geostationary and Polar Orbiters (AVHRR, AVHRR-2/3)",
  "GOES (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite)",
  "POES (Polar Orbiting Environmental Satellites)",
  "HXS (10-km, 3-hr)",
  "HXG (10-km, 3-hr, global)",
  "HGG (100-km, 3-hr)",
  "HGH (100-km, monthly)",
  "HGM (100-km, monthly)",
  "10 km - < 50 km or approximately .09 degree - < .5 degree",
  "Hourly - < Daily",
  "> 1 km",
  "DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI > National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce",
  "NASA/GSFC/SED/ESD/GISS > Goddard Institute for Space Studies, Earth Sciences Division, Science and Exploration Directorate, Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA",
  "Hydrology",
  "Satellite",
  "NOAA Climate Data Record (CDR) Program",
  "NOAA OneStop Project",
  "LTOAST_CRIS_FTLS_IMAGERY_BIN"
]
language 
[]
license https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
modified 2017-06-15T00:00:00.000+00:00
publisher 
{
  "name": "DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI > National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce",
  "@type": "org:Organization"
}
references 
[
  "http://pubs.giss.nasa.gov/docs/1983/1983_Schiffer_sc01000b.pdf",
  "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/metadata/geoportal/rest/metadata/item/gov.noaa.ncdc:C00976/html"
]
rights otherRestrictions
spatial 180.0,-90.0,-180.0,90.0
temporal 1983-07-01T00:00:00+00:00/2017-06-30T00:00:00+00:00
title International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) Climate Data Record, H-Series

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