Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Skip to content
  • Feedback

    • NCDC International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS) Project, Version 2 (Version Superseded)

    Metadata Updated: September 19, 2023

    Version 2 of the dataset has been superseded by a newer version. Users should not use version 2 except in rare cases (e.g., when reproducing previous studies that used version 2). The International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS) dataset was developed by The NOAA National Climatic Data Center, which took the initial step of synthesizing and merging best track data from all official Tropical Cyclone Warning Centers (TCWCs) and the WMO Regional Specialized Meteorological Centers (RSMCs) who are responsible for developing and archiving best track data worldwide. In recognizing the deficiency in global tropical cyclone data, and the lack of a publically available dataset, the IBTrACS dataset was produced, which, for the first time, combines existing best track data from over 10 international forecast centers. The dataset contains the position, maximum sustained winds, minimum central pressure, and storm nature for every tropical cyclone globally at 6-hr intervals in UTC. Statistics from the merge are also provided (such as number of centers tracking the storm, range in pressure, median wind speed, etc.). The dataset period is from 1848 to the present with dataset updates performed semi-annually--in the boreal spring following the completion of the Northern Hemisphere TC season and in the boreal autumn following the completion of the Southern Hemisphere TC season. The dataset is archived as netCDF files but can be accessed via a variety of user-friendly formats to facilitate data analysis, including netCDF and CSV formatted files. Version 2 changes include source data updates, bug fixes, adjustments and corrections as well as additional source datasets.

    Access & Use Information

    License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

    Downloads & Resources

    Dates

    Metadata Date June 23, 2023
    Metadata Created Date February 3, 2023
    Metadata Updated Date September 19, 2023
    Reference Date(s) December 15, 2008 (publication)
    Frequency Of Update notPlanned

    Metadata Source

    Harvested from ncdc

    Other Data Resources

    Graphic Preview

    IBTrACS storm tracks for seasons 1947 through 2007.

    Additional Metadata

    Resource Type Dataset
    Metadata Date June 23, 2023
    Metadata Created Date February 3, 2023
    Metadata Updated Date September 19, 2023
    Reference Date(s) December 15, 2008 (publication)
    Responsible Party DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI > National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce (Point of Contact)
    Contact Email
    Guid gov.noaa.ncdc:C00800
    Access Constraints Version 2 of the dataset has been superseded by a newer version. Users should not use version 2 except in rare cases (e.g., when reproducing previous studies that used version 2)., Cite as: Kenneth R. Knapp, Michael Kruk, David Levinson, and Howard Diamond (2008). NCDC International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS) Project, Version 2. [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. DOI:TBD [access date]., Distribution liability: NOAA and NCEI make no warranty, expressed or implied, regarding these data, nor does the fact of distribution constitute such a warranty. NOAA and NCEI cannot assume liability for any damages caused by any errors or omissions in these data. If appropriate, NCEI can only certify that the data it distributes are an authentic copy of the records that were accepted for inclusion in the NCEI archives., Use liability: NOAA and NCEI cannot provide any warranty as to the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of furnished data. Users assume responsibility to determine the usability of these data. The user is responsible for the results of any application of this data for other than its intended purpose.
    Bbox East Long 180.0
    Bbox North Lat 80.0
    Bbox South Lat -80.0
    Bbox West Long -180.0
    Coupled Resource
    Frequency Of Update notPlanned
    Graphic Preview Description IBTrACS storm tracks for seasons 1947 through 2007.
    Graphic Preview File https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/pub/data/metadata/images/C00800_IBTRACS-v2-browse-image.png
    Graphic Preview Type PNG
    Harvest Object Id 7acccaac-2f0a-43b6-bb8f-0f4343033065
    Harvest Source Id 2cb3ef77-1683-4c2a-9119-dc65e50917c6
    Harvest Source Title ncdc
    Licence
    Lineage Data were obtained from numerous sources. Upon receipt of the electronic files, data were converted to common format (netCDF). Thereafter, numerous merging procedures were implemented, including an assessment of storm position, the identification of unique storms, and an accounting for a variety of storm tracks, storm splits, and storm mergers. An automated algorithm was developed to identify storms tracked by multiple centers by sorting storms in time and space. Any observations at identical times and within 111 kilometers, were identified as identical storms. Once a TC was identified as unique, a storm serial number was created which distinctively numbers the storm. IBTrACS algorithms read all the individual storm tracks from the merged files and create one combined storm track with a single position, wind and pressure every 6 hours (at 00, 06, 12 and 18UTC). Objective automated quality control algorithms were developed and incorporated for the maximum sustained wind and minimum central pressure for each tropical cyclone and time step. These data are in netCDF, with one file per cyclone. Statistics from the merge are also provided (such as number of centers tracking the storm, range in pressure, median wind speed, etc.).
    Metadata Language eng; USA
    Metadata Type geospatial
    Old Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[-180.0, -80.0], [180.0, -80.0], [180.0, 80.0], [-180.0, 80.0], [-180.0, -80.0]]]}
    Progress historicalArchive
    Spatial Data Service Type
    Spatial Reference System
    Spatial Harvester True
    Temporal Extent Begin 1848-01-01

    Didn't find what you're looking for? Suggest a dataset here.