CRU global land precipitation data

CRU Hulme Global Land Precipitation Data

This dataset only runs to 1998. For more recent data, we suggest you use the CRU TS dataset which includes a number of variables including monthly precipitation and is available here.

Updated: 29 October 2015 by Tim Osborn

Global Land Precipitation

An historical monthly precipitation data set for global land areas from 1900 to 1998, gridded at two different resolutions (2.5° latitude by 3.75° longitude and 5° latitude/longitude) has been constructed and is available for use in scientific research. When using these datasets, you should cite the following publications:

Hulme M (1992) A 1951-80 global land precipitation climatology for the evaluation of General Circulation Models. Climate Dynamics, 7, 57-72.
Hulme M, Osborn TJ & Johns TC (1998) Precipitation sensitivity to global warming: comparison of observations with HadCM2 simulations. Geophys. Res. Lett., 25, 3379-3382.

The two data files (gu23wld0098.dat and g55wld0098.dat) can be obtained by clicking on the buttons below. The files are, respectively, 10.8 and 5.8MB in size (3.7 and 2.0MB when zipped). The zipped (binary; gzip under Unix) files (Version 1.0, March 1999) may be found in the following location:

5 Degreee Gridded Data Set

A documentation file (5 degree) should be viewed and copied as this contains details about the data set, the data format and conditions of use.

2.5 by 3.75 Degree Gridded Data Set

A documentation file (2.5 by 3.75 degree) should be viewed and copied as this contains details about the data set, the data format and conditions of use.

Tropical Land and Ocean Precipitation

A monthly blended land and ocean precipitation data set for the extended tropical region (30degN to 30degS) from 1974 to 1994, gridded at the resolution 2.5° latitude by 3.75° longitude is also available. When using this datasets, you should cite the following publication:

Doherty RM, Hulme M & Jones CG (1999) A gridded reconstruction of land and ocean precipitation for the extended tropics from 1974 to 1994. Int. J.Climatol., 19, 119-142.

The data file (gu23trp7494.dat) can be obtained by clicking on the button below. The file is 3.7MB in size (1.3MB when zipped). The zipped (binary; gzip under Unix) file (Version 1.0, February 1998) may be found in the following location:

gu23trp7494.dat.gz (binary)

A documentation file (tropical land & ocean) should be viewed and copied as this contains details about the data set, the data format and conditions of use.

Acknowledgements and Further Information

gu23wld0098.dat and g55wld0098.dat replace earlier versions which you may have previously used (e.g. G55WLD0092.DAT, GU23WLD0096.DAT, etc.) and contain more extensive spatial and temporal data coverage than earlier versions.

The development and maintenance of all these precipitation data sets was undertaken by the Climatic Research Unit and led by Mike Hulme. It was partly supported by the UK Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (Contract No. DETR 1/1/85).

The construction of global climatologies for multiple variables including precipitation and at a resolution of 0.5° has been funded by NERC and other agencies. This resulted in a new 0.5° resolution climatology for all land areas extending back to 1901, called CRU TS, and available here.

These datasets are made available under the Open Database License.

Any rights in individual contents of the datasets are licensed under the
Database Contents License under the conditions of Attribution and Share-Alike.

Please use the attribution Climatic Research Unit, University of East Anglia