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Outline of ClimatView

    The ClimatView tool enables viewing and downloading of monthly world climate data, giving users access to statistics on monthly mean temperatures, monthly total precipitation amounts and related anomalies or ratios for all stations where such data are available. Statistics on monthly means of daily maximum/minimum temperatures and Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) are also provided. These data are derived from CLIMAT messages reported via the GTS line from WMO Members around the world.
   Data are available for the period since June 1982, when JMA started receiving CLIMAT messages. Current data are from the previous month or the month before it, and are usually updated around the 9th of each month. CLIMAT data received at the German Meteorological Service (Deutscher Wetterdienst; DWD) are also included in the database. Since 1999, JMA and DWD have jointly operated the GCOS Surface Network Monitoring Centre (http://www.gsnmc.dwd.de/) and exchanged CLIMAT data. Statistics on climatological normals for monthly mean temperature and monthly total precipitation are based on the period 1991 - 2020. The data sources for the normals are CLIMAT messages received by JMA and GHCN data distributed by NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI; http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/ghcnm/v2.php).

  Notes for users

• Although JMA performs quality checking for these data, erroneous examples may remain in some cases.
  
• Some stations have data-free periods due to communication failure and/or relocation.
  
• Japanese station data in ClimatView are based on CLIMAT messages, and are essentially not revised after JMA has issued such messages. Accordingly, it is advisable to retrieve data from Historic Monthly Values (https://www.data.jma.go.jp/obd/stats/data/en/smp/index.html) for Japanese stations.
  

Using ClimatView

On the distribution map, temperature, precipitation data and Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) for each station are displayed as colored round marks for selected areas. A color legend is shown on the right. Hover over a station on the distribution map to show data on the chosen element and the name of the station in a pop-up balloon. Use the drop-down lists and radio button at the top of the page to change the region, element, year/month and map resolution. Click the [ < ] and [ << ] buttons to go back 1 month and 1 year, respectively. Click the [ > ] and [ >> ] buttons to go forward 1 month and 1 year, respectively. Click the "Show" button to reflect elements selected via the drop-down lists and radio button. Drag the scroll bars on the right side and the bottom of the map to adjust the display area. Click the "Printable" button to display a figure in a new window for printing. Select "Low" for the map resolution if map drawing takes a long time due to a slow connection.

Click the buttons on the zoom bar on the left to zoom in/out of the map. The red mark between the zoom bar buttons shows the degree of zoom (a higher position indicates a larger map). The white buttons on the bar can also be clicked to zoom in/out.

Click a station on the distribution map to display a time-series graph covering a period of two years. Change the period of the graph as desired by selecting from the "Term" list (1 year, 2 years, 5 years or all years). Change the SPI time scale of the graph as desired by selecting from the "SPI time scale" list (3-month, 6-month, 12-month or ALL display). Data used for the graph are listed below it, and can be downloaded in comma-separated value (csv) format by clicking the "Download" button.

A data list for all stations in the selected region can be displayed by clicking the "Data list" button on the distribution map. If "World" is selected as the region, Asia/Siberia stations are displayed for the data list in place of all stations worldwide. If "Normal" is selected as an element on the distribution map, normal values are displayed in the data list. Click a station name in the list to show a time-series graph and data for the station. For details, see "2. Historical graphs and data lists for individual stations." The region and year/month can be changed via the form options at the top of the page.

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