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This SLP dataset is prepared at NCEP and NCDC by Tom Smith and Dick Reynolds.
Taken in part from NCDC
The extended reconstructed sea surface temperature (ERSLP) was constructed using the most recently
available International-Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set
(I-COADS) SLP data and improved statistical
methods that allow stable reconstruction using sparse data.
Taken from abstract of paper cited below
An extended reconstruction of oceanic historical sea-level pressure (SLP) based on
COADS release 2 observations is
produced for the 1854-1997 period. The COADS data are first
screened using an adaptive quality-control procedure. Land SLP data from coastal and island
stations are used to supplement the COADS data. The SLP anomalies are analyzed monthly to a
2° grid, using statistics based on twenty years of assimilated atmospheric reanalysis. A first
order correction is applied to the reconstruction to minimize variations associated with spurious
long-term changes in the atmospheric mass over the oceans.
In the 19th century the reconstruction appears to be too weak, and error estimates for the
reconstruction are largest. After 1900 the reconstruction variance is stronger, although there are
periods in the first half of the 20th century when sampling is poor and the variance decreases.
Spatial correlations between the reconstruction and several comparison analyses are highest in
the second half of the 20th century, suggesting greater reconstruction reliability after 1950.
Additional work is being performed to evaluate climatic variations in the SLP analysis and to
relate them to long-term variations in SST and land temperatures.
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