NCDC International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS) Project, Version 2 (Version Superseded)
**Version 2 of the dataset has been superseded by a newer version.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.
- 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].
- NCEI DSI 9637_01
- gov.noaa.ncdc:C00800
C00800
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Ordering Instructions | Contact NCEI for other distribution options and instructions. |
Distributor | NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
ncei.info@noaa.gov |
Dataset Point of Contact | IBTrACS Dataset POC
DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI > National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce +1 (828) 271-4339 IBTrACS.Team@noaa.gov |
Time Period | 1848-01-01 to Present |
Spatial Bounding Box Coordinates |
N: 80.0
S: -80.0
E: 180.0
W: -180.0
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Edition | Version 2 |
Data Presentation Form | Digital table - digital representation of facts or figures systematically displayed, especially in columns
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Dataset Progress Status | Historical archive - data has been stored in an offline storage facility |
Data Update Frequency | Not planned |
Purpose | The major constraint in improving scientific understanding of the observed trends and variability of tropical cyclone activity has been a lack of accurate, quality controlled best track data for all tropical cyclone basins globally. |
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Theme keywords | Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Science Keywords
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Data Center keywords | Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Data Center Keywords
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Place keywords | Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Location Keywords
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Stratum keywords | Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Location Keywords
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Lineage Statement | 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.). |
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Last Modified: 2023-06-23
For questions about the information on this page, please email: ncei.info@noaa.gov