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Summary
The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) is a major disturbance of the
atmospheric circulation and climate of the North Atlantic-European
region, linked to a waxing and waning of the dominant middle-latitude
westerly wind flow during the winter half-year. The North Atlantic
Oscillation (NAO) Index is based on the pressure difference between
various stations to the ... north (Iceland) and south (Azores) of the
middle latitude westerly flow. It is, therefore, a measure of the
strength of these winds. Strictly, it should only be used for the
winter half-year.

The NAO is defined as the normalized pressure difference between a
station on the Azores and one on Iceland. An extended version of the
index can be derived for the winter half of the year by using a
station in the southwestern part of the Iberian Peninsula (Hurrell,
1995). The CRU data is for SW Iceland (Reykjavik), Gibraltar and
Ponta Delgada (Azores). The NAO calculated from Gibraltar and SW
Iceland is also given (Jones et al., 1997).

Data from CRU is available from
http://www.cru.uea.ac.uk/cru/data/nao.htm

or via ftp:

ftp://ftp.cru.uea.ac.uk/data

A monthly update of the CRU NAO Index is available from"
http://www.cru.uea.ac.uk/~timo/projpages/nao.htm

Further information on the CRU NAO INdex is available from:
http://www.cru.uea.ac.uk/~timo/projpages/nao_update.htm

See:
http://www.secam.ex.ac.uk/cat/NAO for more
information on the NAO Index and other online sources of NAO data.

Related URL

Link: GET DATA Description: J. Hurrell's NAO Index available from NCAR Link: VIEW RELATED INFORMATION Description: The NAO Thematic Web Site

Geographic Coverage Spatial coordinates   

N: 64.0

S: 37.0

E: -25.0

W: -22.0

Data Set Citation

Dataset Creator: Hurrell, J.W. Dataset Title: Decadal trends in the North Atlantic Oscillation: Regional temperatures and precipitation Dataset Series Name: Science Dataset Release Date: 1995 Dataset Publisher: AAAS Issue Identification: 269 Dataset Creator: Jones, P.D. Dataset Title: Extension to the North Atlantic Oscillation using early instrumental pressure observations from Gibraltar and South-West Iceland. Dataset Series Name: Int. J. Climatology Dataset Release Date: 1997 Issue Identification: 17

Temporal Coverage

Start Date: 1821-07-01

Location Keywords

OCEAN > ATLANTIC OCEAN OCEAN > ATLANTIC OCEAN > NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN

Data Resolution

Temporal Resolution: Monthly, Annual

Science Keywords

ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE > DIFFERENTIAL PRESSURE ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE > OSCILLATIONS ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE > PRESSURE ANOMALIES ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE > SEA LEVEL PRESSURE CLIMATE INDICATORS > TELECONNECTIONS > NORTH ATLANTIC OSCILLATION > NAO

ISO Topic Category

CLIMATOLOGY/METEOROLOGY/ATMOSPHERE

Platform

GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS

Ancillary Keywords

CLIMATE INDEX CLIMATE INDICES NAO SLP

Data Set Progress

IN WORK

Originating Center

CRU

Data Center

Climatic Research Unit, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia Data Center URL: http://www.cru.uea.ac.uk/ Data Center Personnel Name: PHIL D. JONES Email: p.jones at uea.ac.uk Contact Address: Climatic Research Unit University of East Anglia Norwich NR4 7TJ Country: UNITED KINGDOM

Personnel

PHIL D. JONES Role: INVESTIGATOR Email: p.jones at uea.ac.uk Contact Address: Climatic Research Unit University of East Anglia Norwich NR4 7TJ Country: UNITED KINGDOM SCOTT A. RITZ Role: DIF AUTHOR Phone: 301-614-5126 Fax: 301-614-5268 Email: Scott.A.Ritz at nasa.gov Contact Address: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Global Change Master Directory City: Greenbelt Province or State: Maryland Postal Code: 20771 Country: USA

Publications/References
Hurrell, J.W., 1995: Decadal trends in the North Atlantic Oscillation
and relationships to regional temperature and precipitation. Science
269, 676-679.

Jones, P.D., Jonsson, T. and Wheeler, D., 1997: Extension to the North
Atlantic Oscillation using early instrumental pressure observations
from Gibraltar and South-West Iceland. Int. J. Climatol. 17,
1433-1450.

Creation and Review Dates

Last DIF Revision Date: 2008-11-18

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