Overview: The Essential Climate Variables for assessment of climate variability from 1979 to present dataset contains a selection of climatologies, monthly anomalies and monthly mean fields of Essential Climate Variables (ECVs) suitable for monitoring and assessment of climate variability and change. Selection criteria are based on accuracy and temporal consistency on monthly to decadal time scales. The ECV data products in this set have been estimated from climate reanalyses ERA-Interim and ERA5, and, depending on the source, may have been adjusted to account for biases and other known deficiencies. Data sources and adjustment methods used are described in the Product User Guide, as are various particulars such as the baseline periods used to calculate monthly climatologies and the corresponding anomalies. Surface air temperature: This variable is the temperature of air at 2m above the surface of land, sea or in-land waters. 2m temperature is calculated by interpolating between the lowest model level and the Earth's surface, taking account of the atmospheric conditions. Spatial resolution: 0:15:00 (0.25°) Temporal resolution: monthly Temporal extent: 1979 - present Data unit: °C * 10 Data type: Int16 CRS as EPSG: EPSG:4326 Processing time delay: one month

Overview: The Essential Climate Variables for assessment of climate variability from 1979 to present dataset contains a selection of climatologies, monthly anomalies and monthly mean fields of Essential Climate Variables (ECVs) suitable for monitoring and assessment of climate variability and change. Selection criteria are based on accuracy and temporal consistency on monthly to decadal time scales. The ECV data products in this set have been estimated from climate reanalyses ERA-Interim and ERA5, and, depending on the source, may have been adjusted to account for biases and other known deficiencies. Data sources and adjustment methods used are described in the Product User Guide, as are various particulars such as the baseline periods used to calculate monthly climatologies and the corresponding anomalies. Surface air relative humidity: The ratio of the partial pressure of water vapour to the equilibrium vapour pressure of water at the same temperature near the surface. Spatial resolution: 0:15:00 (0.25°) Temporal resolution: monthly Temporal extent: 1979 - present Data unit: percent * 10 Data type: UInt8 CRS as EPSG: EPSG:4326 Processing time delay: one month