This data set is a subset of the global mean monthly climatology (Cramer and Leemans 1999). The subset is for the area of southern Africa within the following bounds: 5 N to 35 S and 5 E to 60 E. The data are available in ASCII grid and binary image formats.
The parent database is a major update of the Leemans and Cramer database (Leemans and Cramer 1991). It contains long-term monthly averages, for the period 1931-1960, of mean temperature, temperature range, precipitation, rain days and sunshine hours for the terrestrial surface of the globe, gridded at 0.5-degree longitude/latitude resolution. It was generated from a larger database, using the partial thin-plate splining algorithm developed by Michael F. Hutchinson, Canberra (Hutchinson and Bischof 1983). The current version is 2.1--this is the same version that is currently used widely around the globe, notably by all groups participating in the IGBP NPP model intercomparison.
More information can be found at: http://daac.ornl.gov/daacdata/safari2k/climate_meteorology/cramer_leemans/comp/cramer_leemans_readme.pdf .
Cite this data set as follows:
Cramer, W. P., and R. Leemans. 2002. SAFARI 2000 Mean Climatology, 0.5-Deg, 1930-1960, V[ersion]. 2.1 (Cramer and Leemans). Data set. Available on-line [http://www.daac.ornl.gov] from Oak Ridge National Laboratory Distributed Active Archive Center, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, U.S.A. doi:10.3334/ORNLDAAC/637.
Cramer, W. P., and R. Leemans. 1999. Global 30-Year Mean Monthly Climatology, 1930-1960, V. 2.1 (Cramer and Leemans). Available on-line [http://www.daac.ornl.gov] from Oak Ridge National Laboratory Distributed Active Archive Center, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, U.S.A.
Leemans, R., and W. P. Cramer. 1991. The IIASA database for mean monthly values of temperature, precipitation and cloudiness of a global terrestrial grid. Research Report RR-91-18, November 1991. International Institute for Applied Systems Analyses, Laxenburg, Austria.
Hutchinson, M. F., and R. J. Bischof. 1983. A new method for estimating the spatial distribution of mean seasonal and annual rainfall applied to the Hunter Valley, New South Wales. Austral. Met. Mag. 31:179-184.
Information about the data format, climate parameters, and the procedure used to create the southern African subset are in the following file: http://daac.ornl.gov/daacdata/safari2k/climate_meteorology/cramer_leemans/comp/cramer_leemans_readme.pdf.