Prioritize...
As with all data, care must be taken not to assume too much with regards to what information reanalysis products can provide. In this section, I provide a few reading assignments that revisit the pros and cons of how reanalysis data sets can be useful.
Read...
In this lesson, we have been playing around with reanalysis data sets as a means of learning about NetCDF and GRIB file formats. All along I have cautioned you about not treating reanalysis data as an observational data set -- they are not. Yet, reanalysis data sets can (and do) provide us with remarkably accurate records of the past atmospheric state, in a temporally coherent and spatially gridded format. While I wouldn't use reanalysis output to construct a daily record of temperature for a certain location, I might consider using such data to reconstruct a reasonably accurate climatology, especially when observations are lacking.
The Climate Data Guide from NCAR/UCAR has a wealth of global data sets, including an excellent series of pages on reanalysis data sets. Rather than reinvent their thoughts and findings, I will send you there in the following reading assignment.
Reading Assignment
From the Climate Data Guide from NCAR/UCAR read...
- Atmospheric Reanalysis Overview (including the table of available reanalysis data)
- Expert Guidance Section for the Reanalysis Overview