The data is available for free download from the NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory[1] and NCEP.[2] It is distributed in Netcdf and GRIB files, for which a number of tools and libraries exist.
It is available for download through the NCAR CISL Research Data Archive on the NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis main data page.[3]
Uses
Initializing a smaller scale atmospheric model
Climate assessment
Subsequent updates
Since then NCEP-DOE Reanalysis 2[4] and the NCEP CFS Reanalysis[5] are released. The former focuses in fixing existing bugs with the NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis system – most notably surface energy and usage of observed precipitation forcing to the land surface, but otherwise uses a similar numerical model and data assimilation system. The latter is based on the NCEP Climate Forecast System.[6]
^Kanamitsu M., W. Ebisuzaki, J. Woollen, S-K Yang, J. J. Hnilo, M. Fiorino, G. L. Potter: 2002. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 83:11, 1631–1643
^S. Saha, and coauthors, 2010: The NCEP Climate Forecast System Reanalysis. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 91:8, 1015–1057.
^S. Saha, and coauthors, 2006 : The NCEP Climate Forecast System. J. Climate, Vol. 19, No. 15, pages 3483.3517.
Further reading
Kistler, R., E. Kalnay, W. Collins, S. Saha, G. White, J. Woollen, M. Chelliah, W. Ebisuzaki, M. Kanamitsu, V. Kousky, H. van den Dool, R. Jenne, and M. Fiorino, 2001: The NCEP-NCAR 50-Year Reanalysis: Monthly Means CD-ROM and Documentation. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 82, 247–268.
Kalnay, E., M. Kanamitsu, R. Kistler, W. Collins, D. Deaven, L. Gandin, M. Iredell, S. Saha, G. White, J. Woollen, Y. Zhu, M. Chelliah, W. Ebisuzaki, W. Higgins, J. Janowiak, K. C. Mo, C. Ropelewski, J. Wang, A. Leetmaa, R. Reynolds, R. Jenne, and D. Joseph, 1996: The NCEP/NCAR 40-Year Reanalysis Project". Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 77, 437–471.