Improved Extended Reconstruction of SST (1854–1997)

Abstract

An improved SST reconstruction for the 1854-1997 period is developed. Compared to the version 1 analysis, in the western tropical Pacific, the tropical Atlantic, and Indian Oceans, more variance is resolved in the new analysis. This improved analysis also uses sea ice concentrations to improve the high-latitude SST analysis and a modified historical bias correction for the 1939-41 period. In addition, the new analysis includes an improved error estimate. Analysis uncertainty is largest in the nineteenth century and during the two world wars due to sparse sampling. The near-global average SST in the new analysis is consistent with the version 1 reconstruction. The 95% confidence uncertainty for the near-global average is 0.4C or more in the nineteenth century, near 0.2C for the first half of the twentieth century, and 0.1C or less after 1950.