Introduction

• Principles
• Workshop

IBTrACS Data

• Current release
• Parameters
• Formats & samples
• Access
• WMS, shapefiles & KML
• Statistics
• Previous versions

IBTrACS Imagery

• Annual maps of tracks
• Interactive Track Maps
• Misc. Images

Processing

• Cyclone identification
• Combining data
• Quality control

Data Sources

• Original data

FAQ

Bibliography

Contact

IBTrACS - v02r01

There are numerous changes and improvements from v01cor-r01 to v02r01. A summary is below and more details are available in a PDF file.

• Release date: 24 Jul 2009
• Updates from best track data sources through calendar year 2008:
  • RSMC Miami (HURDAT) for North Atlantic and Eastern Pacific
  • RSMC Tokyo (JMA) Western Pacific
  • RSMC New Delhi (IMD) Northern Indian
  • CMA/STI - Western Pacific
  • JTWC - Western Pacific, Northern Indian, Southern Hemisphere
• New data sources for this release:
  • NOAA ATCF B Deck for North Atlantic and Eastern & Central Pacific
  • NCDC DSI-9636 - Global Consolidated Tropical Cyclone Data
• Changes from v01cor-r01 which affect cyclone data:
  • Correction to pres_minimum and pres_maximum
  • New treatment of Neumann data
  • New adjustment for CMA wind reports
  • JTWC storm type now incorporated into IBTrACS
  • Adjustment to the method for classiying storm trackss as spurs.
  • Bug fix - Correction on how BoM data was read in for storms reported in more than one type of unit
• Changes from v01cor-r01 which do not affect cyclone data:
  • Original reports of position and intensity from each agency are now available in some formats:
    • ibtracs - Official IBTrACS Dataset netCDF format
    • ibtracs_net - IBTrACS data for all cyclones in one large file
    • ibtracs_csv - IBTrACS data in a comma separated file
  • ibtracs_csv - now has two more header lines which provide column names and units
• Known Bugs:
  • Some of the earliest storms in the South Indian Ocean (before 1890) have differing positions between La Reunion and DSI-9636.

Due to the amount of changes from version 1, the number was incremented to Version 2.
As this is the first release of version 2, it is named Release 1.

IBTrACS v02r01 data access -- click here

Revision and release numbering

Revision numbers will be updated when processing changes would cause changes to storms from previous years. Such changes could be caused, for example, by adjustments to the merge routines. Older dataset versions should be replaced by data using the current version.

Release numbers are incremented when a the new release represents only annual updates. That is, a previous release is still valid but not up to date.

Future Release - Autumn 2009

The Southern Hemisphere season that ends in June 2009 will be included in IBTrACS when all datasets are available. The following table will be updated as data are provided by the data sources.

• Waiting - We are awaiting the provision of the best track data to us.
• Available - Best track data are available, but not yet checked or ingested into IBTrACS processing
• Incorporated - Data from the agency is available and has been incorporated into IBTrACS