Time series of gridded monthly average air temperature (T) and total precipitation (P) were taken from the Terrestrial Air Temperature and Precipitation: Monthly and Annual Time Series (version 1.02) archive, which also is available through this web site. The length of each grid-point time series is 50 years (from 1950 through 1999) and the grid points cover the globe at a 0.5x0.5 degree resolution. Our spatial interpolations were based on Willmott et al.'s (1985a) spherical implementation of Shepard's spatial-interpolation algorithm, and they also incorporated DEM (digital elevation model)-assisted and Climatologically-Aided interpolation methods (see the related references below). Our estimates of the climatic water budget from T and P (see below) were made at (and are available for) the land-surface grid points, which number 85,794.

Monthly water-budget fields were estimated from the gridded monthly-average T and total P fields according to Willmott et al.'s (1985b) modified version of the Thornthwaite water-budget procedure. The computational algorithm was derived from Willmott (1977). Climatic water-budget calculations were separately made for each of the 85,794 grid nodes, thereby conserving mass (in z only) at each grid node. These 0.5-degree resolution water-budget estimates are based on semi-empirical relationships between observed monthly total P and an estimated monthly potential evapotranspiration (Eo), derived from a monthly average T. Available soil water-holding capacity (w*) was held constant at 150 mm for these calculations. Time-series fields with different w*s may be added in the future. A snow-cover water budget also was evaluated and coupled with the soil-moisture budget according to Willmott et al. (1985b). Water-budget variables estimated and archived here include: monthly Eo in mm, monthly actual evapotranspiration (E) in mm, average-monthly deficit (def) in mm, mid-monthly soil-moisture depth (w) in mm, mid-monthly water equivalent of the snow pack (ws) in mm, monthly snow melt (M) in mm, and monthly surplus (S) in mm.

There are seven tar files, one for each water-budget variable. Each tar file includes 50 yearly files.

Legates, D. R. and C. J. Willmott, 1990a. Mean Seasonal and Spatial Variability in Gauge-Corrected, Global Precipitation. International Journal of Climatology, 10, 111-127.

Legates, D. R. and C. J. Willmott, 1990b. Mean Seasonal and Spatial Variability in Global Surface Air Temperature. Theoretical and Applied Climatology, 41, 11-21.

Willmott, C. J., 1977. WATBUG: A FORTRAN IV Algorithm for Calculating the Climatic Water Budget. Pubs. in Climatology, 30, 1-55. (Also published as Report 1 in The Use of the Climatic Water Budget in Water Resources Management and Control. Newark, DE: University of Delaware, Water Resources Center, 1977).

Willmott, C.J. and K. Matsuura, 1995. Smart Interpolation of Annually Averaged Air Temperature in the United States. Journal of Applied Meteorology, 34(12), 2577-2586.

Willmott, C.J., C.M. Rowe, and W.D. Philpot, 1985a. Small-Scale Climate Maps: A Sensitivity Analysis of Some Common Assumptions Associated with Grid-Point Interpolation and Contouring. The American Cartographer, 12, 5-16.

Willmott, C. J., C. M. Rowe, and Y. Mintz, 1985b. Climatology of the Terrestrial Seasonal Water Cycle. Journal of Climatology, 5, 589-606.