About

The datasets have been developed in conjunction with Hadley Centre of the UK Met Office. Hosted by the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia. From website:

sea surface temperature anomalies from Rainer et al (2006)

Data is from 1961 to 2008.

Format

Available for download in Zipped ASCII or NetCDF (see project page and wikipedia page).

Access/re-use

Data is open. Attribution must be given. Main Climate Research Unit data page says:

The various datasets on the CRU website are provided for all to use, provided the sources are acknowledged. Acknowledgement should preferably be by citing one or more of the papers referenced on the appropriate page. The website can also be acknowledged if deemed necessary. CRU will endeavour to update the majority of the data pages at timely intervals although this cannot be guaranteed by specific dates.