NCEP-DOE Reanalysis 2 project is using a state-of-the-art analysis/forecast system to perform
data assimilation using past data from 1979 through the previous year.
Bands
Pixel Size278300 meters
Bands
Name
Units
Min
Max
Pixel Size
Description
tcdc
%
0*
100*
meters
Total cloud cover
* estimated min or max value
Terms of Use
Terms of Use
There are no restrictions on the use of these datasets.
NCEP-DOE Reanalysis 2 project is using a state-of-the-art analysis/forecast system to perform data assimilation using past data from 1979 through the previous year.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],[],[[["\u003cp\u003eThe NOAA/NCEP_DOE_RE2/total_cloud_coverage dataset provides daily global total cloud cover data from 1979 to the previous year.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe data is derived from the NCEP-DOE Reanalysis 2 project, which uses a state-of-the-art analysis/forecast system to assimilate past data.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eIt has a spatial resolution of 278300 meters and includes a single band representing total cloud cover percentage (\u003ccode\u003etcdc\u003c/code\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThere are no restrictions on the use of this dataset.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe dataset can be accessed and analyzed using Google Earth Engine.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["# NCEP-DOE Reanalysis 2 (Gaussian Grid), Total Cloud Coverage\n\nDataset Availability\n: 1979-01-01T00:00:00Z--2025-07-31T18:00:00Z\n\nDataset Provider\n:\n\n\n [NOAA](https://psl.noaa.gov/data/gridded/data.ncep.reanalysis2.html)\n\nCadence\n: 6 Hours\n\nTags\n:\n[atmosphere](/earth-engine/datasets/tags/atmosphere) [climate](/earth-engine/datasets/tags/climate) [cloud](/earth-engine/datasets/tags/cloud) [geophysical](/earth-engine/datasets/tags/geophysical) [ncep](/earth-engine/datasets/tags/ncep) [noaa](/earth-engine/datasets/tags/noaa) [reanalysis](/earth-engine/datasets/tags/reanalysis) \n\n#### Description\n\nNCEP-DOE Reanalysis 2 project is using a state-of-the-art analysis/forecast system to perform\ndata assimilation using past data from 1979 through the previous year.\n\n### Bands\n\n\n**Pixel Size**\n\n278300 meters\n\n**Bands**\n\n| Name | Units | Min | Max | Pixel Size | Description |\n|--------|-------|-----|-------|------------|-------------------|\n| `tcdc` | % | 0\\* | 100\\* | meters | Total cloud cover |\n\n\\* estimated min or max value\n\n### Terms of Use\n\n**Terms of Use**\n\nThere are no restrictions on the use of these datasets.\n\n### Citations\n\nCitations:\n\n- [NCEP-DOE AMIP-II Reanalysis (R-2): M. Kanamitsu, W. Ebisuzaki, J. Woollen, S-K Yang,\n J.J. Hnilo, M. Fiorino, and G. L. Potter. 1631-1643, Nov 2002, Bulletin of the American\n Meteorological Society.](https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/bams/83/11/bams-83-11-1631.xml).\n\n### Explore with Earth Engine\n\n| **Important:** Earth Engine is a platform for petabyte-scale scientific analysis and visualization of geospatial datasets, both for public benefit and for business and government users. Earth Engine is free to use for research, education, and nonprofit use. To get started, please [register for Earth Engine access.](https://console.cloud.google.com/earth-engine)\n\n### Code Editor (JavaScript)\n\n```javascript\n// Import the dataset, filter the first five months of 2020.\nvar dataset = ee.ImageCollection('NOAA/NCEP_DOE_RE2/total_cloud_coverage')\n .filter(ee.Filter.date('2020-01-01', '2020-06-01'));\n\n// Select the total cloud cover band.\nvar totalCloudCoverage = dataset.select('tcdc');\n\n// Reduce the image collection to per-pixel mean.\nvar totalCloudCoverageMean = totalCloudCoverage.mean();\n\n// Define visualization parameters.\nvar vis = {\n min: 0,\n max: 80, // dataset max is 100\n palette: ['black', 'white'],\n};\n\n// Display the dataset.\nMap.setCenter(0, 20, 2);\nMap.addLayer(totalCloudCoverageMean, vis, 'Total Cloud Coverage Data', false);\n\n// Display a visualization image with opacity defined by cloud cover.\nvar visImg = totalCloudCoverageMean.visualize(vis)\n .updateMask(totalCloudCoverageMean.divide(100));\nMap.addLayer(visImg, null, 'Total Cloud Coverage Vis.', true);\n```\n[Open in Code Editor](https://code.earthengine.google.com/?scriptPath=Examples:Datasets/NOAA/NOAA_NCEP_DOE_RE2_total_cloud_coverage) \n[NCEP-DOE Reanalysis 2 (Gaussian Grid), Total Cloud Coverage](/earth-engine/datasets/catalog/NOAA_NCEP_DOE_RE2_total_cloud_coverage) \nNCEP-DOE Reanalysis 2 project is using a state-of-the-art analysis/forecast system to perform data assimilation using past data from 1979 through the previous year. \nNOAA/NCEP_DOE_RE2/total_cloud_coverage, atmosphere,climate,cloud,geophysical,ncep,noaa,reanalysis \n1979-01-01T00:00:00Z/2025-07-31T18:00:00Z \n-90 -180 90 180 \nGoogle Earth Engine \nhttps://developers.google.com/earth-engine/datasets\n\n- [](https://doi.org/https://psl.noaa.gov/data/gridded/data.ncep.reanalysis2.html)\n- [](https://doi.org/https://developers.google.com/earth-engine/datasets/catalog/NOAA_NCEP_DOE_RE2_total_cloud_coverage)"]]
