The files you download are gzipped tar archives, (programs such as Stuffit Expander and WinZip can open these archives). The archives for the 1960-91 period contain one file each. The mean and change archives that you download contain three files, one for each of the reference periods (2010-39, 2040-69 and 2070-99)

The nomenclature used for the files is:

AAAAA_BBb_varname_DDDD.mea

AAAAA = Experiment:	EE = ECHAM4; HH = HadCM2; GG = GFDL-R15; AA=CSIROMK2; CC = CCCMA; NN=NCAR-DOE and JJ=CCSR/NIES
BB= Scenario Details:	e.g. A2 = SRES A2 integration
a = Ensemble Member	a,b,c, etc. X = Ensemble Mean
varname = Variable Code Note: Not all variables are available from all runs	CPRAT Convective Precipitation (mm/day) DSWF=Total Incident Solar Radiation (w/m2) HGT500=500 hPa Height (gpm) HGTVAR500 = 500 hPa height variance (gpm) MSLP = Mean Sea Level Pressure (hPa) PREC = Total Precipitation (mm/day) PRECC = Convective Precipitation (mm/day) PRECL = Large Scale Precipitation (mm/day) SICE = Sea Ice (kg/m2) SMC = Soil Moistur Content (mm) SN = Snow Depth (m) SPFH = Specific Humidity (kg/kg) SPFH200 = 200 hPa Specific Humidity (kg/kg) SPFH500 = 500 hPa Specific Humidity (kg/kg) SPFH850 = 850 hPa Specific Humidity (kg/kg) TEMPVAR = Screen Temperature Variance (k2) TMAX = Maximum Temperature (C) TMIN = Minimum Temperature (C) TMP = Mean Temperature (C) TMP200 = 200 hPa Mean Temperature (C) TMP500 = 500 hPa Mean Temperature (C) TMP850 = 850 hPa Mean Temperature (C) TS = Surface Skin Temperature/SST (k) UGRD200 = 200 hPa u-Wind (m/g) UGRD500 = 500 hPa u-Wind (m/g) UGRD850 = 850 hPa u-Wind (m/g UVAR200 = 200 hPa u-Wind Variance (m/g) VGRD200 = 200 hPa v-wind (m/g) VGRD500 = 500 hPa v-wind (m/g) VGRD850 = 850 hPa v-wind (m/g) VVAR200 = 200 hPa v-Wind Variance (m/g) VAP = Vapour Pressure WIND = Mean Scalar Wind Speed (m/s)
DDDD= timeslice	1980 = 1961-1990; 2020 = 2010-2039 (i.e. the 2020's); 2050 = 2040-2069 (i.e. the 2050's);2080 = 2070-2099 (i.e. the 2080's);
xxx=	mea = monthly mean, dif = change fields

Therefore CCCma_B2a_DSWF_2020mea.tar.gz contains represents Mean temperature change for the period 2010-2039 under B2 scenario for the first integration Greenhouse Gas forcing scenario using CGCM1.

GCM Grid Details - For the download files from the Green Pages

ECHAM4 Spectral Model T42 Resolution Grid 128*64 Approximates to 2.8125 x 2.8125 degrees Grid Details	HadCM3 Grid Box Model Grid 96*73 3.75 x 2.5 degrees Staring Grid Cell Grid Details	GFDL-R30 Spectral Model R-30 Resolution Grid 96*80 Approximates to 3.75 x 2.25 degrees Grid Details	CGCM1 Spectral Model T32 Resolution Grid 96 *48 Approximates to 3.75 x 3.75 degrees Grid Details	CSIRO-Mk2b Spectral Model R21 Resolution Grid 64*56 Approximates to 5.625 x 3.214 degrees Grid Details
NCAR-DOE Spectral Model R-15 Resolution Grid 48*40 Approximates to 7.5 x 4.5 degrees Grid Details	CCSR/NIES Spectral Model T21 Resolution Grid 64x32 Approximates to 5.625x 5.625 degrees Grid Details

Data Format

The format of the Scenario Download files is as follows. There is a six line header for each month, the codes for the header fields in italics (e.g. Model Name) are given below. The following is an example of the structure of the scenario data files.

IPCC-Data-Distribution-Centre-ModelName-Results---Date

Grid-is-xxx-*-yyy----Month-is-Jan

Mean-Change-values-for-year-year-with-respect-to-1961-1990

ForcingDetails---ExperimentCode

Variable-Name-(Units)

DataItems-----Format is 10f8.2---Missing-Value-is-9999.99

12.34	12.34	12.34	12.34	12.34	12.34	12.34	12.34	12.34	12.34
45.67	45.67	45.67	45.67	45.67	45.67	45.67	45.67	45.67	45.67
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.
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IPCC-Data-Distribution-Centre-ModelName-Results---Date

Grid-is-xxx-*-yyy----Month-is-Feb

Mean-Change-values-for-year-year-with-respect-to-1961-1990

ForcingDetails---ExperimentCode

Variable-Name-(Units)

Data Items-----Format is 10f8.2---Missing-Value-is-9999.99

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.
.
.

IPCC-Data-Distribution-Centre-ModelName-Results---Date

Grid-is-xxx-*-yyy----Month-is-Dec

Mean-Change-values-for-year-year-with-respect-to-1961-1990

ForcingDetails---ExperimentCode

Variable-Name-(Units)

Data Items-----Format is 10f8.2---Missing-Value-is-9999.99

Codes for header Fields

Model Name	ECHAM4
	HadCM3
	GFDL-R30
	CCCMA
	CSIRO-Mk2b
	NCAR-DOE
	SELECTION-->CCSR/NIES /SELECTION-->

Grid - Number of x Co-ordinates and Number of y Co-ordinates (e.g. 96 x 73)

Month - Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec

Year- Year - time slice data are for, e.g., 2010-2039

NOTE: For the period 1961-1990 the data are the actual values, for the 2010-2039, 2040-2069 and 2070-2099 the data are the changes with respect to the 1961-1990 period.

Forcing Details - GG = Greenhouse Gas: GS = Greenhouse Gas and Sulphate Aerosols; A = 1% per annum (IS92a); D= 0.5% per annum (IS92d); 1, 2, 3 or 4 represents the ensemble member or X = Ensemble mean.

Experiment Code -Refers to the first six characters of the file name (i.e., AACCD1)

Data Items - The product of xxx*yyy (e.g. 7008) floating point values, starting with the most northerly row ordered from west to east.