Surface air temperature anomalies for the Northern Hemisphere: The Russian dataset

The existence of a Russian surface temperature dataset became known to Western scientists when Budyko (1969) showed the secular variation of temperature and direct radiation for the Northern Hemisphere. His results were derived from maps of monthly mean surface air temperature anomalies compiled at the Main Geophysical Observatory. These maps covered the period 1881 to 1960 and were prepared for the purpose of monthly and seasonal forecasting, with a goal of finding patterns in monthly departures from normal temperatures