INTRODUCTION
This tutorial is a primer in statistical analysis that is a part of prerequisites for taking NWS residence training in Climate Variability. This primer has no intention to substitute for a text book (most sections contain references to a text for deeper learning of the subject), but to refresh basic definitions in statistics and provide some useful skills in interpreting climate data. The primer consists of two parts: each should take approximately 1 hour of time to complete.

Part 1 (this exercise) includes three main training topics:

Climate Data:
NCDC as primary source of Climate Data
Other sources of Climate Data
Climate Time series:
Climate variables as random variables
Climate series and Temporal Variability
Seasonal Variability in Climate Time Series
Period and Frequency
Basic Statistics of Climate Series:
Histogram
Computation of Statistics: mean, variance, standard deviation, median, mode, etc.
Probability Density Function and basic statistics
PDFs and Climatological class limits

Part 2 includes (please go to):

Filters:
Low pass
High pass
Spectrum
Correlation:
Auto- or Serial Correlation
Spatial or cross-correlation
Regression
Noise:
Expected Residuals after regression
White noise
Bias
Red noise

You can walk though each training topic either by clicking on the topic title specified on the left panel or by clicking on the button linking to the next topic in the end of training on each topic. A quiz completes the training.