The references are grouped as follows. Some of the links could fit into multiple categories, so you might have to look a little.
reanalysis
precipitation
ocean variables
other satellite products
other variables or sources
organizations
NCEP/NCAR reanalysis
Kalnay, E., M. Kanamitsu, R. Kistler, W. Collins, D. Deaven, L. Gandin, M. Iredell, S. Saha, G. White, J. Woollen, Y. Zhu, M. Chelliah, W. Ebisuzaki, W. Higgins, J. Janowiak, K. C. Mo, C. Ropelewski, J. Wang, A. Leetmaa, R. Reynolds, R. Jenne, and D. Joseph, 1996: The NCEP / NCAR 40-year reanalysis project, Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 77, 437-471.
data at NOAA NCEP
data at NCAR
data at NOAA CDC
CD-ROMs:
NASA reanalysis
Schubert, S. D., R. B. Rood, and J. Pfaendtner, 1993: An assimilated dataset for earth science applications. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 74, 2331-2342.
data set
ECMWF reanalysis
data at ECMWF
data at NCAR
Climatic Research Unit of the University of East Anglia (CRU)
WWW home page
Legates, D. R., and C. J. Willmott, 1990: Int. J. Climatology, 10, 111-127.
data set
Outgoing Longwave Radiation (OLR):
1) original data
Chelliah, M. and P. A. Arkin, 1992: Large-scale interannual variability of outgoing radiation anomalies over the global tropics. J. Climate, 5, 371-389.
documentation
data set (~12 Mb)
2) complete fields
Liebmann, B., and C. A. Smith, 1996: Description of a complete (interpolated) outgoing longwave radiation data set. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 77, 1275-1277.
data set
3) corrected for satellite drift
Waliser, D. E., and W. Zhou, 1997: Removing satellite equatorial crossing time biases from the OLR and HRC data sets. accepted J. Climate.
data set
GOES Precipitation Index (GPI)
1) monthly-means
Joyce, R. and P. A. Arkin, 1997: Improved estimates of tropical and subtropical precipitation using the GOES Precipitation Index. accepted J. Atmos. Ocean Tech.
data set
2) hourly-means
contact John Janowiak at NOAA/NCEP (wd52jj@sgi37.wwb.noaa.gov)
Special Sensor Microwave / Imager (SSM/I)
Ferraro, R. R., F. Weng, N. C. Grody, and A. Basist, 1996: An eight-year (1987-1994) time series of rainfall, clouds, water vapor, snow cover, and sea ice derived from SSM/I measurements. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 77, 891-905.
data set
Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) WWW home page
Microwave Sounding Unit (MSU)
Spencer, R. W., 1993: Global oceanic precipitation from the MSU during 1979-91 and comparisons to other climatologies. J. Climate, 6 1301-1326.
documentation
This data set is available from Roy Spencer.
COADS
1) 2-degree latitude-longitude resolution
Woodruff, S. F., R. J. Slutz, R. L. Jenne, and P. M. Steurer, 1987: A comprehensive ocean-atmosphere data set. Bull. Amer. Meteor., 68, 1239-1250.
Woodruff, S. D., S. J. Lubker, K. Wolter, S. J. Worley, and J. D. Elms, 1993: Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set (COADS) Release 1a: 1980-92. Earth Sys. Monitor, 4, 6 pp.
data at NOAA CDC
data at NCAR
2) 1-degree latitude-longitude resolution
data set
TOGA-TAO array
McPhaden, M. J., 1993: TOGA-TAO and the 1991-93 El Niño-Southern Oscillation event. Oceanography, 6, 36-44.
McPhaden, M. J., 1995: The Tropical Atmosphere Ocean Array is completed. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 76, 739-741.
WWW home page
Pilot Research Moored Array in the Tropical Atlantic (PIRATA)
WWW home page
NCEP SST analyses
1) EOF-reconstruction for 1950-92
Smith, T. M., R. W. Reynolds, R. E. Livezey, and D. C. Stokes, 1996: Reconstruction of historical temperatures using empirical orthogonal functions. J. Climate, 9, 1403-1420.
data set
2) Optimal Interpolation for 1982-present
Reynolds, R. W., and T. M. Smith, 1994: Improved global sea surface temperature analysses using optimal interpolation. J. Climate, 7, 929-948.
weekly-mean data
monthly-mean data
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO) SST analysis
Kaplan, A. M., Y. Kushnir, M. Cane, and M. B. Blumenthal, 1996: Reduced space optimal analysis for historical datasets: 136 years of Atlantic sea surface temperatures. submitted to J. Geophys. Res..
Kaplan, A. M., M. Cane, Y. Kushnir, A. C. Clement, M. B. Blumenthal, and B. Rajagopalan, 1996: Analyses of global sea surface temperature 1856-1991. submitted to J. Geophys. Res..
data set
XBT and drifters?
Microwave Sounding Unit (MSU) layer temperatures
Spencer, R. W., and J. Christy, 1990: Precise monitoring of global temperature trends from satellites. Science, 247, 1558-1562.
_____, and _____, 1992: Precision and radiosonde validation of satellite gridpoint temperature anomalies, Part I: MSU channel 2. J. Climate, 5, 847-857.
_____, and _____, 1993: Precision lower stratospheric monitoring with the MSU: Technique, validation, and results, 1979-92. J. Climate, 6, 1194-1204.
data set
International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP)
CD-ROM: global, monthly cloud products at 280km resolution, 72 variables, 3-hour intervals for July 1983 to June 1991.
WWW home page
International Satellite Land-surface Climatology Project (ISLSCP)
CD-ROM: global, monthly vegetation, hydrometeorology (?), soils, and radiation parameters at 1-degree latitude-longitude resolution for 1987-88.
HIRS upper tropospheric water vapor
Bates, J. J., X. Wu, and D. L. Jackson, 1996: Interannual variability of upper tropospheric water vapor band brightness temperature. J. Climate, 9, 427-438.
documentation
Large Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia (LBA)
CD-ROM: pre-LBA data sets initiative
Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX)
CD-ROMs are available for a diverse set of variables (clouds, radiation, topography, ...).
WWW home page
GEWEX Water Vapor Project (GVaP)
CD-ROM: global water vapor and cloud liquid water for 1988-92 at 1-degree latitude-longitude resolution.
GEWEX Continental-scale International Project (GCIP)
CD-ROM:topography and land use variables.
Global Historical Climatology Network (GHCN)
data set
Climatic Research Unit of the University of East Anglia (CRU) surface temperatures
WWW home page
NCAR tropical cyclone position data
data set
Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI)
WWW home page
Climate Variability and Predictability (CLIVAR)
WWW home page
Large Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia (LBA)
WWW home page