SPARC (Stratosphere–troposphere Processes And their Role in Climate) is an international activity started in 2013 (under the World Climate Research Programme, WCRP) to compare and evaluate all available global atmospheric reanalyses in the middle atmosphere; publish several journal papers and the WCRP/SPARC reports.

This dataset collection provides zonal-mean diagnostics computed from reanalysis data sets on pressure levels. It is divided into two components. The first provides dynamical variables like temperature, geopotential height, and wind field and derived diagnostics such as eddy fluxes and a complete budget of zonal momentum. The second provides heating rates. In both components, data is provided on two grids. The first provides the diagnostics on the same grid on which reanalysis data was obtained. The second provides, using horizontal interpolation, the diagnostics on a common grid for all data sets. All diagnostics are provided as a function of latitude and pressure from 1958 to present, depending on each reanalysis' availability.

This data set was produced to facilitate the comparison of reanalysis data sets for the collaborators of the SPARC-Reanalysis Intercomparison Project (S-RIP). The data set is substantially smaller in size compared to the full three-dimensional reanalysis fields and uses standardized numerical methods. The data set includes all global reanalyses available at the time of its development and will be extended to include new reanalysis products in the future.