The National Climatic Data Center, as part of the Federal Climate Complex (FCC--consisting of NOAA, Air Force, and Navy climatology centers) has developed an Integrated Surface Hourly (ISH) database. This new global database is a compilation of all available data from the FCC's three main surface hourly datasets. It includes data from as early as 1900 to the present, averages approximately 40 million surface weather observations per year for the last thirty years of data, and is over 300 gigabytes in volume. Approximately 20,000 unique stations are included historically, from a variety of data sources--keyed data (from original forms), data transmitted via the Global Telecommunications System (GTS), Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS) data, etc. The input datasets for ISH were extensively quality-controlled prior to inclusion in ISH; then additional quality control is being applied to the new database to enhance its quality for use in short-term and long-term climate studies and many other applications. The ISH database is now operationally updated as soon as the required input data are available, and the data are made available via the Web through the NOAA National Data Center's Climate Data Online system.