First, I want to thank Mr. Watts for the parts of our program that he applauds, and for providing links to our web site. However, the criticisms that have been made regarding the siting of this station vis a vis the temperature sensor would be valid only if the objective of the CEMP were to measure long-term temperature trends and document local or global change. However, this is not the purpose of the CEMP. The CEMP is a network of monitoring stations located within communities and at ranch sites that surround or are downwind from the Nevada Test Site (NTS), where the U.S. conducted nuclear testing until 1992. The Desert Research Institute (DRI), a non-profit environmental research arm of the Nevada System of Higher Education, operates the program for the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration. Its purpose is to give local stakeholders a direct hands-on role in the monitoring of airborne radioactivity that could result from past or ongoing activities at the NTS, and also to provide as much public transparency and accessibility to the monitoring data as possible.

Since 1999, the communications systems at the stations have been upgraded and a public web site developed at http://cemp.dri.edu/ so that the public could access near real-time data for most of the network. The data are managed by the Western Regional Climate Center (http://wrcc.dri.edu/) which DRI manages for NOAA. Contrary to comments in the post, there are no expenses associated with maintaining the satellite uplink for the six stations in the network that use this mode of communication…this service is provided to us at no charge through Wallops Island. In fact, the Ely station itself does not use a satellite uplink, but instead has a wireless internet connection to the web. The cost for this service is the same as for a residential wireless connection. This allows two-way communications with the stations for remote trouble-shooting and programming, which provides a significant cost savings to the program. Automated data collection is one of the factors that allows the network to be operated for approximately 60 percent less in total cost today compared to as recently as 1998.

The other significant action that DRI took was to install a full suite of meteorological equipment and interpretive displays at each of the stations, which were at that time simply platforms for real-time gamma radiation monitoring and continuous air sampling for monitoring for gross alpha and beta radiation. The meteorological sensors allow us to track changes in background radioactivity that result from weather events. Mr. Watts asks in his post, “How much of the other data measurements and calculations for such things as Tritium dispersal, gaseous pollutant volumes, etc are dependent on the temperature, humidity, and dewpoint data gathered here, all of which would be affected by the siting?” The answer is “none.” We do not measure for such things as “Tritium dispersal and gaseous pollutant volumes.” The weather events that are most closely associated with changes in background radiation are precipitation, and to a lesser extent, barometric pressure; these are worldwide phenomena. Our ability to correlate the two is not affected by the station’s siting. The remainder of the meteorological sensors across the network help fill in lots of data gaps across the southern Great Basin and northern Mojave Desert. Mr. Watts is correct that some of the sites (such as this one at Ely) are inappropriate for tracking long-term trends with regards to looking at issues such as climate change. However, the primary purpose of the meteorological data is the interpretation of radiological monitoring results, and they are perfectly adequate for tracking current conditions (as well as trends) within the communities themselves.

I apologize for being so long-winded with this post, but I felt, based on the direction that the comments seemed to be taking, that there was a significant misunderstanding of the purpose of the CEMP station. The majority of this information is available in our interpretive materials or online on our web site, and there are many email and phone contacts listed in these materials as well. I would be happy to answer any questions anyone has about this program, its history, and public participation. Feel free to contact me directly at ted.hartwell@dri.edu or via phone at (702) 862-5419.

Thanks for reading, if you’ve made it this far!

Sincerely,
Ted Hartwell
Program Manager, Community Environmental Monitoring Program
Desert Research Institute
Las Vegas, Nevada

So here is my partial list of possible variables that when given Sun time (and all its attributes, not just sunspots, heat or brightness), change weather and climate to a far greater degree than man-made CO2. I am asking: Would these things change themselves thus having effects on weather and climate without any influence from the Sun, or must the Sun do its thing as well? I find it rather simplistic to think that the Sun’s only weather influence, direct or indirect, is nighttime vs daytime temperatures. My hunch is that we would not quibble over indirect influences that work in tandem with a variable Earth.

Ozone layer
Water vapor
Cloud formation
Dust
Ocean cycles
Jet stream and pressure changes
Stratosphere temp changes
Long term tilt/orbit wobbles

Not quite correct.

On the ground, OAT at or below 6 C, with less than a three degree temp/dew point spread can cause inlet icing due to induction cooling.

Also, if the airplane had been flying at high altitude, under the same conditions, cold soaked fuel can cause clear ice to form on wing surfaces.

ASOS locations are good enough to make anti- and de-icing decisions, but I doubt anyone installing them cared about anything other than that.

Carsten Arnholm, Norway (11:15:43) :
Yes, adjusting for finite light speed is sometimes an issue.
and also for the finite speed of gravitational effects…

Indeed. I have recently considered that that precise issue, as I have been making a 3d simulator of the solar system based on Newton’s law of gravity. It works well assuming infinite speed of gravitational effects, but I realise it is more correct to adjust for the actual, finite speed. But as you say, the difference is quite small.

http://www.sciplus.com/search.cfm?utm_source=internal&utm_medium=search&utm_content=cf&utm_campaign=celsearchtest&term=93576&btnHand.x=0&btnHand.y=0

The Ultimate Weather Station

Digital, wireless and absolutely full-service. This P3 Professional Weather Station lets you read the indoor/outdoor temp, humidity, rainfall amounts, wind speed (including a 24-hour history for wind and temps) barometric pressure, moon phase, sunrise and sunset times, time and date without getting dressed and leaving the house. Then you can just look at the little icon on the display to see what he’s wearing and dress the same way. The outdoor sensor has a 6″ dia anemometer, a 6″ x 5-1/2″ rain vessel, and is on a 6-1/2-foot pole. The cool-looking indoor display module is 8-5/8″ x 6-3/8″ with a 5″ x 3″ LCD. Some calibration required. Takes a total of (7) “AA” batteries, not included. A fully-functioning weather station at an affordable price, which you don’t find everywhere or, in fact, almost anywhere.
93576 WEATHER STATION $179.00

93576 is the item number–just plug it into the “Express Shop” or “Search Our Site” box when you get to HTTP://www.sciplus.com. Or go direct to the item with this deep link:

The catalog also has all sorts of cheap oddball gadgets and “novelty items.”

REPLY: Roger, that weather station is one I once evaluated for my own online store at http://www.weathershop.com and rejected. If you’ll notice, it does not have wind direction, only wind speed. So much for “ultimate”. Another cheap POS from China I’m afraid. I’ve dealt with the P3 company, that is all they sell, Chinese imports. Like the Oregons Scientific, it won’t last and the accuracy is dubious. – Anthony

Chalk this up to bad planning for sure. If these things were 50m in the air we could at least consider them.

Our politicians are lining up for some serious global warming legislation.
http://noconsensus.wordpress.com/2008/11/28/democrats-preparing-for-big-push-on-co2/

Great Idea To Get the Eagle (Boy) Scouts to come to the rescue…

If Anthony will detail all of the plans down to the last item… including Operations Oversight as that seems to be a major issue here.

The Boy Scout Troops could monitor the stations and we might get a bit better data set.

I remain concerned that we are dealing with an infinitely tiny data set relative to the earths age of 4.5 Billion years – but it should be fun anyhow.

REPLY: HELLO Robert, thank you for the kind words. NCDC invited me out to do a presentation in April 2008. See it here:

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2008/04/23/road-trip-update-day-1-at-ncdc/

But other than that there has been no response. The NWS doesn’t really much concern themselves with the issue I believe because the main purpose of the network is forecast verification, with emphasis on hydrology/rainfall.

Climate is a secondary or tertiary consideration. As you have witnessed with the HO83, there is a huge inertia involved which resists change.

-Anthony

Boiling is a very distinct phenomenon and its physics is very different from what goes on in the atmosphere. Once the Sun swells to a red giant in 5 billion years time, that physics will be applicable to the Earth’s atmosphere. Before then I don’t think we can compare the situations, not even for the ‘sake of the argument’. What is so strange is that people so desperately want to Sun to be the culprit, when this is really not necessary as the climate system is complex enough for internal oscillations to happen without direct external drivers.

The errors are all at or below the ppm [parts per million] level [0.0013 W/m2] so have little practical importance, but since the precision of the SORCE TSI measurements is so high [they report to the 0.0001 W/m2], one should strive for removing all known sources of systematic errors.

Thanks for the explanation Leif, it is appreciated. Yes, adjusting for finite light speed is sometimes an issue.