How not to measure temperature, part 88 – Honolulu’s Official Temperature ±2

16 06 2009

People send me stuff, some days my email explodes. Today I got all sorts of things about Obama and John Holdren and the new NCDC climate spincycle which Steve McIntyre has dubbed Chucky Returns Part IV. That one made me laugh out loud.

Something else that made me laugh today was this well done story (h/t to Andrew Walden) from reporter Tina Chau of KGMB-TV in Honolulu, HI. The NWS spokesman Tom Birchard was clearly flummoxed, and at the end of the interview said exactly what I’ve always said about the ASOS system and measurement of climate data at airports. Comedian George Carlin was right in his “Hippy dippy weatherman routine”: Why do they always give the temperature for the airport? Nobody LIVES there!

“ASOS…placed for aviation purposes…not necessarily for  climate purposes.”


Yet, ASOS weather stations at airports worldwide are in fact used for climate, and are part of the official climate record. In the US alone, there are 64 ASOS stations (that I’ve found so far) in the official USHCN climate record, plus there are hundreds in GHCN worldwide.  In my studies of the USHCN temperature network, I’ve found dozens of such poor siting examples even at non-airports. See my report here (PDF, 4 MB).

Our old friend the ASOS and HO-83 temperature sensors may be up to tricks again in Honolulu. It seems the temperature is a wee bit off and new records are being set by the ASOS weather station at the airport. I’m reminded of the similar situation in Tucson years ago that went on a long time before anybody caught it. I’ve found the HNL station, seen below. It is located at lat/lon 21.32403 -157.939467 There’s more than meets the eye. More after the news story.

Honolulu Airport Weather Station - click for live interactive map view

Honolulu Airport Weather Station - click for live interactive map view

Honolulu Temperature Records Questioned

Written by Tina Chau

The high in Honolulu Monday was 92 degrees. It was the hottest June 15 since the National Weather Service started keeping track and the 8th straight day we’ve broken or tied a record. But was it really that hot?

That’s what the experts at the NWS have been wondering. They settled their suspicions with a trip to the airport to check Honolulu’s official temperature sensor. Read the rest of this entry »


Comments : 81 Comments »

Categories : climate_change, measurement, media, weather_stations

Listening to the Antarctic Ice Shelves – they say “no climate change”

16 06 2009

From the Australian

Ice shelves stable over six years

ANTARCTIC ice shelves are showing no sign of climate change, six years of unique research have shown.

Previously on WUWT we discussed the media’s fascination with “melt” when it comes to ice shelves cracking off. Then there’s also this picture that keeps getting recycled. Now there’s the “ice listeners” that hear no change. (see my note at the end)


http://www.ogleearth.com/wissm.jpg

Here’s the article in the Australian

Scientists from Western Australia’s Curtin University of Technology are using acoustic sensors developed to support the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty to listen for the sound of icebergs breaking away from the giant ice sheets of the south pole.

“More than six years of observation has not revealed any significant climatic trends,” CUT associate professor Alexander Gavrilov said yesterday.

Professor Gavrilov and PhD student Binghui Li are investigating whether it is possible to detect and monitor significant changes in the disintegration rate of the Antarctic ice shelf by monitoring the noise of ice breaking. Read the rest of this entry »


Comments : 105 Comments »

Categories : Antarctic, media, sea ice

A few thoughts on the “climate change lowers wind speeds” study

16 06 2009

anemometer_in_the_breezeBy now you’ve probably read about Wind speed trends over the contiguous USA by Pryor et al. (2009, in press, JGR)

There is also an Associated Press story which cites this as a “first-of-its-kind study, and  suggests that average and peak wind speeds have been noticeably slowing since 1973, especially in the Midwest and the East.”

Steve McIntyre of Climate Audit  takes the study to task, not only for its data and conclusions, but for the Shenanigans of Michael Mann and Gavin Schmidt when they try to backtrack post facto after giving independent interview to AP’s Seth Borenstein and suddenly finding themselves in disagreement over whether “climate change” is involved or not. Go team.

I’ll point out that measuring wind accurately over a long period is not easy, particularly because surface anemometers tend to be problematic by the nature of their mechanical design. Aerovanes are better, but still have some of the same issues.

There’s also issues with land use change around the sensor long term, which I’ll get to in a moment. But first, the instrumentation.

For the traditional anemometer, here are some issues I’ve identified: Read the rest of this entry »


Comments : 62 Comments »

Categories : Technology, climate data, measurement, weather_stations

First Ever Ice Wine in Brazil

16 06 2009

Via Joe D’Aleo at ICECAP

Team Vinicola Perico, Vinicola Vineyards in Santa Catarina, Brazil

Our friends at the METSUL reports that for the first time ever in Brazil icewine has been produced in this unusually cold June in Southern Brazil. This is a release on the Vinicolo Vineyard website. The following is a rough web based translation from Portuguese to English. The original Portuguese story is here.

With pleasure we inform that the Perico team yesterday registered in its vineyards, located in the farm Boy God, District of the Perico in Joaquin – Santa Catarina, a phenomenon of the nature, the most waited of this time: the ice wine. The temperatures had fallen well below-freezing and the thermometers had marked – 7.5 C. A dream if became reality: the harvest of the grapes congealed for this so wonderful act of the nature.

image

With this, the Vinicola Perico, will be first ever vineyard in Brazil to produce ICEWINE (Wine of the Ice), a natural licoroso wine, with raised amount of residual sugar of the proper grape.

image Read the rest of this entry »


Comments : 52 Comments »

Categories : Agriculture, weather