One of the common themes seen with the surfacestations.org project has been the proximity of BBQ grills to official NOAA thermometers used in the United States Historical Climate Network (USHCN). Despite now having surveyed over 77% of the 1221 station network, some truths continue to be self evident.
This station was photographed by our prolific volunteer, Eric Gamberg. The proximity to the concrete patio earns this station a CRN4 rating, it may be a CRN5 when they wheel out the BBQ away from the house. But who knows? The grilling schedule is not part of the metadata.
But fear not, NASA GISS adjusts for such problems of concrete and BBQ grills. Consider the following blink comparator:
Source: NASA GISS
USHCN RAW:
http://data.giss.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/gistemp/gistemp_station.py?id=425744450020&data_set=1&num_neighbors=1
GISS Homogenized:
http://data.giss.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/gistemp/gistemp_station.py?id=425744450020&data_set=2&num_neighbors=1
I’m not sure why the hinge point is 1978, perhaps that’s when the homeowner acquired the BBQ? Sure, that is an absurd claim, but certainly no more absurd than the GISS homogenization adjustment itself. Adjusting the past increases the overall positive slope of the temperature trend.
For those new to the whole concept of USHCN stations, the NOAA thermometer is the white slatted object on the post in the center of the photo. It is known as an MMTS thermometer and a cable goes from it into the home where the volunteer observer will write down the high and low into the B91 logbook and send in the report once a month to the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC).There are more photos of this station which you can see in my online station database.
The Gallery of photos can be seen here
For those new to the whole concept of USHCN stations, the NOAA thermometer is the white slatted object on the post in the center of the photo. It is known as an MMTS thermometer and a cable goes from it into the home where the volunteer observer will write down the high and low into the B91 logbook and send in the report once a month to the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC).
WTF? It’s not automated? How absurd. How many of the stations are manual, or involve some manual processing of the data by humans?
The fact that some of the stations are not automated raises the red flag of not just HUMAN ERROR but willful deceit for various reasons.
That’s not even counting the scientists who massage the data later in the process.
It’s still the 1950’s in climate science technology it seems.
It also doesn’t seem like the the climate scientists have learned anything from the quality control experts in high tech manufacturing.
Dave the Denier (19:18:14) :
I’m saving up to buy the official GISS BBQ grill and nearby rusty trash-burning barrel to bookend my Stevenson screen.
Now that’s funny! Wouldn’t it be fun to make up a GISS BBQ logo, and make up an infomercial for the new grill, complete with a British pitch-man, and catchy new recipes for dishes like “Urban Heat Polar Bear with Hinge Point Marmalade, on a bed of Stevenson Greens… Anyone have any others, I think a short You-Tube video of this would be fun to make.
For good product placement, we could feature Dr Hansen’s Hellacious Habanero sauce, with a Gore “Storm Surge” chaser. For later, be sure to try Cap’n Trader’s sequestration sorbet! Lose the handy “Scientific Method Skewer”, get a new one free, just pay separate shipping and handling!