A couple of days ago, I located the “long lost” Honolulu Observatory GISS weather station on the Island of Oahu with just a couple of hours of digging. That one apparently got “lost” because the station name changed, and the inter-agency communications seemed to be the cause, and nobody at GISS bothered to look to see if there was still current data coming from the station.
Today I found one in under 5 minutes. I wasn’t even planning on looking for one, it happened by accident. I was watching the Discovery Channel TV show this afternoon “Deadliest Catch” where crab fishermen brave the worst imaginable weather to keep crab shacks running nationwide. They are based out of Dutch Harbor, Alaska.
While watching a scene where they were coming into the docks, I saw an ever so brief flash of what looked like a Stevenson Screen off in the distance near the docks. I hadn’t expected to see one and I wasn’t 100% sure, but I thought I’d check NCDC’s metadatabase (MMS) for Dutch Harbor, AK. Sure enough, they have a COOP station there with a Stevenson Screen there that is “current”.
When NCDC says “MAX-MIN THERMOMETERS”. that means mercury thermometers in a Stevenson Screen.
The MMS Location description tab had this:
Topographic Details: TOPO- STN NEAR WATERFRONT, ACROSS HARBOR FROM DUTCH HARBOR ARPT IN VILLAGE OF UNALASKA. MNTOUS ISLAND. STN EXPOSED TO STRONG TURBULENT WINDS AND TEMPS INFLUENCED BY SURROUNDING WAT
I assume the last word was to be “WATER” and they ran out of characters in the database field. The MMS database also mentions it to be located at REEVES TERMINAL, which I assume is the ship terminal/dock.
Here is where the lat/lon given by NCDC places it, I seem to recall my brief glimpse was closer to the docks visible near the top of the image, but the lat/lon given by NCDC is not always accurate:
So I was curious to see what the temperature record looked like in this very remote part of Alaska. I figured if it was an active weather station, GISS would have a plot of it. They did indeed but it was not what I expected to find:
Here is the link to the GISTEMP graph above.
Huh. Big data hole. But NCDC said it is current? WUWT?
So I decided to look at the COOP section of NCDC, and sure enough it WAS current to April 2009. I found the most current B91 form and downloaded it.
Here’s the PDF of the form: Dutch_Harbor_April2009
Seeing the big hole in the GISS data, I decided to look for the data forms backwards, and sure enough, it is current all the way back to 1985 where it picks up in January and appears to have every month through April 2009.
So why does GISS not have this data? Remembering the name change which happened in Oahu, names again come to mind. I can’t be sure, but it might have something to do with the station name spelling.
- I spell the station name this way: Dutch Harbor
- NCDC MMS spells it this way: Dutch Harbor
- NCDC B91 selector spells it this way: Dutch Harbor
- The station COOP observer spells it on the B91: Dutch Harbor
NASA GISS spells it on the graph header and web page station selector:
Harbour? WUWT? It’s an American port!
I checked this guide for differences in British, Canadian, and American spelling, and sure enough:
Note to Gavin: change the spelling in the GISTEMP database and the station data might automatically kick in on the next data pass.
Glad to help! Got any more lost stations and station data you need found? We’ll look for the last 20+ years of Dutch Harbor data to show up in GISTEMP real soon.
UPDATE:
In comments “timetochooseagain” writes-
I’m reminded of this from John Christy:
“the use of a few popular stations for which the data are easy to find, leads to too much warming when the averages are constructed. I have published research for North Alabama, Central California and in a few months East Africa, in which I went back to the original sources of data to augment the number of stations by roughly a factor of ten – indeed, ten times more stations. This effort requires significant time in searching for and manually digitizing the records for scientific purposes. In each case, I’ve found that the data sets based on a few popular stations overstate the warming by up to a factor of three.”
http://www.nsstc.uah.edu/atmos/christy/ChristyJR_WM_Written_090225.pdf
Update2: I’ve removed a sentence related to Gavin Schmidt and British spelling of the station name, since he’s not at fault, GHCN managed by NCDC is the source of error -Anthony
In reading of such basic problems as on the difference in spelling, I’m suddenly reminded of a phrase I picked up while in the employ of Uncle Sam’s big green machine – Get your head out of your duffle bag.
Sometimes ya gotta wonder – do they know which end of the thermometer is up?
Was Gavin working for NASA in 1985? Whether he was or wasn’t, even submarine logs from WWII spell it “harbor”. Steve is perfectly correct in criticizing (note the american “Z” in the word) a system that relies on spelling rather than coding and referencing. In business and manufacturing systems you just plain cannot do that. Imagine a letter going out from the customer service department at Kumquat Oil Pressers, Inc.:
Esteemed Sir:
Please be advised that our product catalogue does not contain an entry for Qumkwat Oil, but to better assist you, we have noted that the firm of Cumquate Associates may be able to meet your needs.
With all good wishes, we remain your humble servants…
“Maybe it has something to do with Gavin Schmidt being British? ”
Sorry.
But Mousie, thou are no thy-lane,
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men,
Gang aft agley,
An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
For promis’d joy!
Still, thou art blest, compar’d wi’ me!
The present only toucheth thee:
But Och! I backward cast my e’e,
On prospects drear!
An’ forward, tho’ I canna see,
I guess an’ fear!
Gavin who?
(22:36:04) :
REPLY: Well I was just going to go plot it and settle the issue, but the price NCDC charges for the 288 monthly mean datapoints since 1985 is a bit absurd. . . .
What kills me is that the American Taxpayer has already paid for this data! NCDC runs a racket it seems. – Anthony
Maybe we should file a FOI Act request.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8111292.stm
“Much of the oil, gas, gold and diamonds the island holds has been inaccessible because of the Arctic ice covering most of the land mass.
But US experts believe it will become easier to exploit the island’s mineral wealth as global warming melts the ice sheets.”
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Rest assured that when I was in the process of giving birth to my son I was definitely in labouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuur!
Another excellent catch, Mr. Watts. Such a shame we will not learn how the missing data affects the GISS record any time soon.
I’m reminded of a seminal British TV drama from the 80s called Boys from the Blackstuff. There was a character called Yosser Hughes who went around demanding of people who are working, “Giss (give us) a job. I can do that. Go on, giss a job.”
Perhaps GISS would indeed be better off employing you to track down all that errant data. The world might be a better place.
FatBigot (23:25:04) :
“Maybe it has something to do with Gavin Schmidt being British? ”
Sorry.
Please accept my apologies too!
Boy, that has to be embarrasing.
A British guy with a German surname who does not know American.
FatBigot (23:25:04) :
“Maybe it has something to do with Gavin Schmidt being British? ”
Sorry.
‘Smith’ is the most common surname in England.
‘Schmidt’ is far rarer. Germanic origin perhaps?
There don’t seem to be any Schmidt’s harboured in the smith section of the local phone directory. 🙂
Anthony – “What kills me is that the American Taxpayer has already paid for this data! NCDC runs a racket it seems”.
We have this problem in Australia too. Independent audit is being priced out of the market. Here is a product from our Bureau of Meteorology:
“Dry bulb, wet bulb and dew point temperatures, relative humidity, vapour pressure and saturated vapour pressure, mean sea level pressure and station level pressure data have been compiled for all stations across Australia. For each station the corresponding data file contains data from the start of recording until the latest available. Some stations do have gaps in the record. Not all elements are measured at each station, and not all elements may be measured over the same period of time at the same station.”
Here is the sting: Cost $226.00 for the two CD ROM set or one DVD ROM. Price includes GST and postage within Australia.
If perchance one asks for specific information like 100 station metadata sheets, there can be such a high charge demanded that it’s just not worth the effort. It’s a tactic, I suspect.
What did my taxes do for the last 50 years?
BTW, re spelling, remember that the Brits had the original spelling in many cases before the USA was settled by English speakers. “Harbour” always had a “u” in it. Just as the car steering wheel should be on the right. Seriously, it would help if the USA followed convention as some of the above examples of file formats illustrate. And, at the end, “Z” is not “zee”, but “zed”. Little verbal matters like this can contribute to aircraft safety.
I pray silently for an ice age. Only that would shutup the yappers of doom.
Unfortunately, wishes rarely come true. But hey, we can dream right?
OT but Jo Nova has now posted a very interesting first hand account of the The Wong-Fielding Meeting On Global Warming.
Well worth reading.
http://joannenova.com.au/2009/06/19/the-wong-fielding-meeting-on-global-warming/
OT
The Met Office “predictions” for 2050 and 2080 UK temp and summer and winter rainfall are here.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8107014.stm
The predictions are at a regional level. How this level of detail is achieved is not explained.
Apparently The Shetland Islands look the best bet.
I know taking potshots at GISS is an amusing pastime, but surely the problem here is between NCDC and GHCN? The ‘Harbour’ spelling is on the GHCN Inventory file so the misalignment, (if that is the root cause of the problem) occurs between them and NCDC before NASA pick up the data.
Or would you expect Gavin to personally check the spelling of every one of the NCDC weather stations vs the GHCN file ….?
Deadliest Catch should be required viewing for those prone to a romantic view of the North. The current episodes are filmed during the January “Opie” (Opilio) season . At this time they are frequently fishing the southern edges of the ice flow a few hundred miles out of Dutch Harbo(u)r.
Sobering stuff. A million miles from 2D energy transfer diagrams.
Anthony, write to Tom Karl and ask him to waive the charges.
Before anybody wastes money on unnecessary FOIA requests… has anybody ever considered that the data might be available for free, but the charges are if you want somebody else to do the work for you, and then go through the paperwork/overhead of billing you and processing your payment? The webpage…
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/mpp/freedata.html lists various free data sets. I’m not a US resident, and am not famiiar with the formats, but a couple of possibilities are…
“Free Data K” which seems to be global daily data
“Free Data M” which seems to be USHCN monthly data
Meanwhile, a little southeast of Dutch Harbour, er Harbor:
“Goreacle, the loquacious AGWarmite ideologue, is no longer blowing in the wind; subdued is Goreacle.
Cool and cooler.
…-
“Cooler weather, showers help subdue dozens of prairie fires”
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2009/06/20/edm-forest-fires-relief.html
Well, apparently NASA scientists are too busy making $3000 for speeches to bother with verifying the accuracy of their station list. Check this link out.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/597/story/791871.html
About half-way in, under the subheading “Her wish: less fundraising”
The former governor of my state, Mike Easley, and his wife are under investigation from the feds for corruption. They are going down hard, the feds don’t play. In essence, Mike Easley got his wife a job at NC State University and when the economy was going sour, she received a 95% pay raise thanks to the taxpayers. So I am naturally curious about details now coming out. That is when I noticed that an unnamed NASA scientist spoke about the climate for $3000.
I don’t know who this NASA scientist is, but I would be willing to bet money he or she was from GISS and that that person was still on our taxpayer’s time when he or she made said speech. Now I really doubt that NASA has a climate office in Wilmington, NC so that means traveling to give the speech and back and since this is a NASA scientist, he or she will not be making a day trip out of this. MAYBE a two day trip, I personally think a three day trip. In any event, this NASA scientist is not his or her job but is instead getting paid for speeches. No wonder they believe so much in climate change, it puts them in a bigger house. NASA scientists are just as corrupt as the politicians in my state!
If I had to take a shot-in-the-dark guess, I would guess this NASA scientist is James Hansen.
I question the spot for the station. REEVE TERMINAL would have to be the Reeve Aleutian Airways terminal at the airstrip, to the left of the photo image. the spotting of the station on the beach below a steep cliff is massively unlikely, as storm surges would quite likely carry it away. I worked in Alaska for 25 years and often visited Dutch Harbor/Unalaska. Far more likely that the station was at the airstrip, not where the lat/long numbers would indicate.
For Trillions of dollars in tax increases and the wholesale destruction of our economic base I would expect every last pencil mark checked many times over.
Seven 10ths of a degree over 100 years is a major foundation in the Alarmist house of cards. With what is being proposed, would you like to roughly cost out each 10th degree either way?
I for one would like to know where we are measuring Acme Corp. air conditioning output or increased volumes of raw sewerage processed rather than “global temperatures”.
You have the name of the harbor but the town’s name is Unalaska.
PS Their data from NCDC is from Oct., 1948 to Dec., 1949 and again only for June, 2001.