![[010035+-+Cunderin+BoM.jpg]](https://i0.wp.com/1.bp.blogspot.com/_bcz86_ZAoBw/S6XDyqNr3eI/AAAAAAAAAFI/0T2KWJPlci4/s1600/010035%2B-%2BCunderin%2BBoM.jpg?resize=520%2C391&quality=83)
Above: The Cunderdin Australian Climate Reference Network station, a BoM official photo. Source: http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/change/map/stations/010035.shtml
There’s an effort to the surfacestations.org project underway in Australia to have a look at the quality of siting of stations, see here.
They write:
We have now looked at 18 separate stations (out of a total of 103), in three separate categories. So far, not one of these stations meets the criteria of being “away from large urban centres” and the CRN quality standards of NOAA/NCDC in terms of siting.
Unless there is a dramatic improvement in the remaining 85 stations, we would be well justified in asking the questions: “Just how reliable is the RCS network data and how valid are any conclusions that are drawn from them”?
h/t to Andrew Bolt in Is this how to measure our warming?
Along these lines, there’s a new paper out related to station siting, but it is in French. I could use Google translate, but it tends to do a poor job of technical papers. It is 14 pages long, with a lot of white space. Any volunteers? Leave a comment if you can. – Anthony
No, it’s not even close to there, but two kilometers away (NW in a straight line) at Cunderdin Airport.
To my knowledge it’s been there for a LONG time. At least the eight years I’ve been going there.
It’s in a very clear site and is probably one of the best situated Wx stations around.
I usually look for the barbeque grill and then the weather station is right there too.
But this one has me stumped; no barbeque.
Right behind the still.
Looks like there may be a Steveson screen above the green box, but the picture is pixilated and it’s hard to discern sharp lines. No sign of a Gill or MMTS on a pole, though, so I’m going with the Stevenson guess.
Hmm … there may be a strutwork pole on top of the long one story tin shed to the left, other side of the fence. That would be guess two.
On the corrugated iron roof, catching the reflected heat?
Class 1 (CRN1)- states “Grass/low vegetation ground cover <10 centimeters high". Lots of the stations shown http://rcs-audit.blogspot.com/ are in outback areas. It would be expected that during droughts the ground would be relatively barren and during wet seasons it would be vegetated. This might have a significant effect on the class rating.
I might add that some of the stations located at the RAAF Aerodromes have had photo’s taken in the most “rural looking” direction. Rather than pointing at nearby buildings, runways etc.
This may is off-topic, but…
The influential National Academy of sciences recently (2009) published a paper by Vermeer and Rahmstorf that purported to show a simple equation linking global temperature and sea level rise.
But this simple equation fails a very simple test.
I believe the failure of Vermeer and Rahmstorfs simple equation to meet this simple test invalidates their sea level rise predictions for the 21st century.
I think this is an important point and comments would be welcome.
Best Regards
ClimateSanity
Lol it’s not even in the photo
The location of the station is given as -31.6494 117.2331
which Google Maps shows at this location by the green arrow:
http://i40.tinypic.com/15exndi.jpg
The house at that location looks like this:
http://i44.tinypic.com/2hzo8eg.jpg
However the latitude and longitude of weather stations has never matched Google Maps very well. I don’t know who is at fault!
Anthony, I will translate the French paper for you. I am fluent in French, which is useful given my address. Send it, or a link, to my e-mail address.
I believe it’s been located amongst/behind the stacked bricks to protect it from male dingos
This being WA farm country I imagine some yobbo lobbed it in the back of his ute and took it out for some circle work at the neighbouring cricket oval. Before dumping it.
Alternatively it could be that bit of white peeking out from behind the rubble next to the green covered area in front of the fence… the thing with a few beams resting on it.
I prefer theory no 1 though… I reckon someone’alf-inched it.
Zoltan Beldi (16:55:44) :
No, it’s not even close to there, but two kilometers away (NW in a straight line) at Cunderdin Airport.
Take it up with the Australian Government. Here is the BoM’s own page showing the location info, and that is the BoM’s own picture of the weather station.
Somebody set up us the BoM.
Hey H.R. if you are looking for the barbeque you need to look at the most Aussie photo of all the one for the Wyalong Post Office. There stands the B-B-Q in all its glory and as an added bonus there’s a Hills Hoist. Pure Gold.
Randy
Looking at a Google Maps View of the site, obtained from the geographic coordinates -31.6494, 117.2331 at the gov site linked above, it could be the box on top of the house but it’s not easy to see from the first picture in the article?
Or it’s that metal post to the left of the marker?
Google street view of house at the geographic coordinates.
http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&source=hp&q=-31.6494,++%09117.2331&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=-31%C2%B0+38'+57.84%22,+%2B117%C2%B0+13'+59.16%22&gl=ca&ei=zrKmS9vUAofmtgOu-Py8BA&ved=0CAcQ8gEwAA&ll=-31.649541,117.233391&spn=0,359.990494&t=h&z=18&iwloc=A&layer=c&cbll=-31.649627,117.23339&panoid=klPWyM5hf5DZr92557awvg&cbp=12,307.78,,1,0.21
What impresses me is that with all that non-urban area surrounding the geographic coordinates the darn thing is in the town and there is an airport nearby!
http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&source=hp&q=-31.6494,++%09117.2331&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=-31%C2%B0+38'+57.84%22,+%2B117%C2%B0+13'+59.16%22&gl=ca&ei=zrKmS9vUAofmtgOu-Py8BA&ved=0CAcQ8gEwAA&ll=-31.641398,117.260857&spn=0.366236,0.608368&t=h&z=12
I wonder if anyone has taken infrared photos at various times of the day and night throughout the year to view the heat profile of the locations of these thermometers? Maybe it’s an idea? How about parking an infrared camera watching the entire area around the monitoring zone? What about parking a blimp with a camera above cities to observe the Urban Heat Island Effects directly 7x24x365 for a few years? Do that with many major cities to get some sample data. Or would satellites do the job? Likely not since they are not there all the time but a parked camera in a blimp could be. That would be some hard core science.
Perhaps the best Australian site is Willis Island. A 70 year temperature record, no airports or other such effects … and a slight cooling over 70 years
http://www.warwickhughes.com/blog/?p=143
Photo:
http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/change/map/stations/200283.shtml
Declan O’Dea (15:37:40) :
Cunderin Wyalkatchem Rd is were the Station is, in Cunderdin. I know because I got frustrated after not being able to do anything even with photo enhancement, I google-earthed the coordinates 🙂
P.S. I think its under the rubble. That is were the arrow on the map kind of indicated.
Inside the open green shelter to the right of the lumber pile?
Actually it does look like the same house as in the photo. The blue house just next door to the geographic coordinates sure looks like the house complete with blue and an antenna tower, the garage and even the tall white fence. Unfortunately the google street view didn’t drive around back of this place.
http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&source=hp&q=-31.6494,++%09117.2331&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=-31%C2%B0+38'+57.84%22,+%2B117%C2%B0+13'+59.16%22&gl=ca&ei=zrKmS9vUAofmtgOu-Py8BA&ved=0CAcQ8gEwAA&ll=-31.649331,117.233391&spn=0,359.991117&t=h&z=18&layer=c&cbll=-31.649234,117.23339&panoid=O1U_HVIK7eji5px0Q-t6Jw&cbp=12,267.83,,0,3.48
“I usually look for the barbeque grill and then the weather station is right there too. But this one has me stumped; no barbeque.”
With the dry pictures of brown plant life it’s clear that it’s a barbecue just being there. [:)] Now that’s my kind of climate, hot!
jaymam (17:13:05) :
Looks like it is behind the light-tan fence next to the blue house in the second link you posted. It corresponds with the picture provided by the BOM. In that picture, my guess is that it’s partly obscured by wood in the pile of rubble, next to the green shed.
Data from Cunderdin hasn’t been used by NCDC since 1992. The ACRN should either fix it, or follow suit.
Well, it looks like that weather station is probably out of action anyway:
http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDW60801/IDW60801.94626.shtml
Dang it it’s so obvious, the climate scientist wasn’t taking proper care of the weather station so the clever, now updated to an, intelligent apparatus took the picture to rat the bastard out.
So easy.
Anthony: If you need a backup to Robert, you can send it to me as well. I can also do Italian, should the need arise.
/dr.bill