Indicator 1 - Monthly mean air temperatures at Australian Antarctic StationsIndex - Description | Data | Custodian evaluation | Related resources | Parameters |
  Print indicator
|
| Indicator Definition | Monthly means of three-hourly temperatures for Australian Antarctic stations Casey, Davis, Mawson and Macquarie Island. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Responsible Organisation |
 Bureau of Meteorology, Department of the Environment and Heritage (details) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Custodians |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Theme Area | Atmosphere | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Indicator Type | Condition | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Criteria the Indicator Satisfies |
The following 12 out of 15 criteria
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date Input | Monthly measurements | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Monitoring Location |
Mawson (details)
Atlas Cove (details)
Davis (details)
Casey (details)
Macquarie Island (details)
Spit Bay (details)
Geographic Coverage is
Longitude (61.0 to 159.0)
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rationale For Indicator Selection | Global climate models show warming in response to increased greenhouse gas (carbon dioxide, methane etc) concentrations in the atmosphere; this is called the "enhanced greenhouse effect". Because of this, there is interest in observations of temperature across the globe, including Antarctica. Extensive high-quality observations from fixed locations are essential to serve as direct indicators of temperature changes and also confirm climate model output. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Design and Strategy For Indicator Monitoring Program | Spatial Scale: Australian Antarctic stations: Casey (lat 66¿ 16' 54.5" S, long 110¿ 31' 39.4" E), Davis (lat 68¿ 34' 35.8" S, long 77¿ 58' 02.6" E), Mawson (lat 67¿ 36' 09.7" S, long 62¿ 52' 25.7" E) and Macquarie Island (lat 54¿ 37' 59.9" S, long 158¿ 52' 59.9" E). Frequency: Monthly Measurement Technique: Thermometry | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Research Issues | There is need to develop a high-quality data set from the available data, correcting erroneous data and estimating missing data. Adjustment may be necessary for changes in site location or exposure, and for changes in instrumentation or observing practices. Some of these changes are documented in the station history files held by the Regional Observations Section. These history files are currently held as paper records, although more recent information is held electronically and there is an effort to digitise the older records. Before the data can be used for the detection of change, a concerted effort will need to be made to identify deficiencies in the data, and then make compensations where possible. This is made more difficult by the lack of suitable comparison sites. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Data |
Timespan: April-1948 to October-2009. Number of data points: 4971. To view or download any of the data, you must be logged into the Data Centre Portal. If you return to this indicator, you will find a Search Data link that will allow you to view or extract the data for this indicator. Atlas Cove, Heard Island: Air Temperature  Casey: Air Temperature  Casey: Air Temperature Anomaly  Davis: Air Temperature  Davis: Air Temperature Anomaly  Macquarie Island: Air Temperature  Macquarie Island: Air Temperature Anomaly  Mawson: Air Temperature  Mawson: Air Temperature Anomaly  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Data Quality, Interpretation and Analysis of Indicator Data |
Mean monthly air temperatures are calculated from all of the available 3-hourly observations within a given month. If less than 200 observations are present, the monthly value is flagged and removed from the State of Environment dataset. The monthly air temperature anomaly is calculated as the difference between the mean air temperature for a given month and the long-term mean air temperature for that calendar month between 1971 and 2000, so that: Anomaly (for given month) = Value (for given month) - Long-term Mean (for relevant calendar month) Although the Bureau of Meteorology uses the period from 1961 to 1990 as the standard period for calculation of long-term means, it was decided that for Antarctic stations, the 1971-2000 dataset was in most cases more complete, and would therefore provide a more accurate long-term mean. These records require analysis for variability and trends. However, there are likely to be significant errors in the data, and these need to be addressed first (see Research Issues). With regard to Heard Island, unfortunately, the two AWS are not &normal& ones (they are actually ocean drifting buoys that have been strapped down). They do provide temperature and pressure, but not wind or daily maximum and minimum temps. Also, they do not report to a fixed, regular schedule, instead sending when they are within the satellite footprint. The system set up for the other sites assumes the regular 3-hourly schedule. The irregularity of the Heard data could cause curious biases, which have not been explored. Also, the criteria used to flag that there are &enough& data (>200 obs in the month) may not really work with these more frequent, and irregular, reporting schedules. Heard Island (Atlas Cove) WMO number: 95997 Elevation: 3 m Barometer elevation: 3.5 m Heard Island (The Spit) WMO number: 94997 Elevation: 12 m Barometer elevation: 12.5 m | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Data Usage Constraints | The copyright for any data are held by the Commonwealth of Australia. The user shall give acknowledgement of the source in reference to the data. Apart from dealings under the copyright Act, 1968, the user shall not reproduce, modify or supply (by sale or otherwise) these data without written permission. While every effort is made to supply the best data available this may not be possible in all cases. No warranty is given, nor any liability accepted in relation to the information given, except that liability (if any), that is required by law. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Data Distribution |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Data Access Constraints | Data arising from this project are available from the state of the environment indicator URL given below. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Custodian Evaluation |
For definitions of the Scale categories, consult the Explanation of the Status Categories | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Related resources |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Parameters |
The properties link can be used to view details of the parameters measured for this indicator.
Parameters - Sensors - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Related URL's |
http://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/portal/download_file.cfm?file_id=971 Download page for Australian Antarctic Data Centre | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
