Open AccessComparisons of borehole temperature–depth profiles and surface air temperatures in the northern plains of the USA
Author(s) -
Harris Robert N.,
Gosnold William D.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
geophysical journal international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.302
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1365-246X
pISSN - 0956-540X
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-246x.1999.00884.x
Subject(s) - borehole , temperature record , climatology , surface air temperature , air temperature , context (archaeology) , geology , atmospheric temperature , forcing (mathematics) , apparent temperature , climate change , environmental science , atmospheric sciences , meteorology , geography , humidity , paleontology , oceanography , geotechnical engineering
Temperature–depth profiles measured in boreholes contain a record of temperature changes at the Earth’s surface. The degree to which these profiles and surface air temperature records track each other is quantitatively assessed for the northern plains of the USA. Surface air temperature records are used as a forcing function to generate synthetic transient temperature profiles which are compared with transient temperatures derived from borehole temperature–depth data. These comparisons indicate that surface air and ground temperatures are correlated. Furthermore, these comparisons yield a long‐term mean temperature tied to the meteorological record which provides a context for interpreting contemporary warming trends. Our results indicate that warming recorded in surface air temperature time series represents a positive departure above baseline temperature estimates.