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Homogeneity adjustments of in situ atmospheric climate data: a review
Author(s) -
Peterson Thomas C.,
Easterling David R.,
Karl Thomas R.,
Groisman Pavel,
Nicholls Neville,
Plummer Neil,
Torok Simon,
Auer Ingeborg,
Boehm Reinhard,
Gullett Donald,
Vincent Lucie,
Heino Raino,
Tuomenvirta Heikki,
Mestre Olivier,
Szentimrey Tamás,
Salinger James,
Førland Eirik J.,
HanssenBauer Inger,
Alexandersson Hans,
Jones Philip,
Parker David
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
international journal of climatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.58
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-0088
pISSN - 0899-8418
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-0088(19981115)18:13<1493::aid-joc329>3.0.co;2-t
Subject(s) - homogeneity (statistics) , environmental science , climate change , climatology , meteorology , econometrics , computer science , statistics , geography , geology , mathematics , oceanography
Long‐term in situ observations are widely used in a variety of climate analyses. Unfortunately, most decade‐ to century‐scale time series of atmospheric data have been adversely impacted by inhomogeneities caused by, for example, changes in instrumentation, station moves, changes in the local environment such as urbanization, or the introduction of different observing practices like a new formula for calculating mean daily temperature or different observation times. If these inhomogeneities are not accounted for properly, the results of climate analyses using these data can be erroneous. Over the last decade, many climatologists have put a great deal of effort into developing techniques to identify inhomogeneities and adjust climatic time series to compensate for the biases produced by the inhomogeneities. It is important for users of homogeneity‐adjusted data to understand how the data were adjusted and what impacts these adjustments are likely to make on their analyses. And it is important for developers of homogeneity‐adjusted data sets to compare readily the different techniques most commonly used today. Therefore, this paper reviews the methods and techniques developed for homogeneity adjustments and describes many different approaches and philosophies involved in adjusting in situ climate data. © 1998 Royal Meteorological Society