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Quantifying random measurement errors in Voluntary Observing Ships' meteorological observations
Author(s) -
Kent Elizabeth C.,
Berry David I.
Publication year - 2005
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/joc.1167
Subject(s) - environmental science , observational error , random error , wind speed , meteorology , climatology , sampling (signal processing) , latitude , statistics , mathematics , geodesy , computer science , geography , geology , filter (signal processing) , computer vision
Estimates of the random measurement error contained in surface meteorological observations from Voluntary Observing Ships (VOS) have been made on a 30° area grid each month for the period 1970 to 2002. Random measurement errors are calculated for all the basic meteorological variables: surface pressure, wind speed, air temperature, humidity and sea‐surface temperature. The random errors vary with space and time, the quality assurance applied and the types of instrument used to make the observations. The estimates of random measurement error are compared with estimates of total observational error, which includes uncertainty due both to measurement errors and to observational sampling. In tropical regions the measurement error makes a significant contribution to the total observational error in a single observation, but in higher latitudes the sampling error can be much larger. Copyright © 2005 Royal Meteorological Society