Post by jvwall on Apr 13, 2010 5:03:27 GMT
I am bringing this up only because ASOS at airports are commonly used across the US and Canada for surface temperature observations. However, I know that there are times that the ASOS data is malfuctioning but the QC program for it does not flag it properly. As a result, bad data may end up in the official record when it should not be.
For example, take the last month of Reno, NV observations. The daytime high has seemed abnormally high for the last month or so. Just today, it read 56 for a high, and it there were mixed rain/snow showers around. Now that fact alone does not indicate that the ASOS is off, but it does make you look further.
Nearby observations were around 50 for highs with Sparks at 51. Spraks and the Reno Airport are almost always within 2 degrees of one another. They are separated about 4 miles from one another and are less than 50 feet different in elevation. There are other observations I can list that throw the Reno ASOS into question also.
The forecasters at the NOAA-NWS office know about this likely error and are trying to get the ASOS fixed. The main problem I have with it is that the data may become part of the official record for the station. It may not because the final QC is done at NCDC in Asheville, NC and they may correct the data if they deem it as erroneous.
I know it is only one site, but the same happened to Lovelock, NV (KLOL), 90 miles northeast last summer. That site has been fixed.
At how many other sites is this occurring as is that data being corrected or being left as missing data?
It is just frustrating to think that some of our conclusions either for or against AGW may be biased by bad data. I can only speak for the two sites I know of, both of which happened to be warm. However, other sites may tend to read cold? I know of one 'official' station where observer error resulted in low temperatures being recorded 8-10 degrees too cold at times.
Here is a link to the latest 24-hr temps for the Reno, NV area:
www.weather.gov/climate/getclimate.php?wfo=rev
For example, take the last month of Reno, NV observations. The daytime high has seemed abnormally high for the last month or so. Just today, it read 56 for a high, and it there were mixed rain/snow showers around. Now that fact alone does not indicate that the ASOS is off, but it does make you look further.
Nearby observations were around 50 for highs with Sparks at 51. Spraks and the Reno Airport are almost always within 2 degrees of one another. They are separated about 4 miles from one another and are less than 50 feet different in elevation. There are other observations I can list that throw the Reno ASOS into question also.
The forecasters at the NOAA-NWS office know about this likely error and are trying to get the ASOS fixed. The main problem I have with it is that the data may become part of the official record for the station. It may not because the final QC is done at NCDC in Asheville, NC and they may correct the data if they deem it as erroneous.
I know it is only one site, but the same happened to Lovelock, NV (KLOL), 90 miles northeast last summer. That site has been fixed.
At how many other sites is this occurring as is that data being corrected or being left as missing data?
It is just frustrating to think that some of our conclusions either for or against AGW may be biased by bad data. I can only speak for the two sites I know of, both of which happened to be warm. However, other sites may tend to read cold? I know of one 'official' station where observer error resulted in low temperatures being recorded 8-10 degrees too cold at times.
Here is a link to the latest 24-hr temps for the Reno, NV area:
www.weather.gov/climate/getclimate.php?wfo=rev
