Scientists struggle to access Africa's historical climate data

Nature ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 574 (7780) ◽  
pp. 605-606 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda Nordling
Keyword(s):  
Climate Data ◽  
Historical Climate

scholarly journals The Impact of Climate Change on the Water Balance of Oil Sands Reclamation Covers and Natural Soil Profiles

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (11) ◽  
pp. 1731-1752 ◽  
Author(s):  
Md. Shahabul Alam ◽  
S. Lee Barbour ◽  
Amin Elshorbagy ◽  
Mingbin Huang
Keyword(s):  
Oil Sands ◽  
Weather Generator ◽  
First Century ◽  
Soil Profiles ◽  
Percentage Increase ◽  
Climate Data ◽  
Historical Climate ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
The Impact

Abstract The design of reclamation soil covers at oil sands mines in northern Alberta, Canada, has been conventionally based on the calibration of soil–vegetation–atmosphere transfer (SVAT) models against field monitoring observations collected over several years, followed by simulations of long-term performance using historical climate data. This paper evaluates the long-term water balances for reclamation covers on two oil sands landforms and three natural coarse-textured forest soil profiles using both historical climate data and future climate projections. Twenty-first century daily precipitation and temperature data from CanESM2 were downscaled based on three representative concentration pathways (RCPs) employing a stochastic weather generator [Long Ashton Research Station Weather Generator (LARS-WG)]. Relative humidity, wind speed, and net radiation were downscaled using the delta change method. Downscaled precipitation and estimated potential evapotranspiration were used as inputs to simulate soil water dynamics using physically based models. Probability distributions of growing season (April–October) actual evapotranspiration (AET) and net percolation (NP) for the baseline and future periods show that AET and NP at all sites are expected to increase throughout the twenty-first century regardless of RCP, time period, and soil profile. Greater increases in AET and NP are projected toward the end of the twenty-first century. The increases in future NP at the two reclamation covers are larger (as a percentage increase) than at most of the natural sites. Increases in NP will result in greater water yield to surface water and may accelerate the rate at which chemical constituents contained within mine waste are released to downstream receptors, suggesting these potential changes need to be considered in mine closure designs.

scholarly journals Interdisciplinary Climate: The Case of the First 50 Years of British Observations in Australia

2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 118-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kendal McGuffie ◽  
Ann Henderson-Sellers
Keyword(s):  
Interdisciplinary Research ◽  
New South ◽  
Weather Data ◽  
Climate Data ◽  
Climate Research ◽  
Historical Climate ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Instrumental Records ◽  
Single Instrument

Abstract This paper presents the case for improved interdisciplinarity in climate research in the context of assessing and discussing the caution required when utilizing some types of historical climate data. This is done by a case study examining the reliability of the instruments used for collecting weather data in Australia between 1788 and 1840, as well as the observers themselves, during the British settlement of New South Wales. This period is challenging because the instruments were not uniformly calibrated and were created, repaired, and used by a wide variety of people with skills that frequently remain undocumented. Continuing significant efforts to rescue such early instrumental records of climate are likely to be enhanced by more open, interdisciplinary research that encourages discussion of an apparent dichotomy of view about the quantitative value of early single-instrument data between historians of physics (including museum curators) and climate researchers.

scholarly journals Estimating Seasonally Frozen Ground Depth From Historical Climate Data and Site Measurements Using a Bayesian Model

2018 ◽  
Vol 54 (7) ◽  
pp. 4361-4375 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yue Qin ◽  
Jinsong Chen ◽  
Dawen Yang ◽  
Taihua Wang
Keyword(s):  
Bayesian Model ◽  
Climate Data ◽  
Frozen Ground ◽  
Historical Climate

scholarly journals Feminization of Hawksbill Turtle hatchlings in the Twenty-first Century at an important Regional Nesting Aggregation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Chatting ◽  
Shafeeq Hamza ◽  
Jassim Al-Khayat ◽  
David Smyth
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
At Risk ◽  
Sex Ratios ◽  
First Century ◽  
Climate Data ◽  
Eretmochelys Imbricata ◽  
Marine Turtles ◽  
Historical Climate ◽  
Incubation Temperatures ◽  
Nesting Aggregation

Projected climate change is forecasted to have significant effects on biological systems worldwide. Marine turtles in particular may be vulnerable, as the sex of their offspring is determined by their incubating temperature. This study is aimed to estimate historical and forecast future, primary sex ratios of hawksbill turtle hatchlings, Eretmochelys imbricata, in Qatar. Incubation temperatures were measured over two nesting seasons. Climate data from same period was regressed with nest temperatures to estimate incubation temperatures and hatchling sex ratios for the site from 1993 to 2100. Historical climate data showed female-biased sex ratios of 73.2 ±12.1% from 1993 to 2017. Female biases from 2018 to 2100 averaged 85.7% ±6.7%. In addition, predicted female hatchling production was >90% from 2054. These results show that hawksbill primary sex ratios in Qatar are at risk of significant feminization by the year 2100.

scholarly journals Status and Climate Applications of the 19th Century Forts and Volunteer Observer Database

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (002) ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Nancy Westcott ◽  
◽  
Jason Cooper ◽  
Karen Andsager ◽  
Leslie Stoecker ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
19Th Century ◽  
The United States ◽  
Weather Data ◽  
Climate Data ◽  
Historical Climate ◽  
Daily Data ◽  
Weather And Climate ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
Global Datasets

The Climate Data Modernization Program Forts and Volunteer Observer Database (CDMP-Forts) currently consists of 450 keyed and 355 quality-controlled stations for the period 1788–1892, reaching across the United States. In conjunction with the Global Historical Climate Network (GHCN) daily data, this resource is invaluable for examining 19th century weather and climate in the United States. CDMP-Forts is incomplete, however, with a considerable amount of data remaining to be digitally transcribed and quality controlled. It is the intent of this paper to provide an overview of the processes involved in rescuing these data and to show important ways these data can be used and the considerations that may have to be taken to create meaningful analyses. Finally, the dataset is placed in the context of other global datasets and efforts to rescue historical weather data.

Selecting the optimal fine-scale historical climate data for assessing current and future hydrological conditions

2022 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Sierra Nevada ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Snow Water Equivalent ◽  
Maximum Temperature ◽  
Climate Data ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Historical Climate ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Monthly Streamflow ◽  
Climate Maps

Abstract High-resolution historical climate grids are readily available and frequently used as inputs for a wide range of regional management and risk assessments including water supply, ecological processes, and as baseline for climate change impact studies that compare them to future projected conditions. Because historical gridded climates are produced using various methods, their portrayal of landscape conditions differ, which becomes a source of uncertainty when they are applied to subsequent analyses. Here we tested the range of values from five gridded climate datasets. We compared their values to observations from 1,231 weather stations, first using each dataset’s native scale, and then after each was rescaled to 270-meter resolution. We inputted the downscaled grids to a mechanistic hydrology model and assessed the spatial results of six hydrological variables across California, in 10 ecoregions and 11 large watersheds in the Sierra Nevada. PRISM was most accurate for precipitation, ClimateNA for maximum temperature, and TopoWx for minimum temperature. The single most accurate dataset overall was PRISM due to the best performance for precipitation and low air temperature errors. Hydrological differences ranged up to 70% of the average monthly streamflow with an average of 35% disagreement for all months derived from different historical climate maps. Large differences in minimum air temperature data produced differences in modeled actual evapotranspiration, snowpack, and streamflow. Areas with the highest variability in climate data, including the Sierra Nevada and Klamath Mountains ecoregions, also had the largest spread for Snow Water Equivalent (SWE), recharge and runoff.

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