RISK MANAGEMENT FOR ENERGY

INFRASTRUCTURE
Module 2: Climate data-bases. Part 2.
Prepared by Jorge Paz ( Tecnalia)
 1.- Presentation of this module

Main objectives
• To determine the climate data that are needed for engineering practice.
• To understand the different sources of climate data available
• To acquire climate data applicable to engineering modelling

Operational objectives:
• Differentiate between types of measurements such as direct and indirect, and remote and in-situ measurements
• Identify different types of meteorological observing systems and their observational representativeness including
temporal and spatial scales
• Describe instrument and measurement uncertainty
• Understand the factors that are used to assess systematic and random errors, and the propagation of errors.

Recommended resources:
• A computer.
• Spreadsheet software: Microsoft Excel, but Openoffice and other open software is always welcome!!
• A flexible text editor: NotePad++ is an example (Windows Notes isn´t).
• Python: Anaconda platform recommended.
• A compression program: IzArc, etc.
• Google Chrome and a gmail account.
 1.- Presentation of this module

Additional materials:
• Copernicus Climate Change User Learning Service (https://uls.climate.copernicus.eu/). It is particularly interesting the lessons on
observations: https://uls.climate.copernicus.eu/group/learning/browse-lessons?packageId=1157
• MOOCs from Copernicus:
• https://www.mooc.copernicus.eu
• https://www.atmospheremooc.org/
• https://www.oceansfromspace.org/
• WMO. The main page of interest is: “Observation components of the Global Observing System”:
https://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/www/OSY/Gos-components.html
• NOAA Data access: https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/data-access. In addition to data for the USA you will find here a description of the
different kinds of climate information.
• Eumetrain (www.eumetrain.org), maybe too specialized if you don´t have a particular interest.
• The Comet program (http://www.comet.ucar.edu/). Of special interest the free collection of hundreds of training resources
(https://www.meted.ucar.edu/index.php), the COMET Training Portfolio (https://www.comet.ucar.edu/portfolio/index.htm), learning
resources (https://www.meted.ucar.edu/training_detail.php) and particularly: Introduction to tropical meteorology (2nd edition), Chapter
9 - Observation, Analysis, and Prediction (http://kejian1.cmatc.cn/vod/comet/tropical/textbook_2nd_edition/print_9.htm).
• ClimateEurope H2020 project: https://www.climateurope.eu/. Review the summary of data sources:
https://www.climateurope.eu/climate-and-society/explore/sources/
• We will not explain the operation of the different instruments, so please take a look to:
• New world climate: Weather Instruments and Equipment Explained: http://www.nwclimate.org/guides/meteorological-
instrumentation/
• Sciencing: Weather Instruments & Their Uses: https://sciencing.com/weather-instruments-uses-8013246.html
NOTE: if not indicated, all links accessed on December 2020. Contact me if they don´t work or if you are interested in any particular topic.
 1.- Presentation of this module

Contents related to climate data:

1.- Presentation of this module

Part 1: Numerical Modelling in Energy Sytems
2.- Introduction to climate
3.- Sources of climate data
4.- Types of observations
5.- Land stations
6.- Ocean in-situ observations
7.- Sondes and airplanes
8.- Radar and Lidar
Part 2: Numerical Modelling in Environmental Processes
9.- Satellites
10.- Historical observations
11.- River flow
12.- Homogenization
13.- Climate data sources
Python exercise
14.- Python exercise
 7.- Sondes and airplanes

Radiosondes and dropsondes

A radiosonde is an instrument that is launched by a weather balloon and measures the

properties of the surrounding air up to a maximum height of 30-35 km. It measures
altitude, pressure, temperature, relative humidity, wind (both wind speed and wind
direction) and geographical position (latitude/longitude) and transmits them by radio
to a ground receiver. Radiosondes measuring ozone concentration are known as ozone Land Automatic station
http://www.aemet.es/es/noticias/2018/12/sondeos_huelva
sondes.

Dropsondes are the same device but then dropped from an airplane and are usually
used in special weather situations, for example in hurricanes.

Dropsonde. Source: [2]

Additional resources:
[1] UCAR: What is a Dropsonde?: https://www.eol.ucar.edu/content/what-dropsonde
[2] Video about dropsondes: https://youtu.be/reacmYzS8BU
 7.- Sondes and airplanes

Radiosondes
The global network of upper-air stations totals about 1,300. In this facilities
radiosondes attached to free-rising balloons are released, making
measurements of pressure, wind velocity, temperature and humidity from just
above ground to heights of up to 30km.

Over two thirds of the stations make observations at 0000UTC and 1200UTC.
Between 100 and 200 stations make observations once per day.

In ocean areas, radiosonde observations are taken by about 15 ships, which

mainly ply the North Atlantic, fitted with automated shipboard upper-air
sounding facilities (ASAP). A subset of upper-air stations comprises the GCOS
Upper-air Network (GUAN).

OSCAR/Surface is the World Meteorological Organization's official repository

of WIGOS metadata for all surface-based observing stations and platforms
(including surface, upper air, sea, etc.)

Additional resources: List of Upper Air stations as of November 2017. Source:

[1] Guan network: https://gcos.wmo.int/en/networks/atmospheric/guan https://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/www/OSY/Gos-
[2] Oscar Surface: https://oscar.wmo.int/surface/#/ components.html
 7.- Sondes and airplanes

Radiosondes

GCOS Reference Upper-Air Network

The global network consists of about 1,300 upper-air stations

(2018). Over two thirds of the stations make observations at 00:00
UTC and 12:00 UTC. Between 100 and 200 stations make
observations once per day. In ocean areas, radiosonde observations
are taken by about 15 ships (2018), which mainly ply the North
Atlantic, fitted with automated shipboard upper-air sounding
facilities GCOS Reference Upper-Air Network. Source:
https://www.gruan.org/

Additional resources:
[1] Video on the Gruan network, flyers, etc: https://www.gruan.org/documentation/public-outreach
[2] Gruan data and documentation at C3S: https://cds.climate.copernicus.eu/cdsapp#!/dataset/insitu-observations-gruan-reference-
network?tab=overview
 7.- Sondes and airplanes

Data from planes

Aviation is one of the leading sectors in using climate observations, but at the same
time a great source of climate data.

In collaboration with ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) and commercial

and other airlines, aircraft-based observations are received from over 3000 aircraft,
providing reports of pressure, winds, temperature, humidity, turbulence and other
parameters during flight.

The Aircraft Meteorological Data Relay (AMDAR) system makes high quality
observations of winds and temperatures at cruising level as well as at selected levels
in ascent and descent (see figure). The amount of data from aircraft has increased
dramatically during recent years - from 78,000 observations per day in 2000 to more
that 800,000 observations per day in 2017. Providing great potential for
measurements in places where there is little or no radiosonde data, these systems The AMDAR Communication System. Source: [2]
are making a major contribution to the upper-air component of the GOS.

Additional resources:
[1] WMO: services for aviation: https://community.wmo.int/activity-areas/aviation
[2] WMO: COMET AMDAR Module Produced for WMO. https://public.wmo.int/en/resources/meteoworld/comet-amdar-module-produced-wmo
 7.- Sondes and airplanes

Summary for sondes and airplanes

Advantages:

-Vertical profiles of the air.

-High quality direct observations.
-Increasing amount of data.
-Aircraft measurements also provide data from above the oceans.

Disadvantages:

-No long time series.

-No fixed location (sondes drift with the wind).
-No global coverage. Lower coverage in the southern hemisphere, on the
ocean and the polar regions.
-Only 1 or 2 measurements per day.
 8.- Radar and Lidar

Weather radars
Weather radars (Radar Detection And Ranging) have been used in the
detection of precipitation (rates) since the 1950s.

The top figure shows an example of an rainfall radar image. In principle the
method is based on sending out a radar pulse and measuring the return
signal. This signal has to be translated into a precipitation rate with the help
of in situ measurements (see top panel).

Dual polarized or doppler radars (as this one) can measure wind and rainfall.
They enable more accurate determination of precipitation types and sizes.
This makes it easier to see whether the precipitation consists only of rain or
also contains snow or hail.

Radar networks have been established around the world. A radar network Radar: external view and visualization of data.
database is maintained by the WMO and is important to assist with the Source: [1]
international exchange of radar data and to protect radio-frequency spectrum
allocation.
Sources:
[1] Meteogalicia: radar: https://www.meteogalicia.gal/observacion/radar/radar.action?request_locale=gl
[2] NOAA: Using and Understanding Doppler Radar: https://www.weather.gov/mkx/using-radar
[3] NWSVegas: How weather radar works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItuNNhY5WBw&feature=emb_logo
[4] WMO: Weather Radar Observations: https://community.wmo.int/activity-areas/weather-radar-observations
 8.- Radar and Lidar

Lidar
Instead of using a radar pulse, Lidar (Light Detection And Ranging) uses laser light to study atmospheric properties from the ground up to the top
of the atmosphere or from aircrafts to the ground. Such instruments have been used to study, among others, atmospheric gases, aerosols, clouds,
wind and temperature.

Example of lidar emission and reception. Source: Example of Lidar observation. Source: UCAR:Raman-shifted Eye-safe Aerosol Lidar
https://www.monocrom.com/en/applications/defense/lidar-technology/ (REAL)
https://archive.eol.ucar.edu/docs/isf/facilities/lidar/eyesafe_lidar/old_eyesafe_lidar_w
ebpage.html
 8.- Radar and Lidar
HFR. Source:[1]

HFR on coastal areas:

High-frequency radar (HFR) is a unique technology mapping ocean surface currents and
wave fields (along with other variables) over wide areas with high spatial and temporal
resolution. HFR is cost-effective, requiring only small manpower and technical costs.
Users of HFR technology include meteorology services, search and rescue agencies,
governments and regional and local authorities, as well as private companies working in
assessment of coastal water quality, renewable energy, or other environmental services.

The EuroGOOS HFR Task Team helps coordinate the European activities around the
development and use of this coastal technology. 30 stations are connected to the HFR
node sending data in near real-time.

Map of locations of the 105 HFRs included in the EuroGOOS Task Team inventory (March 2020).
The ongoing systems (59) are plotted in green, future installations (20) in yellow and non-
functioning stations (26) in purple (including historical deployments or currently inactive
stations). Source:[1]

Additional resources:
[1] EuroGOOS: services for aviation: https://community.wmo.int/activity-areas/aviation
[2] L. Corgnati et al.: The European HFR Node from the standard data and QC model to data distribution (presentation):
https://www.seadatanet.org/content/download/2845/file/2019_04_09_EGU2019_pres_HFR_Corgnati.pdf
 8.- Radar and Lidar

Pros and cons of radar and lidar images

Advantages:

• Higher spatial coverage than ground measurements

• High frequency measurements
• Data almost directly available
• Information about the upper air

Disadvantages:

• Time series from about the end of the 90’s until present.
• The lidar and radar signal has to be translated into the desired climate variable. This
introduces additional uncertainties and ground observations are needed to make
this translation Radar operated by Euskalmet. Source:
https://apps.euskadi.eus/s07-
• Systematic disturbances in the signal due to the atmosphere 5853x/es/meteorologia/meteodat/dominio
• No global coverage. Lower coverage in the southern hemisphere, on the ocean and _radar.apl?e=5
the polar regions.
 9.- Satellites

Weather Satellites: introduction

The first weather satellite was launched in 1960. Since then, many more satellites were launched providing a huge
amount of atmospheric data.

You must think on satellites as platforms where, generally, several instruments are boarded. E.g: The first satellite
mission designed to measure CO2 was the Interferometric Monitor for Greenhouse Gases (IMG) on board the
ADEOS I satellite in 1996.

Meteorological satellites are equipped with visible and infra-red imagers and sounders from which one can derive
many meteorological parameters, like clouds, temperature, humidity, radiation, wind, wave height, wave patterns, SEVIRI instrument boarded on
sea currents, ice coverage, greenhouse gases and much more. Meteosat 2nd generation
satellites. Source [3]

Additional resources:
[1] EUMESAT: video describing the second generation of METEOSAT
satellites: Representation of the
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSjjoa7ILpw&feature=emb_logo (4`30`` Meteosat generations (from
left, frist, second, third and
aprox)
third. Source Eumetsat
[2] EUMETSAT: Short video describing the operation: (https://www.eumetsat.int/our
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3XgfHSVBhc (10` aprox) -satellites/meteosat-series)
[3] EUMETSAT: SEVIRI: https://www.eumetsat.int/seviri
 9.- Satellites

How do satellites measure (1)?

There are two main kinds of satellite sensors:

- Active sensors have its own source of light or illumination. In particular, it actively sends a pulse and measures the backscatter
reflected to the sensor.

- Passive sensors measure reflected sunlight emitted from the sun. When the sun shines, passive sensors measure this energy.
Passive vs active sensors.
One example of active sensor is the Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) equipped in the Sentinel 1 satellites. Different kind of Source: [2]
information can be derived from this sensor, with the ability to “observe” in all weather and in day or nighttime.

Wind speed derived from

Illustration of vessels in Algeciras
Sentinel-1 data over the Typhoon
Bay on September 2017,
Megi, processed as part of the
Copernicus Sentinel Data. Source:
ESA/SEOM 4 Science/Ocean Study
[1]
project #EO4Society. Contains
modified Copernicus Sentinel data
[2016]. Source: [1]

Sources:
[1] ESA: https://sentinel.esa.int/web/sentinel/user-guides/sentinel-1-sar/applications/maritime-monitoring
[2] https://gisgeography.com/passive-active-sensors-remote-
sensing/#:~:text=Active%20sensors%20have%20its%20own,passive%20sensors%20measure%20this%20energy.
 9.- Satellites

Satellites: orbits
Geostationary: travelling at the same rate as Earth. This makes satellites
appear to be ‘stationary’ over a fixed position from the earth. Travel at 3 km
per second and an altitude of 35 786 km.

Polar orbit and Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO): travel from north to south
rather, passing roughly over Earth's poles. Satellites in a polar orbit do not
have to pass the North and South Pole precisely, and at low altitudes
between 200 to 1000 km.
Polar orbit and Sun- Geostationary orbit
Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) is a particular kind of polar orbit. Satellites are synchronous orbit
synchronized to always be in the same ‘fixed’ position relative to the Sun.
This means that the satellite always visits the same spot at the same local
(SSO)
time

Low Earth orbit: normally at an altitude of less than 1000 km but could be
as low as 160 km

Other: Transfer orbits and geostationary transfer orbit (GTO), used to travel
between orbits, Medium Earth orbit (MEO), common for navigation
satellites, Lagrange points,

Source: ESA: Types of orbits: Low earth orbit

https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Space_Transportation/Types_of_orbit
 9.- Satellites

How do satellites measure??

Meteorological satellites equips mainly passive
sensors that capture multispectral radiation.

Solar short wave radiation is reflected by the

earth and atmosphere and is measured by
satellites. Also long wave radiation from the
earth reaches the satellites´ instruments.
Different greenhouse gases absorb radiation at
different wavelengths, so the amount of
radiation that reaches the satellite at different Earth energy Budget. Source [1]
wavelengths says something about the
composition of the atmosphere. Note that
different gasses may interfere: clouds (may
Transmission of shortwave solar
impede to study the NOx concentrations). irradiation and long wavelength
radiation from the Earth's surface
through atmosphere. Source: [2]

Source:
[1] NASA: What is Earth’s Energy Budget? Five Questions with a Guy Who Knows: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/langley/what-is-earth-s-energy-budget-five-
questions-with-a-guy-who-knows
[2] Peng-Sheng Wei et al. Absorption coefficient of water vapor across atmospheric troposphere layer.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844018327415#bib2
 9.- Satellites

Exercise on Satellites orbiting

1.- Visit http://stuffin.space/. You will be able to visualize the objects orbiting the earth, including both satellites
(identified as payload) and debris Or “DEB”. With such a huge number of satellite and debris orbiting, is it possible that
some of them crash with others? Answer:
- See this video; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiHY5dR5Jsg
Image of an Starlink “train” of
- Look for “Iridium 33” in stuffin.space. satellites from earth
2.- What are the main areas of concentration of the satellites. How is this related with the kind of orbits explained in the
previous slide?
3.- Look for the GOES satellites? Where are they located? Are their orbits similar to Meteosat family? Which country
launched them? Do you see any advantage from launching these families of satellites from spaceports situated near the
Ecuador (e.g. French Guiana)?
4.- Use the search function. Do you find any pattern for these two families in relation to their age? How is the orbit of
GOES 15 and 17 in relation to the older ones? Meteosat 10 and 11 in relation to 1, 2, 3, etc.? Why?
5.- Look for the Sentinels satellites. What is their orbiting pattern?
6.- Some of this satellites are flying in formation (e.g. Sentinel 1a &1b,) what is their relative position? Why are they flying
in this way?
7.- Look for the Galileo and Glonas satellites. Where are they orbiting? What kind of satellites are?
8.- Look for Starlink trains of satellites (you will not need the search function for that)? What orbit are they following?
What region are they avoiding? Why? Are they bellow or over the ISS? A computer-made image of
objects in Earth orbit currently
Sources being tracked.
[1] EURONEWS: Light pollution from SpaceX satellites may block view of stars, astronomers warn: Source: [2]
https://www.euronews.com/2019/05/29/light-pollution-from-spacex-satellites-may-block-view-of-stars-astronomers-warn
[2] NASA: Where Do Old Satellites Go When They Die?: https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/spacecraft-graveyard/en/
 9.- Satellites

Meteorological satellites: data access (1)

Usually, raw satellite information (level 1) need specialized processing to become
useful. Usable products are generally denominated as level 2 or level 3 products.
You can find this information in:

CM SAF: The Satellite Application Facility on Climate Monitoring develops,

generates, archives and distributes high-quality satellite-derived products of the
global energy & water cycle and related sustained services in support to
understand our climate. This source provides:

Operational Products:
• Cloud products
• Surface radiation products
• Radiation fluxes at the top of atmosphere
• Water vapour and temperature products

Climate Data Records

• Climate Data Records with DOI
• Cloud products CM SAF data portal. Source: [1]
• Surface radiation products
• Radiation fluxes at the top of atmosphere
• Water vapour and temperature products
• Miscellaneous
Source: [1] CM SAF data portal. https://wui.cmsaf.eu/safira/action/viewProduktSearch
 9.- Satellites

Meteorological satellites: data access (2).

The World Data Centre for Remote Sensing of the Atmosphere (WDC-RSAT) offers free and simplified access (in the sense of a
"one-stop shop") to a continuously growing collection of atmosphere-related satellite-based data sets and services. These data
holdings are available on-line and range from raw data collected by remote sensors to higher level data and information
products. You can check the list of the missions and sensors. There are several operational services for Air Quality Forecasting
and Monitoring, Stratospheric Ozone Monitoring, Solar Energy, etc, but some of them focus on Central Europe.

You can start exploring the Map-explorer, but one of the handiest ways of accessing data is the ftp server (under request).

GOME-2 (Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment-2 ) / MetOp: Latest data products. (Product status is "operational") on 24/01/20 [1]

Sources
[1] WDC-RSAT: GOME-2 (: https://wdc.dlr.de/sensors/gome2/
 9.- Satellites
Infographic of
the DIAS [2]
Meteorological satellites: data access (3).
Other sources of satellite data are:

• Copernicus Open Access Hub: (previously known as Sentinels Scientific

Data Hub) provides complete, free and open access to Sentinel-1,
Sentinel-2, Sentinel-3 and Sentinel-5P user products, starting from the In-
Orbit Commissioning Review (IOCR).
• Copernicus Data and Information Access Service (DIAS): five cloud-based
platforms providing centralised access to Copernicus data and
information, as well as to processing tools.
• Sentinel hub: Cloud api for satellite imagery. It also includes a nice
browser (EO Browser)
• And many more: Google Earth Engine, Open Data Cube (ODC), System for
Earth Observation Data Access, Processing and Analysis for Land EO Browser
Monitoring (SEPAL), openEO, JEODPP, and pipsCloud (see [5] for a from Sentinel
comparison). hub. Source [4]

Sources
[1] Copernicus Open Access Hub: https://scihub.copernicus.eu/
[2] DIAS: https://www.copernicus.eu/es/acceso-los-datos/dias
[3] The DIAS: User-friendly Access to Copernicus Data and Information: https://www.copernicus.eu/sites/default/files/Copernicus_DIAS_Factsheet_June2018.pdf
[4] Sentinel hub: EO Browser: https://apps.sentinel-hub.com/eo-browser/
[5] Vitor C. F. Gomes et al: An Overview of Platforms for Big Earth Observation Data Management and Analysis: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/12/8/1253/pdf
 9.- Satellites

Satellites´ summary
The main advantages and disadvantages of satellite data for atmospheric surface climate
data are:

Advantages:

-High spatial coverage (data for regions without ground stations are available) and
high spatial resolution.

-Data almost directly available.

Disadvantages: Example of the consideration of different sources for

studying the temperature: Land Surface temperature (LST)
derived from satellite observation and air temperature
-Time series from about the end of the 90’s until present. (AT) measured at ground stations. Source: [1]

-The satellite signal has to be translated into the desired climate variable. This
introduces additional uncertainties and ground observations are needed to make
this translation.

-Systematic disturbances in the signal due to the atmosphere.

Source:
[1] The Urban Heat Island Effect in the City of Valencia: A Case Study for Hot Summer
Days. https://www.mdpi.com/2413-8851/1/1/9/htm
 10.- Historical observations

Types of historical observations

The first daily time series start around 1850 but were still very scarce. From about 1950 on there was a much better coverage with weather
stations. The first climate data were recorded manually, but many have been digitalized by now.

Records of the climate before the start of the regular measurement around 1850 are scarce. Therefore, scientists have used other types of
information to estimate climate variables further back in time.

- Old shipping reports mentioning the weather at sea

- Corals can be used to estimate oceanic temperature and sea-level changes

- Tree-rings and ice-cores can be used to infer changes in temperature and precipitation.

- Boreholes

- Fire records, extreme events news, etc.

- Paleolimnology

- Pollen

- Etc.

Additional resources:
[1] NOAA: Paleo Data Search https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo-search/
 10.- Historical observations

Old records
Millions of (mainly wind) observations were made from ships in the late 19th and early 20th centuries or even earlier. Until recently they were
only available from paper logbooks, but gradually they are being digitized. Some of these have been included in the latest assessments of climate,
like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report. However, many more logbooks have yet to be included. Also, other written
reports, like farmers’ logs, travelers’ diaries and newspaper accounts can tell us something about past climates.

The original Beaufort logbook and scale (Sir Francis Daily record of pressure, temperatura, wind (and Picture of the Chimborazo flora by Alexander von
Beaufort,1805). Source: [1] captures) from a whaler (1948). Source: [2] Humboldt (1802). Source: [3]

Sources:
[1] WMO: Meteorology and Marine Transportation: https://public.wmo.int/en/bulletin/meteorology-and-marine-transportation
[2] The Verge: Why century-old ship logs are key to today’s climate research: https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/3/18528638/southern-weather-discovery-ship-
logs-climate-change
[3] El Pais: Un dibujo de Humboldt de hace 200 años prueba el cambio climático. https://elpais.com/elpais/2015/09/13/ciencia/1442177267_935134.html
 10.- Historical observations

Old records (2)

Datasets that extend back in time are key to validating

climate simulations; by measuring the outputs of computer
models against known past events, scientists can
understand how accurate they are at predicting what might
happen to our planet in the future. The Copernicus Climate
Change Service (C3S*) has been supporting the collection of
such historical data through its collaboration with the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s
National Centers for Environmental Information. A paper
summarize the first findings of this collaboration (see [2])

Location of land-based stations inventoried at each timescale

operational with at least one ECV during specific time slice
periods. Left panel: sub-daily stations [red dots], central
panel: daily stations [blue dots] and right panel: monthly
stations [black dots]. Source: [2]

Sources:
[1] C3S: New C3S service facilitates the collection of historical climate data https://climate.copernicus.eu/new-c3s-service-facilitates-collection-historical-climate-
data
[2] Simon Noone et al. (2020): Progress towards a holistic land and marine surface meteorological database and a call for additional contributions.
https://doi.org/10.1002/gdj3.109
 10.- Historical observations

Trees
Trees can live for hundreds—and sometimes even thousands—
of years (The methuselah trees of California are thought to be
almost 5,000 years old). Over this long lifetime, a tree can
experience a variety of environmental conditions: wet years, dry
years, cold years, hot years, early frosts, forest fires and more.

Tree rings can tell us something about the conditions the tree
grew in. For example, rings usually grow wider in warm, wet
years and they are thinner in years when it is cold and dry. If the
tree has experienced stressful conditions, such as a drought, the
tree might hardly grow at all in those years. Scientists can
compare modern trees with local measurements of temperature
and precipitation from the nearest weather station. Very old
trees can give information about the climate before regular
weather observations started.

Diagram showing how the color and width of tree rings can provide
snapshots of past climate conditions. Source: [1]

Additional references:
[1] NASA: Tree rings provide snapshots of Earth's past climate. https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2540/tree-rings-provide-snapshots-of-earths-
past-climate/
 10.- Historical observations

Like trees, corals produce

Corals annual rings that store a
record of past conditions.
Chemical analyses reveal
The way corals can tell us about past climates is comparable to tree rings. details about past
Like their land-based counterparts, corals add seasonal layers, which temperature, nutrient
appear as bands in their hard calcium-carbonate shells. Corals respond to availability, salinity, and
small changes in temperature, rainfall, and water clarity in a matter of other information. Source:
months, making them a uniquely sensitive climate record. [1]

Coral bands: Each of the light/dark bands in this x-ray of a cross-

section of a coral core formed during a year of growth. The surface of
the coral (grown most recently) is on the left, and older bands extend
Change in oxygen-18 isotopes measured in coral cores on Tarawa Island. The
to the right. (X-ray image courtesy Thomas Felis, Research Center. Southern Oscillation and The Southern Oscillation Index Source: [2]
Source: [2]

Sources
[1] NOAA: Picture Climate: How We Can Learn from Corals: https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/news/picture-climate-how-we-can-learn-corals
[2] NASA: Climate Close-up: Coral Reefs: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/features/Paleoclimatology_CloseUp/paleoclimatology_closeup_2.php
 10.- Historical observations

Ice cores (1)

In the polar regions and high in the mountains ice has accumulated from snowfall over many
millennia. Scientists drill out ice cores from these ice sheets or glaciers. Most ice core records
come from Antarctica and Greenland, and the longest ice cores extend to 3km in depth. The
oldest continuous ice core records to date extend 123,000 years in Greenland and 800,000 years
in Antarctica.
The dark band in this ice core from
the West Antarctic Ice Sheet Divide
(WAIS Divide) is a layer of volcanic
ash that settled on the ice sheet
approximately 21,000 years ago.
Source: [2]

The gradually increasing weight of overlying layers

compresses deeply buried snow into ice, but annual bands
remain. Relatively young and shallow snow becomes
packed into coarse and granular crystals called firn (top: 53
meters deep). Older and deeper snow is compacted
further (middle: 1,836 meters). At the bottom of a core
(lower: 3,050 meters), rocks, sand, and silt discolor the ice.
Source: [1]
Sources
[1] NASA earth Observatory: Paleoclimatology: The Ice Core Record: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/features/Paleoclimatology_IceCores
[2] Ice Core Facility: https://icecores.org/about-ice-cores
 10.- Historical observations

Ice cores (2)

The ice cores can provide an annual record of temperature, precipitation, atmospheric composition, volcanic activity, and wind patterns. In a
general sense, the thickness of each annual layer tells how much snow accumulated at that location during the year. The ice encloses small
bubbles of air that contain a sample of the atmosphere. From these it is possible to measure directly the past concentration of gases (including
carbon dioxide and methane) in the atmosphere.

Close-up of
Oxygen isotope ratio deuterium
(temperature proxy) (temperature
from the NorthGRIP proxy) and CO2
(Greenland) ice core from the EPICA
showing a sequence Dome C ice core
of rapid temperature over the warming
jumps. [1] from the last
glacial period. [1]

Sources
[1] https://www.bas.ac.uk/data/our-data/publication/ice-cores-and-climate-change/
 11.- River flow

River Flow
River flow is measured with very diverse techniques, but the most
common is the continuous measurement of heights upstream of a
hydraulic control or at another location where a unique height-flow
relationship can be established.

Periodic gauging is carried out on the entire range of flows that the river
can reach (in drought, medium water, and floods), mainly by exploring
the velocity fields in each section. Parshal type measurement channel [1]

In Spain the next sources o river flow may be consulted:

- Web pages of the hydrographic authorities (SAIHs)
- MITECO: Mapa de caudales máximos en régimen natural
- CEDEX: ANUARIO DE AFOROS. MODALIDADES DE CONSULTA.

System of
information for the
Fiche for station at
Ebro basin.
CEDEX database

Hydrometric reel and principle for gauging [2]

Sources
[1] FAO (1997): Medición sobre el Terreno de la Erosión del Suelo y de la Escorrentía. Capítulo 4: Caudal
[2] Enciclopedia of the environment: Hydrometry: measuring the flow rate of a river, why and how?
 12.- Homogenization

What is homogenization?
Meteorological time series may become inhomogeneous for
reasons such as
- relocations of stations and/or instruments,
- slow or abrupt changes in the environment (trees,
buildings, etc. in the surroundings, urban sprawl, etc.)
- changes in instruments and measurement practices
(Introduction of Automatic Weather Stations or new types
of instruments, Quality control and data recovery
procedures)…
A hundred years long wind data series from an
For climate change and variability studies, it is important to official rural station (Canterbury,
deal with these potential sources of New Zealand) spoiled by gradual changes in
inhomogeneities and obtain homogenized datasets. The aim surroundings (Source:[1])
of climate data homogenization is to adjust climate records, if
necessary, to remove non-climatic factors so that the temporal
variations in the adjusted data reflect only the variations due Template proposed by the Commission
to climate processes. on Instruments and Methods of
Observation for documenting station
location. Source [1]

Additional references:
[1] WMO: Guidelines On Climate Metadata And Homogenization
[2] WMO: Climate data homogenization
 12.- Homogenization

What is homogenization?
Homogenisation is only one step in the processing of climate data. Previous steps influence the quality of the
homogenization. Before homogenising a dataset it is important to know how the variable was measured historically
throughout the network and what happened with the stations.
All this should be taking into account in the subsequent validation and climate data analysis.

There are different approaches, but generally, the main goal is to identify the “breaks” and comparison with
reference stations is the key approach.

An example of unrepresentative data before a

change. At Gayndah, Australia (blue line), the
screen deteriorated progressively after 1940,
before it was replaced in October 1945. The
maximum temperature difference (green line)
between Gayndah and the mean of three
reference sites, Dalby, Brisbane and Emerald
(red line), increased from 1.0°C to about 1.5°C
in the years before the screen change, before
dropping to 0.7°C after the change. Source [1]
Overall process from
data rescue to climate
analysis. Source [1]

Sources:
[1] Victor Venema et al. (2018): Guidance on the homogenisation of climate station data: https://osf.io/preprints/eartharxiv/8qzrf/download
 12.- Homogenization

How do we approach the homogenization?

Even small changes in the configuration of the stations, may affect the measurements. In this cases is important to detect “break points” in the
series, something that is not always possible (e.g. changes in the shelter, in the procedure for calculating mean temperature, installation of new
equipment's, etc.). However, one of the most typical case of inhomogeneity is urban heat island, vegetation growth, etc. and sometimes, we
should think on trends.

Long-term trends in the number of summer (JJA) tropical Three meteorological shelters next to each
nights (daily minimum temperature > 20 ºC) at Madrid- other in Murcia (Spain), employed to study
Retiro and Torrejón de Ardoz. Source [2] the influence of changes in measurement
techniques. Source [1]

Additional references:
[1] Kevin Cowtan (2015): Homogenization of Temperature Data An Assessment
[2] Domingo Rasilla et al. (2019): Heat Waves and Human Well-Being in Madrid (Spain)
[3] Manola Brunet et al. (unknown): A case-study/guidance on the development of long-term daily adjusted temperature datasets
 12.- Homogenization

How do we approach homogenization?

The date of the changes that affects the measurements are often documented (called meta data: data about data), but not always. Meta data is
often only available in the local language.

But, sometimes, changes are not recorded. For this reason, many studies homogenize time series before calculating trends and variability.
Homogenization is then mostly done in a statistical way by calculating corrections from mutual comparisons of stations (relative homogenization).

Question: now that you know almost all sources of meteorological observations, think for 5 minutes how Coronavirus crisis may
affect it and write 3 activities that may be reduced. Then read this article from WMO: COVID-19 impacts observing system
https://public.wmo.int/en/media/press-release/covid-19-impacts-observing-system. Is this a source of inhomogeneities ?

Additional references:
[1] Wikipedia: Homogenization (climate), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homogenization_(climate)
[2] T. Brandsma De Bilt : KNMI (2016): Homogenization of daily temperature data of the five principal stations in the Netherlands (version
1.0)http://publicaties.minienm.nl/documenten/homogenization-of-daily-temperature-data-of-the-five-principal-stations-in-the-netherlands-version-1-0
 13.- Climate data sources

Precipitation and
temperatura anomalies
National services from REDIAM [2]

If you need climate data, the first source to look for are national
meteorological services ( AEMET in SpainUK metOffice in UK,
MeteoFrance in France, etc. )

Regions, states, and other subnational entities also provided important

data. In Spain, Galicia, Catalonia and the Basque Country, with
operational meteorological services, are an important source of data,
but also others.

Check also the Air Quality monitoring networks (they also monitor
temperature, precipitation, etc.) operated by municipalities and regions.

Hydrological information could be provided by the national

meteorological service (e.g. Inamhi – Ecuador, SMHI –Suecia, etc.) or
basin authorities (hidrolographic confederations in Spain)

Marine observations usually are provided by an independent source:

Puertos del Estado in Spain, NOAA in USA, etc.

Additional information:
[1] AEMET: AEMET OpenData. Different sections of the OpenData portal, by Aemet [1]
[2] Junta de Andalucía: Red de Informacion Ambiental de Andalucía
 13.- Climate data sources

KNMI climate explorer

The KNMI climate explorer, now is available at the WMO web site, is a growing and very extensive catalogue of data including:
- Meteorological station data (Daily data, Daily climate indices, Monthly station data, Monthly climate indices, Annual climate indices, etc.)
- Gridded observations like: HadCRUT5, etc
- Reanalysis,
- Seasonal forecasts
- Long term projections: CMIP3. CMIP5, CMIP6, Cordex,
- Etc.
- Other: Ozone, length of day, currents, sunspots….

It is also possible to upload your time series an visualize them.

Allows to perform interesting operations as:
Compare different time series. Daily sunspots as an example of the diverse types of
information that is included in the KNMI explorer.
Filters (running means) https://climexp.knmi.nl/getindices.cgi?WMO=SIDCData/sunspo
Combine with another timeseries to form a (normalised) index ts_daily&STATION=sunspots&TYPE=i&id=someone@somewher
Mask out: Mask out based on another time series e&NPERYEAR=366]
Extend: Extend with another time series
Noise: Make 100 random series with the same mean, variance and autocorrelation

It is very powerful but designed for expert users. It is not very intuitive and requires training,

Additional information:
[1] ECA&D: https://climexp.knmi.nl/start.cgi
 13.- Climate data sources

Climdex
This portal focus on climate indices of observed and modelled climate extremes.

Main
functionalities of
Climdex [1]

List of the 27
ETCCDI Climate
indexes.
Source:[3]

Datasets hosted
in Climdex [1]

Sources:
[1] Climdex consortium: Climdex.
[2] Climdex: Indices
[3] Paula J. Brown et al. (2010) Changes in Extreme Climate
Indices for the Northeastern United States, 1870-2005.
 13.- Climate data sources

NOAA: One Stop and Climate Data Online

NOAA´s One Stop provides:

- Data about weather, climate, satellites, fisheries, coast, oceans

- Tools for extracting data, search on inventories, etc.

The Climate Data Online provides free access to NCDC's archive of global historical weather and
climate data in addition to station history information. GHRSST Level 4 G1SST Global Foundation Sea Surface
Temperature Analysis: Sea Surface Temperature (kelvin)
- Daily Summaries,
- Global Marine Data,
- Global Summary of the Month/Year
- Local Climatological Data, Normals (Annual /Seasonal/Monthly/Daily/Hourly)
- Historical Precipitation 15 Minute / Hourly
- Weather Radar (different levels of processing)

Land information is restricted to USA, but indexes, satellite and marine information is
worldwide in some cases.

NOAA Climate Data Record (CDR) of Atmospheric Layer

Additional information:
Temperatures, Version 3.3
[1] NOAA One stop: https://data.noaa.gov/onestop/
[2[ NOAA: Climate Data Online: https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cdo-web/
 13.- Climate data sources

Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S)

The C3S provide authoritative information about the past, present and future climate, as well as tools to enable
climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies by policy makers and businesses.
- Climate datasets:
- Climate products
- Reanalysis (ERA5, ERA5-land, etc.
- Gridded observations (E-OBS)
- Seasonal forecasts (multimodel one-stop-shop)
- Climate projections
- Impact indicators
- Practical examples of the use of
- Sectorial impacts: Sectorial Information Systems
- Tools for using climate data
- Demo and Business cases
- Tools:
- Toolbox
- Applications
- Climate bulletins
- Training
- Quality control and assurance
- Etc. Concept of the Climate Data Store. Source: [1]

Additional information: [1] ECMWF: C3S: https://climate.copernicus.eu/

Thank you!

Please, don´t hesitate to contact us:

Jorge Paz: jorge.paz@tecnalia.com