Articles | Volume 19, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
03 Jan 2023
Research article |
| 03 Jan 2023
| 03 Jan 2023
Reassessing long-standing meteorological records: an example using the national hottest day in Ireland
Katherine Dooley
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Irish Climate Analysis and Research UnitS (ICARUS), Maynooth
University, Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland
Environmental Protection Agency, P.O. Box 3000, Johnstown Castle Estate, County Wexford, Y35 W821, Ireland
Ciaran Kelly
Irish Climate Analysis and Research UnitS (ICARUS), Maynooth
University, Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland
Natascha Seifert
Irish Climate Analysis and Research UnitS (ICARUS), Maynooth
University, Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland
Therese Myslinski
Irish Climate Analysis and Research UnitS (ICARUS), Maynooth
University, Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland
Sophie O'Kelly
Irish Climate Analysis and Research UnitS (ICARUS), Maynooth
University, Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland
Rushna Siraj
Irish Climate Analysis and Research UnitS (ICARUS), Maynooth
University, Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland
Ciara Crosby
Irish Climate Analysis and Research UnitS (ICARUS), Maynooth
University, Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland
Jack Kevin Dunne
Irish Climate Analysis and Research UnitS (ICARUS), Maynooth
University, Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland
Kate McCauley
Irish Climate Analysis and Research UnitS (ICARUS), Maynooth
University, Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland
James Donoghue
Irish Climate Analysis and Research UnitS (ICARUS), Maynooth
University, Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland
Eoin Gaddren
Irish Climate Analysis and Research UnitS (ICARUS), Maynooth
University, Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland
Daniel Conway
Irish Climate Analysis and Research UnitS (ICARUS), Maynooth
University, Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland
Jordan Cooney
Irish Climate Analysis and Research UnitS (ICARUS), Maynooth
University, Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland
Niamh McCarthy
Irish Climate Analysis and Research UnitS (ICARUS), Maynooth
University, Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland
Eoin Cullen
Irish Climate Analysis and Research UnitS (ICARUS), Maynooth
University, Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland
Simon Noone
Irish Climate Analysis and Research UnitS (ICARUS), Maynooth
University, Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland
Conor Murphy
Irish Climate Analysis and Research UnitS (ICARUS), Maynooth
University, Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland
Peter Thorne
Irish Climate Analysis and Research UnitS (ICARUS), Maynooth
University, Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland
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Louise J. Slater, Louise Arnal, Marie-Amélie Boucher, Annie Y.-Y. Chang, Simon Moulds, Conor Murphy, Grey Nearing, Guy Shalev, Chaopeng Shen, Linda Speight, Gabriele Villarini, Robert L. Wilby, Andrew Wood, and Massimiliano Zappa
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Amin Shoari Nejad, Andrew C. Parnell, Alice Greene, Peter Thorne, Brian P. Kelleher, Robert J. N. Devoy, and Gerard McCarthy
Ocean Sci., 18, 511–522, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-18-511-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-18-511-2022, 2022
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Samuel O. Awe, Martin Mahony, Edley Michaud, Conor Murphy, Simon J. Noone, Victor K. C. Venema, Thomas G. Thorne, and Peter W. Thorne
Clim. Past, 18, 793–820, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-793-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-793-2022, 2022
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We unearth and analyse 2 decades of highly valuable measurements made on Mauritius at the Royal Alfred Observatory, where several distinct thermometer combinations were in use and compared, at the turn of the 20th century. This series provides unique insights into biases in early instrumental temperature records. Differences are substantial and for some instruments exhibit strong seasonality. This reinforces the critical importance of understanding early instrumental series biases.
Hadush Meresa, Conor Murphy, Rowan Fealy, and Saeed Golian
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 5237–5257, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-5237-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-5237-2021, 2021
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Seán Donegan, Conor Murphy, Shaun Harrigan, Ciaran Broderick, Dáire Foran Quinn, Saeed Golian, Jeff Knight, Tom Matthews, Christel Prudhomme, Adam A. Scaife, Nicky Stringer, and Robert L. Wilby
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 4159–4183, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-4159-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-4159-2021, 2021
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We benchmarked the skill of ensemble streamflow prediction (ESP) for a diverse sample of 46 Irish catchments. We found that ESP is skilful in the majority of catchments up to several months ahead. However, the level of skill was strongly dependent on lead time, initialisation month, and individual catchment location and storage properties. We also conditioned ESP with the winter North Atlantic Oscillation and show that improvements in forecast skill, reliability, and discrimination are possible.
Louise J. Slater, Bailey Anderson, Marcus Buechel, Simon Dadson, Shasha Han, Shaun Harrigan, Timo Kelder, Katie Kowal, Thomas Lees, Tom Matthews, Conor Murphy, and Robert L. Wilby
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 3897–3935, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-3897-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-3897-2021, 2021
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Weather and water extremes have devastating effects each year. One of the principal challenges for society is understanding how extremes are likely to evolve under the influence of changes in climate, land cover, and other human impacts. This paper provides a review of the methods and challenges associated with the detection, attribution, management, and projection of nonstationary weather and water extremes.
Fabio Madonna, Emanuele Tramutola, Souleymane Sy, Federico Serva, Monica Proto, Marco Rosoldi, Simone Gagliardi, Francesco Amato, Fabrizio Marra, Alessandro Fassò, Tom Gardiner, and Peter William Thorne
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Revised manuscript not accepted
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In situ measurements, including radiosonde observations, are key for the study of climate. However, observations are more often than not influenced by instrumental effects which must be adjusted prior to their usage.
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Ruud J. Dirksen, Greg E. Bodeker, Peter W. Thorne, Andrea Merlone, Tony Reale, Junhong Wang, Dale F. Hurst, Belay B. Demoz, Tom D. Gardiner, Bruce Ingleby, Michael Sommer, Christoph von Rohden, and Thierry Leblanc
Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst., 9, 337–355, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-9-337-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-9-337-2020, 2020
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This paper describes GRUAN's strategy for a network-wide change of the operational radiosonde from Vaisala RS92 to RS41. GRUAN's main goal is to provide long-term data records that are free of inhomogeneities due to instrumental effects, which requires proper change management. The approach is to fully characterize differences between the two radiosonde types using laboratory tests, twin soundings, and ancillary data, as well as by drawing from the various fields of expertise available in GRUAN.
Fabio Madonna, Rigel Kivi, Jean-Charles Dupont, Bruce Ingleby, Masatomo Fujiwara, Gonzague Romanens, Miguel Hernandez, Xavier Calbet, Marco Rosoldi, Aldo Giunta, Tomi Karppinen, Masami Iwabuchi, Shunsuke Hoshino, Christoph von Rohden, and Peter William Thorne
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Radiosondes are one of the primary sources of upper-air data for weather and climate monitoring. In the last two decades, technological progress made available automated radiosonde launchers (ARLs), which are able to replace measurements typically performed manually. This work presents a comparative analysis of the technical performance of the ARLs currently available on the market and contribute to define a strategy to achieve the full traceability of the ARL products.
Simon Noone, Alison Brody, Sasha Brown, Niamh Cantwell, Martha Coleman, Louise Sarsfield Collins, Caoilfhionn Darcy, Dick Dee, Seán Donegan, Rowan Fealy, Padraig Flattery, Rhonda McGovern, Caspar Menkman, Michael Murphy, Christopher Phillips, Martina Roche, and Peter Thorne
Geosci. Commun., 2, 157–171, https://doi.org/10.5194/gc-2-157-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/gc-2-157-2019, 2019
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The Global Land and Marine Observations Database aims to produce a comprehensive land-based meteorological data archive and inventory. Data sources contained stations in incorrect locations; therefore, we developed the Geo-locate project, enlisting the help of undergraduate geography students. The project has resolved 1926 station issues so far. Due to the success of the Geo-locate project, we encourage other organizations to engage university students to help resolve similar data issues.
Conor Murphy, Ciaran Broderick, Timothy P. Burt, Mary Curley, Catriona Duffy, Julia Hall, Shaun Harrigan, Tom K. R. Matthews, Neil Macdonald, Gerard McCarthy, Mark P. McCarthy, Donal Mullan, Simon Noone, Timothy J. Osborn, Ciara Ryan, John Sweeney, Peter W. Thorne, Seamus Walsh, and Robert L. Wilby
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This work reconstructs a continuous 305-year rainfall record for Ireland. The series reveals remarkable variability in decadal rainfall – far in excess of the typical period of digitised data. Notably, the series sheds light on exceptionally wet winters in the 1730s and wet summers in the 1750s. The derived record, one of the longest continuous series in Europe, offers a firm basis for benchmarking other long-term records and reconstructions of past climate both locally and across Europe.
Peter W. Thorne, Fabio Madonna, Joerg Schulz, Tim Oakley, Bruce Ingleby, Marco Rosoldi, Emanuele Tramutola, Antti Arola, Matthias Buschmann, Anna C. Mikalsen, Richard Davy, Corinne Voces, Karin Kreher, Martine De Maziere, and Gelsomina Pappalardo
Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst., 6, 453–472, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-6-453-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-6-453-2017, 2017
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The term system-of-systems with respect to observational capabilities is frequently used, but what does it mean and how can it be assessed? Here, we define one possible interpretation of a system-of-systems architecture that is based upon demonstrable aspects of observing capabilities. We develop a set of assessment strands and then apply these to a set of atmospheric observational networks to decide which observations may be suitable for characterising satellite platforms in future work.
Hélène Brogniez, Stephen English, Jean-François Mahfouf, Andreas Behrendt, Wesley Berg, Sid Boukabara, Stefan Alexander Buehler, Philippe Chambon, Antonia Gambacorta, Alan Geer, William Ingram, E. Robert Kursinski, Marco Matricardi, Tatyana A. Odintsova, Vivienne H. Payne, Peter W. Thorne, Mikhail Yu. Tretyakov, and Junhong Wang
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Because a systematic difference between measurements of water vapor performed by space-borne observing instruments in the microwave spectral domain and their numerical modeling was recently highlighted, this work discusses and gives an overview of the various errors and uncertainties associated with each element in the comparison process. Indeed, the knowledge of absolute errors in any observation of the climate system is key, more specifically because we need to detect small changes.
K. M. Willett, R. J. H. Dunn, P. W. Thorne, S. Bell, M. de Podesta, D. E. Parker, P. D. Jones, and C. N. Williams Jr.
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We have developed HadISDH, a new gridded global land monthly mean climate montitoring product for humidity and temperature from 1973 to then end of 2013 (updated annually) based entirely on in situ observations. Uncertainty estimates are provided. Over the period of record significant warming and increases in water vapour have taken place. The specific humidity trends have slowed since a peak in 1998 concurrent with decreasing relative humidity from 2000 onwards.
K. Willett, C. Williams, I. T. Jolliffe, R. Lund, L. V. Alexander, S. Brönnimann, L. A. Vincent, S. Easterbrook, V. K. C. Venema, D. Berry, R. E. Warren, G. Lopardo, R. Auchmann, E. Aguilar, M. J. Menne, C. Gallagher, Z. Hausfather, T. Thorarinsdottir, and P. W. Thorne
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Related subject area
Subject: Atmospheric Dynamics | Archive: Historical Records | Timescale: Centennial-Decadal
Extreme historical droughts and floods in the Hanjiang River Basin, China, since 1426
Influence of warming and atmospheric circulation changes on multidecadal European flood variability
Assimilating monthly precipitation data in a paleoclimate data assimilation framework
Historical droughts in the Qing dynasty (1644–1911) of China
Impact of different estimations of the background-error covariance matrix on climate reconstructions based on data assimilation
Causes of increased flood frequency in central Europe in the 19th century
A 305-year continuous monthly rainfall series for the island of Ireland (1711–2016)
Changes in the strength and width of the Hadley Circulation since 1871
Ecosystem effects of CO2 concentration: evidence from past climates
Xiaodan Zhang, Guoyu Ren, Yuda Yang, He Bing, Zhixin Hao, and Panfeng Zhang
Clim. Past, 18, 1775–1796, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-1775-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-1775-2022, 2022
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Applying yearly drought and flood records from historical documents and precipitation data in the period of instrumental measurements, this study constructs a time series of extreme droughts and floods in the Hanjiang River Basin from 1426–2017 and analyzes the temporal and spatial characteristics of the extreme drought and flood event variations.
Stefan Brönnimann, Peter Stucki, Jörg Franke, Veronika Valler, Yuri Brugnara, Ralf Hand, Laura C. Slivinski, Gilbert P. Compo, Prashant D. Sardeshmukh, Michel Lang, and Bettina Schaefli
Clim. Past, 18, 919–933, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-919-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-919-2022, 2022
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Floods in Europe vary on time scales of several decades. Flood-rich and flood-poor periods alternate. Recently floods have again become more frequent. Long time series of peak stream flow, precipitation, and atmospheric variables reveal that until around 1980, these changes were mostly due to changes in atmospheric circulation. However, in recent decades the role of increasing atmospheric moisture due to climate warming has become more important and is now the main driver of flood changes.
Veronika Valler, Yuri Brugnara, Jörg Franke, and Stefan Brönnimann
Clim. Past, 16, 1309–1323, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-1309-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-1309-2020, 2020
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Data assimilation is becoming more and more important for past climate reconstructions. The assimilation of monthly resolved precipitation information has not been explored much so far. In this study we analyze the impact of assimilating monthly precipitation amounts and the number of wet days within an existing paleoclimate data assimilation framework. We find increased skill in the reconstruction, suggesting that monthly precipitation can constitute valuable input for future reconstructions.
Kuan-Hui Elaine Lin, Pao K. Wang, Pi-Ling Pai, Yu-Shiuan Lin, and Chih-Wei Wang
Clim. Past, 16, 911–931, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-911-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-911-2020, 2020
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This study reconstructs drought chronologies of the Qing dynasty (1644–1911) based on Chinese documentary records from the REACHES database. In addition to drought records, ecological and societal records are also retrieved. Tests are performed to cross-check data and time series. Six severe drought periods are identified, and spatial patterns are revealed through multivariable analysis. Drought consequence networks are built highlighting human intervention affecting famine and social turmoil.
Veronika Valler, Jörg Franke, and Stefan Brönnimann
Clim. Past, 15, 1427–1441, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-1427-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-1427-2019, 2019
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In recent years, the data assimilation approach was adapted to the field of paleoclimatology to reconstruct past climate fields by combining model simulations and observations.
To improve the performance of our paleodata assimilation system, we tested various techniques that are well established in weather forecasting and evaluated their impact on assimilating instrumental data and proxy records (tree rings).
Stefan Brönnimann, Luca Frigerio, Mikhaël Schwander, Marco Rohrer, Peter Stucki, and Jörg Franke
Clim. Past, 15, 1395–1409, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-1395-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-1395-2019, 2019
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During the 19th century flood frequency was high in central Europe, but it was low in the mid-20th century. This paper tracks these decadal changes in flood frequency for the case of Switzerland from peak discharge data back to precipitation data and daily weather reconstructions. We find an increased frequency in flood-prone weather types during large parts of the 19th century and decreased frequency in the mid-20th century. Sea-surface temperature anomalies can only explain a small part of it.
Conor Murphy, Ciaran Broderick, Timothy P. Burt, Mary Curley, Catriona Duffy, Julia Hall, Shaun Harrigan, Tom K. R. Matthews, Neil Macdonald, Gerard McCarthy, Mark P. McCarthy, Donal Mullan, Simon Noone, Timothy J. Osborn, Ciara Ryan, John Sweeney, Peter W. Thorne, Seamus Walsh, and Robert L. Wilby
Clim. Past, 14, 413–440, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-413-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-413-2018, 2018
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This work reconstructs a continuous 305-year rainfall record for Ireland. The series reveals remarkable variability in decadal rainfall – far in excess of the typical period of digitised data. Notably, the series sheds light on exceptionally wet winters in the 1730s and wet summers in the 1750s. The derived record, one of the longest continuous series in Europe, offers a firm basis for benchmarking other long-term records and reconstructions of past climate both locally and across Europe.
J. Liu, M. Song, Y. Hu, and X. Ren
Clim. Past, 8, 1169–1175, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-8-1169-2012, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-8-1169-2012, 2012
I. C. Prentice and S. P. Harrison
Clim. Past, 5, 297–307, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-5-297-2009, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-5-297-2009, 2009
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Short summary
The highest currently recognised air temperature (33.3 °C) ever recorded in the Republic of Ireland was logged at Kilkenny Castle in 1887. This paper reassesses the plausibility of the record using various methods such as inter-station reassessment and 20CRv3 reanalysis. As a result, Boora 1976 at 32.5 °C is presented as a more reliable high-temperature record for the Republic of Ireland. The final decision however rests with the national meteorological service, Met Éireann.
The highest currently recognised air temperature (33.3 °C) ever recorded in the Republic of...
