Thorne, Peter, Menne, M.J., Williams Jr., C.N., Rennie, J.J., Lawrimore, Jay, Vose, R.S., Peterson, Thomas C., Durre, I., Davy, R., Esau, I., Klein-Tank, A.M.G. and Merlone, A. (2016) Reassessing changes in diurnal temperature range: A new data set and characterization of data biases. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 121. pp. 5115-5135. ISSN 2169-8996
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Abstract
It has been a decade since changes in diurnal temperature range (DTR) globally have been
assessed in a stand-alone data analysis. The present study takes advantage of substantively improved
basic data holdings arising from the International Surface Temperature Initiative’s databank effort and
applies the National Centers for Environmental Information’s automated pairwise homogeneity assessment
algorithm to reassess DTR records. It is found that breakpoints are more prevalent in DTR than other
temperature elements and that the resulting adjustments have a broader distribution. This strongly implies
that there is an overarching tendency, across the global meteorological networks, for nonclimatic artifacts to
impart either random or anticorrelated rather than correlated biases in maximum and minimum temperature
series. Future homogenization efforts would likely benefit from simultaneous consideration of DTR and
maximum and minimum temperatures, in addition to average temperatures. Estimates of change in DTR are
relatively insensitive to whether adjustments are calculated directly or inferred from adjustments returned
for the maximum and minimum temperature series. The homogenized series exhibit a reduction in DTR
since the midtwentieth century globally (-0.044 K/decade). Adjustments serve to approximately halve the
long-term global reduction in DTR in the basic “raw” data. Most of the estimated DTR reduction occurred over
1960–1980. In several regions DTR has apparently increased over 1979–2012, while globally it has exhibited
very little change (-0.016 K/decade). Estimated changes in DTR are an order of magnitude smaller than in
maximum and minimum temperatures, which have both been increasing rapidly on multidecadal timescales
(0.186 K/decade and 0.236 K/decade, respectively, since the midtwentieth century).
Item Type: | Article |
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Keywords: | diurnal temperature range; homogeneity; trends; |
Academic Unit: | Faculty of Social Sciences > Geography Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Institutes > Irish Climate Analysis and Research Units, ICARUS |
Item ID: | 8966 |
Identification Number: | 10.1002/2015JD024583 |
Depositing User: | Peter Thorne |
Date Deposited: | 07 Nov 2017 14:46 |
Journal or Publication Title: | Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres |
Publisher: | American Geophysical Union (AGU) |
Refereed: | Yes |
Related URLs: | |
URI: | https://mu.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/8966 |
Use Licence: | This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here |
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