Extended Abstract (1.5M)J2.4
The Effect of Sensor Placement on Climatological Records
Sean Sublette, WSET Television, Lynchburg, VA
Since the Automated Surface Observation System (ASOS) was commissioned in Lynchburg, Virginia (KLYH) on 1 August 1996, subjective evidence suggests a cold bias in surface temperature observations at that site during ideal radiational cooling conditions (clear sky, low dewpoints, light wind). Since the time of commissioning, the record low temperature has been matched or broken more than one hundred times.
Analysis of corresponding temperature data at the nearby first-order sites of Roanoke (KROA) and Danville (KDAN) show no such anomaly, suggesting there is not a synoptic reasoning for the observed cooling at KLYH. During non-radiational cooling events, the ASOS temperature is in good agreement with the surrounding temperature field, further suggesting microscale processes are dominating at the observation site.
This anomaly, as a result, may significantly impact the station's climatological record. A further analysis of the climatolgoical temperature record and geographic placement of the ASOS will attempt to asses the effects of this anomaly on the climate record of the station.
Joint Session 2, Communicating Climate Information to and through the Broadcast Community (Joint between the 35th Conference on Broadcast Meteorology and the 16th Conference on Applied Climatology)
Monday, 15 January 2007, 4:00 PM-5:30 PM, 205
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