Recent changes in thermometer design and their impact

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Recent changes to thennometer screen design and a heightened awareness of global climate changes have focused the mind of the meteorological world, in particular climatologists, on the effects these changes are bringing about. There is concern that any changes that take place could influence the homogeneity of the temperature records. The purpose of this report is to examine the recent published work on instrument screens, intercomparisons and theoretical studies and to make recommendations on how to proceed with ensuring continuity in the meteorological records. The practice of temperature screen intercomparison is not new. The first reference documented, and probably the first coordinated study was perfonned in the grounds of Strathfield Turgiss (now known as Stratfield Turgis in southern England) by the Reverend C.H. Griffith F.M.S. 'Who himself kindly undertook the laborious task of conducting the observations, consisting of readings of all of the instruments at 9 a.m., 3 p.m. and 9 p.m., from November 1868 to April 1870 inclusive, broken only by an absence of one month in January 1870: (Gaster 1882) Throughout this report a 'Stevenson screen' will be referred to several times; this is to be read as the country's standard size, louvered, often wooden thennometer enclosure. It is acknowledged that some countries, such as Iceland will not use such a screen as their standard because of the climate.

Collection(s) and Series: WMO/TD- No. 871; IOM Report- No. 66

Language(s): English

Tags: Hydrometeorological instrument ; Instruments and Methods of Observation Programme (IMOP) Add tag