The observational climate record is a cornerstone of our scientific understanding of climate changes and their potential causes. Existing observing networks have been designed largely in support of operational weather forecasting and continue to be run in this mode. Coverage and timeliness are often higher priorities than absolute traceability and accuracy. Changes in instrumentation used in the observing system, as well as in operating procedures, are frequent, rarely adequately documented and their impacts poorly quantified. For monitoring changes in upper-air climate, which is achieved through in-situ soundings and more recently satellites and ground-based remote sensing, the net result has been trend uncertainties as large as, or larger than, the expected emergent signals of climate change. This is more than simply academic with the tropospheric temperature trends issue having been the subject of intense debate, two international assessment reports and several US congressional hearings. For more than a decade the international climate science community has been calling for the instigation of a network of reference quality measurements to reduce uncertainty in our climate monitoring capabilities. This paper provides a brief history of GRUAN developments to date and outlines future plans. Such reference networks can only be achieved and maintained with strong continuing input from the global metrological community.
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11 September 2013
TEMPERATURE: ITS MEASUREMENT AND CONTROL IN SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY, VOLUME 8: Proceedings of the Ninth International Temperature Symposium
19–23 March 2012
Los Angeles, California
Research Article|
September 11 2013
GCOS reference upper air network (GRUAN): Steps towards assuring future climate records
P. W. Thorne;
P. W. Thorne
Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center, Bergen,
Norway
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H. Vömel;
H. Vömel
DWD Lindenberg Meteorological Observatory, Lindenberg,
Germany
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G. Bodeker;
G. Bodeker
Bodeker Scientific, Alexandra, Central Otago,
New Zealand
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M. Sommer;
M. Sommer
DWD Lindenberg Meteorological Observatory, Lindenberg,
Germany
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F. Berger;
F. Berger
DWD Lindenberg Meteorological Observatory, Lindenberg,
Germany
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S. Bojinski;
S. Bojinski
World Meteorological Organization, Geneva,
Switzerland
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G. Braathen;
G. Braathen
World Meteorological Organization, Geneva,
Switzerland
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H. J. Diamond;
H. J. Diamond
NOAA's National Climatic Data Center, Asheville, NC,
USA
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J. Dykema;
J. Dykema
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA,
USA
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T. Gardiner;
T. Gardiner
National Physical Laboratory,
United Kingdom
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D. Hurst;
D. Hurst
NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder, CO,
USA
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T. Leblanc;
T. Leblanc
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of technology, Wrightwood, CA,
USA
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F. Madonna;
F. Madonna
Istituto di Metodologie per l'Analisi Ambientale - CNR, Potenza,
Italy
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A. Merlone;
A. Merlone
Istitutio Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica, Torino,
Italy
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A. Mikalsen;
A. Mikalsen
GCOS Secretariat, World Meteorological Organization, Geneva,
Switzerland
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C. D. Miller;
C. D. Miller
NOAA Office of Global Programs, Silver Spring, MD,
USA
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T. Reale;
T. Reale
NOAA Center for Satellite Applications and Research, Suitland, MD,
USA
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K. Rannat;
K. Rannat
Tallin University of Technology, Tallinn,
Estonia
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C. Richter;
C. Richter
GCOS Secretariat, World Meteorological Organization, Geneva,
Switzerland
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D. J. Seidel;
D. J. Seidel
NOAA Air Resources Laboratory, Silver Spring, MD,
USA
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D. Sisterson;
D. Sisterson
Environmental Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois,
USA
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D. G. H. Tan;
D. G. H. Tan
European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts, Reading,
United Kingdom
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R. S. Vose;
R. S. Vose
NOAA's National Climatic Data Center, Asheville, NC,
USA
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J. Voyles;
J. Voyles
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory,
USA
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J. Wang;
J. Wang
National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO,
USA
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D. N. Whiteman;
D. N. Whiteman
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD,
USA
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S. Williams
S. Williams
National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO,
USA
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AIP Conf. Proc. 1552, 1042–1047 (2013)
Citation
P. W. Thorne, H. Vömel, G. Bodeker, M. Sommer, A. Apituley, F. Berger, S. Bojinski, G. Braathen, B. Calpini, B. Demoz, H. J. Diamond, J. Dykema, A. Fassò, M. Fujiwara, T. Gardiner, D. Hurst, T. Leblanc, F. Madonna, A. Merlone, A. Mikalsen, C. D. Miller, T. Reale, K. Rannat, C. Richter, D. J. Seidel, M. Shiotani, D. Sisterson, D. G. H. Tan, R. S. Vose, J. Voyles, J. Wang, D. N. Whiteman, S. Williams; GCOS reference upper air network (GRUAN): Steps towards assuring future climate records. AIP Conf. Proc. 11 September 2013; 1552 (1): 1042–1047. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4821421
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