To simplify and consolidate
Until recently, ClimateExplorer was sourcing temperature and precipitation data for locations from multiple sources. We started ClimateExplorer by using data from Australian Climate Observations Reference Network – Surface Air Temperature (ACORN-SAT). It expanded to include Remote Islands and Antarctica and to New Zealand's 7-station series and 11-station series from the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA). Adding these locations, one country at a time, didn't seem like a very scalable approach, but I was yet to find a suitable collated global dataset.
Read more →Global Historical Climatology Network daily
After we added The rest of the world (i.e., adding sites from around the world, sourced from Global Historical Climatology Network monthly (GHCNm)), I thought it would be worthwhile to acquire the daily data for those sites from the Global Historical Climatology Network daily (GHCNd).
Read more →ACORN-SAT version 2.5
ACORN-SAT 2.5 was released in August 2024. This release includes temperature data until the end of 2023. ClimateExplorer has been updated to this dataset.
Read more →The rest of the world
In 2023 ClimateExplorer had temperature records for Australia, New Zealand and the UK. We wanted to add temperature records from all around the world. Finding a dataset that fitted our requirements wasn't easy. Below are the required criteria.
Read more →What's up with temperature anomalies?
An anomaly is anything that is not normal. In science and mathematics, series of related numbers can be compared to discover anomalies within the series. To calculate a climate anomaly, we need to first decide what is "normal". Climate scientists have decided that any 30-year average of weather (i.e., average temperatures, rainfall or other phenomena) to be a sufficiently long enough period of time to use as a basis for a climatological normal (see previous blog entry for more). Below we'll discuss why and how climate anomalies are used in conjunction with a climate normal.
Read more →Climatological normal
While reading a news article on US climate normals, I decided it might be better to use the most recent 30 years of temperature data to calculate the warming index, rather than 20 years of data. This change will align the warming index with the convention of the climatological normal.
Read more →ACORN-SAT version 2.3
ACORN-SAT version 2.3 was released on 2022-11-18. Version 2.3 has temperature records from 1910 up until the end of 2021 for the 112 locations around Australia included in ACORN-SAT.
Read more →Chart options information
When using ClimateExplorer, you may notice that below the chart there is a cluster of buttons that allow you to customise the data and the chart. This post explains what they are and how to use them. There is a general help (chart options) and detailed information on two of the more complicated areas. The sections are:
Read more →Location summary information
When you use ClimateExplorer, you may see info boxes that explain a few of the climate-related concepts presented in the web application. In the location summary area, they are:
Read more →Welcome to the Climate Explorer blog
Hey, welcome to the ClimateExplorer blog! We plan to use this blog to keep you up to date as we add features & data sets to ClimateExplorer, as well as linking to further reading on the source data sets and climate concepts related to the site. We may also talk a little about how the site is implemented behind the scenes.
Read more →