Climate data bases of the People's Republic of China, 1841--1988
- Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States)
- Academia Sinica, Beijing, BJ (China). Inst. of Atmospheric Physics
- State Univ. of New York, Albany, NY (United States). Atmospheric Sciences Research Center
- National Climatic Data Center, Asheville, NC (United States). Global Climate Lab.
A data base containing meteorological observations from the People's Republic of China (PRC) is described. These data were compiled in accordance with a joint research agreement signed by the United States Department of Energy and the PRC Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) on August 19, 1987. CAS's Institute of Atmospheric Physics (Beijing, PRC) has provided records from 296 stations, organized into five data sets: (1) a 60-station data set containing monthly measurements of barometric pressure, surface air temperature, precipitation amount, relative humidity, sunshine duration, cloud amount, wind direction and speed, and number of days with snow cover; (2) a 205-station data set containing monthly mean temperatures and monthly precipitation totals; (3) a 40-station subset of the 205-station data set containing monthly mean maximum and minimum temperatures and monthly extreme maximum and minimum temperatures; (4) a 180-station data set containing daily precipitation totals; and (5) a 147-station data set containing 10-day precipitation totals. Sixteen stations from these data sets (13 from the 60-station set and 3 from the 205-station set) have temperature and/or precipitation records that begin prior to 1900, whereas the remaining stations began observing in the early to mid-1900s. Records from most stations extend through 1988. These data can be used in defining regional climate changes, establishing relationships between regional and large-scale climates, studying the climatic impacts of urbanization and increased concentrations of greenhouse gases, and in assembling large-scale climate data bases. Additional uses could include examining impacts of periodic events such as volcanic eruptions or the El Nino/Southern Oscillation. These data sets represent the most comprehensive, long-term instrumental Chinese climate data currently available.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States); Academia Sinica, Beijing, BJ (China). Inst. of Atmospheric Physics; State Univ. of New York, Albany, NY (United States). Atmospheric Sciences Research Center; National Climatic Data Center, Asheville, NC (United States). Global Climate Lab.
- Sponsoring Organization:
- DOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-84OR21400
- OSTI ID:
- 6848353
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/NBB-0091T; ON: DE93007907
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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