Weather and Climate Inventory National Park Service Mediterranean Coast Network
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National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Natural Resource Program Center Fort Collins, Colorado Weather and Climate Inventory National Park Service Mediterranean Coast Network Natural Resource Technical Report NPS/MEDN/NRTR—2007/006 ON THE COVER Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands National Park Photograph copyrighted by Greg McCurdy Weather and Climate Inventory National Park Service Mediterranean Coast Network Natural Resource Technical Report NPS/MEDN/NRTR—2007/006 WRCC Report 2007-02 Christopher A. Davey, Kelly T. Redmond, and David B. Simeral Western Regional Climate Center Desert Research Institute 2215 Raggio Parkway Reno, Nevada 89512-1095 April 2007 U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service Natural Resource Program Center Fort Collins, Colorado The Natural Resource Publication series addresses natural resource topics that are of interest and applicability to a broad readership in the National Park Service and to others in the management of natural resources, including the scientific community, the public, and the National Park Service conservation and environmental constituencies. Manuscripts are peer-reviewed to ensure that the information is scientifically credible, technically accurate, appropriately written for the intended audience, and designed and published in a professional manner. The Natural Resources Technical Reports series is used to disseminate the peer-reviewed results of scientific studies in the physical, biological, and social sciences for both the advancement of science and the achievement of the National Park Service mission. The reports provide contributors with a forum for displaying comprehensive data that are often deleted from journals because of page limitations. Current examples of such reports include the results of research that address natural resource management issues; natural resource inventory and monitoring activities; resource assessment reports; scientific literature reviews; and peer-reviewed proceedings of technical workshops, conferences, or symposia. Views and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect policies of the National Park Service. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use by the National Park Service. Printed copies of reports in these series may be produced in a limited quantity and they are only available as long as the supply lasts. This report is also available from the Natural Resource Publications Management website (http://www.nature.nps.gov/publications/NRPM) on the Internet or by sending a request to the address on the back cover. Please cite this publication as follows: Davey, C. A., K. T. Redmond, and D. B. Simeral. 2007. Weather and Climate Inventory, National Park Service, Mediterranean Coast Network. Natural Resource Technical Report NPS/MEDN/NRTR—2007/006. National Park Service, Fort Collins, Colorado. NPS/MEDN/NRTR—2007/006, April 2007 ii Contents Page Figures ............................................................................................................................................ v Tables ........................................................................................................................................... vi Appendixes ................................................................................................................................. vii Acronyms ................................................................................................................................... viii Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................... x Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................... xii 1.0. Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 1 1.1. Network Terminology ...................................................................................................... 1 1.2. Weather versus Climate Definitions ................................................................................ 3 1.3. Purpose of Measurements ................................................................................................ 3 1.4. Design of Climate-Monitoring Programs ........................................................................ 4 2.0. Climate Background ................................................................................................................ 9 2.1. Climate and the MEDN Environment .............................................................................. 9 2.2. Spatial Variability .......................................................................................................... 10 2.3. Temporal Variability ...................................................................................................... 10 2.4. Parameter Regression on Independent Slopes Model .................................................... 17 3.0. Methods ................................................................................................................................. 18 3.1. Metadata Retrieval ......................................................................................................... 18 3.2. Criteria for Locating Stations ......................................................................................... 20 4.0. Station Inventory ................................................................................................................... 21 4.1. Climate and Weather Networks ..................................................................................... 21 4.2. Station Locations ........................................................................................................... 24 iii Contents (continued) Page 5.0. Conclusions and Recommendations ..................................................................................... 34 5.1. Mediterranean Coast Inventory and Monitoring Network ............................................. 34 5.2. Spatial Variations in Mean Climate ............................................................................... 34 5.3. Climate Change Detection ............................................................................................. 34 5.4. Aesthetics ....................................................................................................................... 35 5.5. Information Access ........................................................................................................ 35 5.6. Summarized Conclusions and Recommendations ......................................................... 36 6.0. Literature Cited ..................................................................................................................... 37 iv Figures Page Figure 1.1. Map of the Mediterranean Coast Network ................................................................. 2 Figure 2.1. Mean annual precipitation, 1961–1990, for the MEDN .......................................... 11 Figure 2.2. Mean monthly precipitation at selected locations in the MEDN ............................. 12 Figure 2.3. Mean annual temperature, 1961–1990, for the MEDN ........................................... 13 Figure 2.4. Mean January minimum temperature, 1961–1990, for the MEDN ......................... 14 Figure 2.5. Mean July maximum temperature, 1961–1990, for the MEDN .............................. 15 Figure 2.6. Precipitation time series, 1895-2005, for the MEDN .............................................. 16 Figure 2.7. Temperature time series, 1895-2005, for the MEDN .............................................. 16 Figure 4.1. Station locations for Cabrillo National Monument .................................................. 26 Figure 4.2. Station locations for CHIS and SAMO .................................................................... 33 v Tables Page Table 1.1. Park units in the MEDN ............................................................................................... 1 Table 3.1. Primary metadata fields for MEDN weather/climate stations ................................... 19 Table 4.1. Weather/climate networks represented within the MEDN ........................................ 21 Table 4.2. Number of stations within or nearby MEDN park units ............................................ 24 Table 4.3. Weather/climate stations for Cabrillo National Monument ....................................... 25 Table 4.4. Weather/climate stations for CHIS and SAMO ......................................................... 28 vi Appendixes Page Appendix A. Glossary ............................................................................................................... 40 Appendix B. Climate-monitoring principles ............................................................................. 42 Appendix C. Factors in operating a climate network ................................................................ 45 Appendix D. General design considerations for weather/climate-monitoring programs .......... 48 Appendix E. Master metadata field list ..................................................................................... 68 Appendix F. Electronic supplements ........................................................................................ 70 Appendix G. Descriptions of weather/climate-monitoring