ENVS 2270 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Met Office, Sea Surface Temperature, Data Center

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Environmental Sciences
• Course: ENVS 2270
• Professor: Kim Bolton

Document Summary

(cid:272)ie(cid:374)tists di(cid:448)ide earth"s surfa(cid:272)e into 5 x 5 grid. Average the temperatures in each box in the grid. Ta(cid:272)k (cid:894)or add(cid:895) these a(cid:448)erage te(cid:373)peratures a(cid:374)d (cid:272)orre(cid:272)t for earth"s geometry (boxes are smaller near the poles)- very complex calculations. Difference between the temp of an area over a particular period of time (month, year) and the average for that period of time for a selected baseline period. Baseline average: (12. 1+11. 8+12. 6+12. 3)/4=12. 2 c: 2011 anomaly= 12. 6-12. 2= 0. 4 c (warming, 2012 anomaly= 11. 9-12. 2= -0. 3 c (cooling, 2013 anomaly= 12. 1- 12. 2= 0. 9 c (warming) Baseline period covers a long period of time (usually > 15 years; preferably > 30 years) Period is very important: can even out impact of short-term cycles (such as volcanic activity, if chosen incorrectly, can skew the data. Can be averaged over a day, month, year, season. Differe(cid:374)t (cid:374)u(cid:373)eri(cid:272)al results (cid:271)ut does(cid:374)"t affe(cid:272)t the relati(cid:448)e (cid:272)ha(cid:374)ge of the temperature. Anomalies more accurately describe climate variability over larger areas.