56.00932 -3.68654 Met Office Assessed CIMO Class 4 Installed 1/1/1969
There are probably numerous reasons for installing a weather station in the centre of a major oil refinery. However, historically recording temperature of the natural environment is most certainly not one that immediately springs to mind. Google street view indicates numerous cooling towers, chimneys, fractionating columns and everything associated with a major industrial site. Natural vegetation is in remarkably short supply with the sole exception being the verge to the very busy A.904 on which this weather station is located.
The above image is flattering………
The other side of the road is much more typical.
Or perhaps the same side looking north.
However you consider this site, it is certainly not representative of the natural landscape. Anthropogenic it most certainly is and it does produce very large quantities of refined fossil fuels (for a while longer at least) but it is not a credible site to contribute data for the historic temperature record. There are no fewer than 8 cooling towers in the above images and the small matter of Grangemouth combined cycle gas turbine power station. Quite where the Met Office feels all that waste heat is going is beyond me to explain.
Does the Met Office really consider such locations suitably representative or do they just adhere to tape measuring to the nearest piece of tarmac from the screen to justify its location? The hedge probably is just far enough away to claim it is Class 4 and the grass is neatly cut but are those really the main parameters to be concerned with?
There are far too many compromised locations such as these.
via Tallbloke’s Talkshop
September 22, 2024 at 05:21AM
Iowa Climate Science Education 