Coverage bias in the HadCRUT4 temperature series and its impact on recent temperature trends
University of York · University of Ottawa
Abstract
Incomplete global coverage is a potential source of bias in global temperature reconstructions if the unsampled regions are not uniformly distributed over the planet's surface. The widely used Hadley Centre–Climatic Reseach Unit Version 4 (HadCRUT4) dataset covers on average about 84% of the globe over recent decades, with the unsampled regions being concentrated at the poles and over Africa. Three existing reconstructions with near-global coverage are examined, each suggesting that HadCRUT4 is subject to bias due to its treatment of unobserved regions. Two alternative approaches for reconstructing global temperatures are explored, one based on an optimal interpolation algorithm and the other a hybrid method…
Citation impact
- FWCI
- 36.41
- Percentile
- 100%
- References
- 33
Authors
2Topics & keywords
- Global temperature
- Climatology
- Interpolation (computer graphics)
- Environmental science
- Satellite
- Global change
- Series (stratigraphy)
- Meteorology
- Climate action