Variability of humidity conditions in the Arctic during the first International Polar Year, 1882-83

Of all the early instrumental data for the Arctic, the meteorological data gathered during the first International Polar Year, in 1882–83 (IPY-1), are the best in terms of coverage, quality and resolution. Research carried out during IPY-1 scientific expeditions brought a significant contribution to the development of hygrometry in polar regions at the end of the 19th century. The present paper gives a detailed analysis of a unique series of humidity measurements that were carried out during IPY-1 at hourly resolutions at nine meteorological stations, relatively evenly distributed in the High Arctic. It gives an overall view of the humidity conditions prevalent in the Arctic at that time. The results show that the spatial distribution of atmospheric water vapour pressure (e) and relative humidity (RH) in the Arctic during IPY-1 was similar to the present. In the annual course the highest values of e were noted in July and August, while the lowest occurred in the cold half of the year. In comparison to present-day conditions (1961–1990), the mean values of RH in the IPY-1 period (September 1882 to July 1883) were higher by 2.4–5.6%. Most of the changes observed between historical and modern RH values are not significant. The majority of historical daily RH values lie between a distance of less than two standard deviations from current long-term monthly means

Micro-variability of characteristics of thermo- and hygrometric circuits in automatic meteorological stations of the State Hydrological-Meteorological Service (PSHM)

Przedstawiono wyniki badań zjawiska mikrozmienności charakterystyk, pojawiającego się w niektórych obwodach pomiarowych automatycznych stacji meteorologicznych. Opracowano trzy postępowania, oparte na metodzie pomiarów porównawczych i metodach analizy statystycznej, dla detekcji, oceny oraz przybliżonej kompensacji skutków tych zjawisk. Uzyskano przybliżone obrazy rozwoju procesu mikrozmienności. Postępowania mogą być wykorzystane dla celów analizy jakości danych. Opracowana metodologia została zweryfikowana na 96 rocznych szeregach czasowych o objętości około 0,7 mln par danych.Results of complex research of phenomena and process of micro-variability of characteristics occurring in thermometric and hygrometric measurement circuits of automatic meteorological stations are presented in the study. Three independent procedures based on the application of the comparative method and statistical analysis enable detecting, evaluating and compensating approximately the effects of the said phenomena and processes. The procedures provided approximate but coherent images of the process of micro-variability and can be used for the purpose of data quality analysis, also in the operational mode. The methodology of detecting and defining the micro-variability processes was verified on 96 annual time series, 1-hour thermometric and hygrometric data of total volume of ca. 0.7 million data pairs