The SASSCAL contribution to climate observation, climate data management and data rescue in Southern Africa

A major task of the newly established "Southern African Science Service Centre for Climate Change and Adaptive Land Management" (SASSCAL; www.sasscal.org) and its partners is to provide science-based environmental information and knowledge which includes the provision of consistent and reliable climate data for Southern Africa. Hence, SASSCAL, in close cooperation with the national weather authorities of Angola, Botswana, Germany and Zambia as well as partner institutions in Namibia and South Africa, supports the extension of the regional meteorological observation network and the improvement of the climate archives at national level. With the ongoing rehabilitation of existing weather stations and the new installation of fully automated weather stations (AWS), altogether 105 AWS currently provide a set of climate variables at 15, 30 and 60 min intervals respectively. These records are made available through the SASSCAL WeatherNet, an online platform providing near-real time data as well as various statistics and graphics, all in open access. This effort is complemented by the harmonization and improvement of climate data management concepts at the national weather authorities, capacity building activities and an extension of the data bases with historical climate data which are still available from different sources. These activities are performed through cooperation between regional and German institutions and will provide important information for climate service related activities

The SASSCAL contribution to climate observation, climate data management and data rescue in Southern Africa

A major task of the newly established "Southern African Science Service Centre for Climate Change and Adaptive Land Management" (SASSCAL; www.sasscal.org) and its partners is to provide science-based environmental information and knowledge which includes the provision of consistent and reliable climate data for Southern Africa. Hence, SASSCAL, in close cooperation with the national weather authorities of Angola, Botswana, Germany and Zambia as well as partner institutions in Namibia and South Africa, supports the extension of the regional meteorological observation network and the improvement of the climate archives at national level. With the ongoing rehabilitation of existing weather stations and the new installation of fully automated weather stations (AWS), altogether 105 AWS currently provide a set of climate variables at 15, 30 and 60 min intervals respectively. These records are made available through the SASSCAL WeatherNet, an online platform providing near-real time data as well as various statistics and graphics, all in open access. This effort is complemented by the harmonization and improvement of climate data management concepts at the national weather authorities, capacity building activities and an extension of the data bases with historical climate data which are still available from different sources. These activities are performed through cooperation between regional and German institutions and will provide important information for climate service related activities

The international surface temperature initiative's global land surface databank

The International Surface Temperature Initiative (ISTI) consists of an end-to-end process for land surface air temperature analyses. The foundation is the establishment of a global land surface Databank. This builds upon the groundbreaking efforts of scientists in the 1980s and 1990s. While using many of their principles, a primary aim is to improve aspects including data provenance, version control, openness and transparency, temporal and spatial coverage, and improved methods for merging disparate sources. The initial focus is on daily and monthly timescales. A Databank Working Group is focused on establishing Stage-0 (original observation forms) through Stage-3 data (merged dataset without quality control). More than 35 sources of data have already been added and efforts have now turned to development of the initial version of the merged dataset. Methods have been established for ensuring to the extent possible the provenance of all data from the point of observation through all intermediate steps to final archive and access. Databank submission procedures were designed to make the process of contributing data as easy as possible. All data are provided openly and without charge. We encourage the use of these data and feedback from interested users.Fil: Lawrimore, J. H.. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Estados UnidosFil: Rennie, J.. Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center; NoruegaFil: Gambi de Almeida, W.. Centro de Previsao de Tempo e Estudos Climáticos. Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais; BrasilFil: Christy, J.. University of Alabama; Estados UnidosFil: Flannery, M.. Bureau of Meteorology; AustraliaFil: Gleason, B.. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Estados UnidosFil: Klein Tank, A.. Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute; Países BajosFil: Mhanda, A.. frican Centre of Meteorological Applications for Development; NigeriaFil: Ishihara, K.. Japan Meteorological Agency; JapónFil: Lister, D.. Climatic Research Unit; Reino UnidoFil: Menne, M. J.. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Estados UnidosFil: Razuvaev, V.. Russian Research Institute of Hydrometeorological Information; RusiaFil: Renom, M.. Universidad de la República; UruguayFil: Rusticucci, Matilde Monica. Universidad de Buenos Aires; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Tandy, J.. Met Office Hadley Centre; Reino UnidoFil: Thorne, P. W.. Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center; NoruegaFil: Worley, S.. National Center for Atmospheric Research; Estados Unido