Weather and Climate Inventory National Park Service Central Alaska

130 Pages·2006·7.01 MB·English

by  Kelly Redmond

National Park Service
U.S. Department of the Interior

Natural Resource Program Center
Fort Collins, Colorado
Weather and Climate Inventory
National Park Service
Central Alaska Network
Natural Resource Technical Report NPS/CAKN/NRTR—2006/004
ON THE COVER
Eilson Visitor Center—Denali National Park and Preserve
Photograph copyrighted by David Simeral
Weather and Climate Inventory
National Park Service
Central Alaska Network
Natural Resource Technical Report NPS/CAKN/NRTR—2006/004
WRCC Report WRCC 06-01

Kelly T. Redmond and David B. Simeral
Western Regional Climate Center
Desert Research Institute
2215 Raggio Parkway
Reno, Nevada 89512-1095

August 2006

U.S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Natural Resource Program Center
Fort Collins, Colorado
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Please cite this publication as follows:

Redmond, K. T., and D. B. Simeral. 2006. Weather and Climate
Inventory, National Park Service, Central Alaska Network. Natural
Resource Technical Report NPS/CAKN/NRTR—2006/004. National Park
Service, Fort Collins, Colorado.

NPS/CAKN/NRTR—2006/004, August 2006
Contents
Page
Figures ................................................................................................................................ v

Tables .............................................................................................................................. vii

Appendixes ...................................................................................................................... ix

Acronyms ......................................................................................................................... xi

Executive Summary ....................................................................................................... xiv

Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................ xvi

1.0 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 1

1.1 Purpose of Measurements .................................................................................... 4

1.2 Design of a Climate-Monitoring Program ........................................................... 4

1.3 Weather versus Climate Definitions .................................................................... 9

2.0 Climate Background .................................................................................................. 11

2.1 Spatial Variability .............................................................................................. 11

2.2 Temporal Variability .......................................................................................... 24

3.0 Methods ..................................................................................................................... 26

3.1 Metadata Retrieval ............................................................................................. 26

3.2 Criteria for Locating Stations ............................................................................. 29

4.0 Station Inventory ....................................................................................................... 30

4.1 Climate and Weather Networks ......................................................................... 30

4.2 Station Locations ............................................................................................... 32

4.3 Sites and Metadata ............................................................................................. 39

5.0 Conclusions and Recommendations ......................................................................... 44

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CONTENTS
(continued)
Page
5.1 General Comments ............................................................................................. 44

5.2 Spatial Variations in Mean Climate ................................................................... 46

5.3 Climate Change Detection ................................................................................. 47

5.4 Aesthetics ........................................................................................................... 48

5.5 Additional Factors .............................................................................................. 48

5.6 Information Access ............................................................................................ 50

5.7 Summarized Conclusions and Recommendations ............................................. 51

6.0 Literature Cited ......................................................................................................... 53

iv
Figures
Page
Figure 1.1. Map of the Central Alaska Inventory and Monitoring
Network (CAKN) ........................................................................................... 3

Figure 2.1. a) Annual cycles of average precipitation, by month, for CAKN parks. b)
Annual cycles of daily maximum and minimum temperature ..................... 15

Figure 2.2. Mean annual precipitation, 1961–1990, within the CAKN region .............. 16

Figure 2.3. Mean March precipitation, 1961–1990, within the CAKN region .............. 17

Figure 2.4. Mean September precipitation, 1961–1990, within the CAKN region ....... 18

Figure 2.5. Mean annual temperature, 1961–1990, within the CAKN region ............... 19

Figure 2.6. Mean January maximum temperature, 1961–1990, within the CAKN
region ........................................................................................................... 20

Figure 2.7. Mean January minimum temperature, 1961–1990, within the CAKN
region ........................................................................................................... 21

Figure 2.8. Mean July maximum temperature, 1961–1990, within the CAKN region .. 22

Figure 2.9. Mean July minimum temperature, 1961–1990, within the CAKN region .. 23

Figure 2.10. Area weighted temperature time series from NCEP Reanalysis at 850 mb for
the lat-lon box [57-61 degrees North latitude] x [149-158 degrees West
longitude] ..................................................................................................... 25

Figure 4.1. Station locations for DENA ......................................................................... 34

Figure 4.2. Station locations for WRST ......................................................................... 36

Figure 4.3. Station locations for YUCH ......................................................................... 38

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Tables
Page
Table 3.1. Primary metadata fields with explanations, as appropriate,
for the inventory of weather and climate stations within CAKN ................ 26

Table 4.1. Weather/climate networks represented within CAKN ................................ 30

Table 4.2. Number of stations in or near CAKN (listed by park unit and weather/climate
network) ....................................................................................................... 33

Table 4.2. Weather/climate stations inside CAKN park units and within 40-60 km of
their boundaries ............................................................................................ 40

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