How useful are crowdsourced air temperature observations? An assessment of Netatmo stations and quality control schemes over the United Kingdom
Abstract Observations of the real‐time state of the atmosphere are required in order to initialize numerical weather prediction (NWP) models. As NWP resolution improves, more observations are needed, to better capture regional variations in atmospheric conditions. In particular, surface observations...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2022-05-01
|
| Series: | Meteorological Applications |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/met.2075 |
| _version_ | 1818546514781274112 |
|---|---|
| author | Jonathan Coney Ben Pickering David Dufton Maryna Lukach Barbara Brooks Ryan R. Neely III |
| author_facet | Jonathan Coney Ben Pickering David Dufton Maryna Lukach Barbara Brooks Ryan R. Neely III |
| author_sort | Jonathan Coney |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Observations of the real‐time state of the atmosphere are required in order to initialize numerical weather prediction (NWP) models. As NWP resolution improves, more observations are needed, to better capture regional variations in atmospheric conditions. In particular, surface observations are necessary to reflect conditions experienced on the surface. One proposed opportunity to increase the number of surface observations available for assimilation into NWP is to crowdsource the data from home weather stations. This study investigates the outdoor air temperature measurements made by Netatmo home weather stations, through validation against a calibrated laboratory chamber and by evaluating quality control schemes that are applied to a UK‐wide network of Netatmo stations. In a series of controlled lab experiments, it was found that the Netatmo temperature sensor was accurate to 0.3°C. The response to fluctuations in temperature is lagged, with τ (the time taken for 63% of the change to be measured) calculated as 12.7 min for a near‐instantaneous decrease in temperature. Netatmo temperature observations were compared with Met Office MIDAS hourly weather observations. A warm bias in excess of 1°C was present in the Netatmo temperature observations, which was lessened by the three quality control schemes tested, but still in excess of 0.5°C. Hence, Netatmo temperature measurements have potential to be assimilated in NWP in the United Kingdom, but work is required to find a suitable agreed quality control scheme to filter out anomalous observations in the United Kingdom. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T07:54:14Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6fd3b45f09aa4639a996e59703c3f6f6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1350-4827 1469-8080 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T07:54:14Z |
| publishDate | 2022-05-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Meteorological Applications |
| spelling | doaj.art-6fd3b45f09aa4639a996e59703c3f6f62022-12-22T00:32:22ZengWileyMeteorological Applications1350-48271469-80802022-05-01293n/an/a10.1002/met.2075How useful are crowdsourced air temperature observations? An assessment of Netatmo stations and quality control schemes over the United KingdomJonathan Coney0Ben Pickering1David Dufton2Maryna Lukach3Barbara Brooks4Ryan R. Neely III5School of Earth and Environment University of Leeds Leeds UKSchool of Earth and Environment University of Leeds Leeds UKNational Centre for Atmospheric Science University of Leeds Leeds UKNational Centre for Atmospheric Science University of Leeds Leeds UKNational Centre for Atmospheric Science University of Leeds Leeds UKSchool of Earth and Environment University of Leeds Leeds UKAbstract Observations of the real‐time state of the atmosphere are required in order to initialize numerical weather prediction (NWP) models. As NWP resolution improves, more observations are needed, to better capture regional variations in atmospheric conditions. In particular, surface observations are necessary to reflect conditions experienced on the surface. One proposed opportunity to increase the number of surface observations available for assimilation into NWP is to crowdsource the data from home weather stations. This study investigates the outdoor air temperature measurements made by Netatmo home weather stations, through validation against a calibrated laboratory chamber and by evaluating quality control schemes that are applied to a UK‐wide network of Netatmo stations. In a series of controlled lab experiments, it was found that the Netatmo temperature sensor was accurate to 0.3°C. The response to fluctuations in temperature is lagged, with τ (the time taken for 63% of the change to be measured) calculated as 12.7 min for a near‐instantaneous decrease in temperature. Netatmo temperature observations were compared with Met Office MIDAS hourly weather observations. A warm bias in excess of 1°C was present in the Netatmo temperature observations, which was lessened by the three quality control schemes tested, but still in excess of 0.5°C. Hence, Netatmo temperature measurements have potential to be assimilated in NWP in the United Kingdom, but work is required to find a suitable agreed quality control scheme to filter out anomalous observations in the United Kingdom.https://doi.org/10.1002/met.2075crowdsourcingevaluationNetatmoobservationstemperatureverification |
| spellingShingle | Jonathan Coney Ben Pickering David Dufton Maryna Lukach Barbara Brooks Ryan R. Neely III How useful are crowdsourced air temperature observations? An assessment of Netatmo stations and quality control schemes over the United Kingdom Meteorological Applications crowdsourcing evaluation Netatmo observations temperature verification |
| title | How useful are crowdsourced air temperature observations? An assessment of Netatmo stations and quality control schemes over the United Kingdom |
| title_full | How useful are crowdsourced air temperature observations? An assessment of Netatmo stations and quality control schemes over the United Kingdom |
| title_fullStr | How useful are crowdsourced air temperature observations? An assessment of Netatmo stations and quality control schemes over the United Kingdom |
| title_full_unstemmed | How useful are crowdsourced air temperature observations? An assessment of Netatmo stations and quality control schemes over the United Kingdom |
| title_short | How useful are crowdsourced air temperature observations? An assessment of Netatmo stations and quality control schemes over the United Kingdom |
| title_sort | how useful are crowdsourced air temperature observations an assessment of netatmo stations and quality control schemes over the united kingdom |
| topic | crowdsourcing evaluation Netatmo observations temperature verification |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/met.2075 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jonathanconey howusefularecrowdsourcedairtemperatureobservationsanassessmentofnetatmostationsandqualitycontrolschemesovertheunitedkingdom AT benpickering howusefularecrowdsourcedairtemperatureobservationsanassessmentofnetatmostationsandqualitycontrolschemesovertheunitedkingdom AT daviddufton howusefularecrowdsourcedairtemperatureobservationsanassessmentofnetatmostationsandqualitycontrolschemesovertheunitedkingdom AT marynalukach howusefularecrowdsourcedairtemperatureobservationsanassessmentofnetatmostationsandqualitycontrolschemesovertheunitedkingdom AT barbarabrooks howusefularecrowdsourcedairtemperatureobservationsanassessmentofnetatmostationsandqualitycontrolschemesovertheunitedkingdom AT ryanrneelyiii howusefularecrowdsourcedairtemperatureobservationsanassessmentofnetatmostationsandqualitycontrolschemesovertheunitedkingdom |