Radius of influence of air temperature from automated weather stations installed in complex terrain

摘要

Air temperature measured by automated weather stations is used by growers and other stakeholders to inform their decisions that are affected by local weather conditions. Although modern systems record and transmit weather information remotely at regular time intervals, the spatial resolution of the data is unknown. This study aimed to determine the radius of influence (RI) of daily air temperature and to analyze the dynamic response of RI. An analysis based on the similarity between data recorded at two weather stations as a function of their distance was conducted using daily air temperature data for 158 weather stations in the Pacific Northwest (PNW). The results showed that the mean RI for minimum temperature (20km) was significantly different from the RI calculated for maximum temperature (23km). There was also both high spatial and temporal variability. We found that the landscape and season of the year were crucial factors that define the RI of air temperature recorded for a particular location. In flat regions, the RI was greater than in areas where the elevation varied over a short distance, and the RI was smaller during the summer than during any of the other seasons. The results showed that for complex terrain it is not possible to define a general RI for daily air temperature.