Composite Temperature Record from the Greenland Summit, 1987–1994: Synthesis of Multiple Automatic Weather Station Records and SSM/I Brightness Temperatures

Abstract

Air temperature (T_A) records from automatic weather stations (AWS) in central Greenland and associated Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) brightness temperature (T_B) data (37 GHz, vertical polarization) have been used to create a composite, daily, monthly, and annual average temperature record of the Greenland summit for the period 1987–1994. The record is derived primarily from near-surface temperatures from a single station; AWS Cathy (May 1987 to May 1989), which was moved 28 km and became AWS Kenton (starting in June 1989 and continuing). The Cathy daily average T_A record has been converted to the equivalent basis of Kenton by a technique based on the ratio of the contemporaneous daily average T_B data from the two locations. The accuracy of this technique has been statistically tested using 16 months of contemporaneous T_A and T_B data from the GISP2 and Kenton AWS. The resulting composite temperature record provides a multiyear dataset for comparison to other climate records from the Greenland summit.