of NDP-039
Two Long-Term Instrumental Climatic Data Bases of the People's Republic of China (1997)
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Environmental Sciences Division Date Published: September 1997
Publication No. 4699
Prepared by the
Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center
OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATORY
Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831-6335
managed by
LOCKHEED MARTIN ENERGY RESEARCH CORP.
for the
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
under contract DE-AC05-96OR22464
1. Name of the Numeric Data Package
2. Principal Investigators
3. Keywords
4. Background Information
5. Description of the Database
6. CDIAC Quality Assurance Checks
7. Limitations of the Database
8. How to Obtain the Data and Documentation
9.File Descriptions
APPENDIX A. Instrumentation and Data Collection Methods
of Stations in the PRC 65-Station Climate Database
1. Locations of stations in the 65-station PRC climate database
2. Locations of stations in the PRC 205-station temperature and precipitation databases
1. Inventory of stations in the 65-station PRC climate database
2. Gaps in the periods of record of the 65-station PRC climate database
3. Inventory of stations in the PRC 205-station temperature and precipitation databases
Tao Shiyan, Fu Congbin, Zeng Zhaomei, and Zhang Qingyun. 1997. Two Long-Term Instrumental Climatic Data Bases of the People's Republic of China.
ORNL/CDIAC-102, NDP-039. Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy,
Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
Two long-term instrumental data bases containing meteorological observations from the People's Republic of China (PRC) are presented in this NDP . The first version of this database was made available in 1991 by the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC) as CDIAC NDP-039. This update of the database includes data through 1993. These data sets were compiled in accordance with a joint research agreement signed by the U.S. Department of Energy and the PRC Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) on August 19, 1987. CAS has provided records from 267 stations, partitioned into two networks of 65 and 205 stations, with three stations common to both data bases.
The 65-station-network data contain monthly means, extremes, or totals of barometric pressure, air temperature, precipitation amount, relative humidity, sunshine duration, cloud amount, dominant wind direction and frequency, wind speed, and number of days with snow cover. Station histories are available from 59 of the 65 stations.
The 205-station-network data contain monthly mean temperatures and monthly precipitation totals; however, station histories are not currently available.
Sixteen stations from these data sets (13 from the 65-station, 3 from the 205-station) have temperature and/or precipitation records beginning before 1900, whereas the remaining stations began observing in the early to mid-1900s.
Two Long-Term Instrumental Climatic Data Bases of the People's Republic of China
China; regional climate change; atmospheric pressure; temperature; precipitation; relative humidity; sunshine duration; cloud amount; snow cover; dominant wind direction; dominant wind frequency; wind speed; extreme temperature
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) signed an agreement on August 19, 1987, to carry out a joint research program on possible CO2-induced climate changes. Concern over such climate changes stems from rising atmospheric concentrations of CO2 and other greenhouse gases, as well as the ever-increasing global CO2 emissions from fossil fuel use (Marland and Rotty 1984). The nature of these phenomena signals the need for international research efforts in the area of possible human-induced climate change. The intent of the DOE/CAS research agreement is to contribute to research efforts through four tasks: (1) analysis of general circulation models (GCMs), (2) preparation and analysis of proxy and instrumental data, (3) study of the relationship between large- and regional-scale climate, and (4) study of possible increases in atmospheric methane (Riches et al. 1992). Descriptions of these tasks and additional background information on each country's involvement in atmospheric CO2 research may also be found in Riches et al. (1992). This database contains and describes two long-term PRC instrumental climate data sets, which were exchanged along with PRC proxy data sets and U.S. instrumental data sets according to the data exchange protocol contained in the DOE/CAS agreement.
Four basic criteria were used in selecting stations to make up the 65-station network: (1) the
station should be representative of a particular climate region of China, (2) the station's data should
be of relatively high quality, (3) the period of record of the station should be reasonably long, and
(4) the resulting station network should have a relatively uniform spatial distribution. Station locations
are depicted on the map shown in Figure 1, with an inventory of the stations given in
Table 1. Data are available
from all 65 stations over the period 1954-1993. Thirteen
stations began observing before 1900. Beijing's record is the longest, with temperature and
precipitation data dating back to 1841. All 65 stations have temperature and/or precipitation data
available from the beginning of their periods of record, with other types of observations beginning
more randomly with time throughout the network. Observations of monthly
extreme maximum and minimum temperature data are available for each station only since 1984.
Nearly one-half of the 65 stations have some type of data for at least 70 years, but only six have data
for 100 years or more. Periods
of whole years without data are omitted from the data set, and these gaps are detailed in
Table 2.
Station numbers plotted on
the map in Figure 1 correspond to the station reference numbers given at the left in Tables 1 and 2.
Details of data collection methods used at the 65 stations (e.g., type, orientation, and calibration of
instruments; daily observing times; and observational techniques) have been made available by CAS and are
contained in Appendix A. Station histories extending through 1983 are available for 59 of the 65 stations
via Table 1.
Monthly maximum possible sunshine duration was calculated for each station using the station's latitude and assuming a smooth, spherical earth where the sun's rays would not be blocked by natural or man-made obstructions. Using the maximum durations, monthly values of percentage of possible sunshine were calculated for each station and plotted versus corresponding monthly cloud amounts. It was determined that for many stations - mainly northern stations, and exclusively during astronomical winter (primarily from November through January) - monthly sunshine duration is often unrealistically low. For most stations, this phenomenon became more prevalent through time, being at least partly responsible for most stations showing significant decreasing trends in sunshine duration over their periods of record. This may relate to increasing atmospheric turbidity (air pollution), which would decrease recorded sunshine most during the low sun season due to longer atmospheric path lengths. Details of this analysis may be found in Kaiser (1993), copies of which are available from the author (d9k@ornl.gov).
Because of the large number of suspect low monthly sunshine durations, these values have not been individually flagged in the 65-station data set, and users are cautioned in their use of these sunshine data.
Only a portion of the questionable values found in the data have been thoroughly researched and edited via communication with CAS. Most questionable values have been left intact and flagged (Sects. 6 and 9) so that the user may determine how to treat them. Users are strongly advised to check data values for associated flags that may have been assigned. Not doing so may to lead to spurious analytical results.
This database is available in machine-readable form from CDIAC without charge. The database may also be downloaded from CDIAC's anonymous File Transfer Protocol (FTP) site, by using the address, login instructions, and FTP commands listed below. In addition, the database is available on 9-track magnetic tape, 8-mm tape, or IBM- or Macintosh-formatted floppy diskettes. For tape requests, please include preferred tape specifications (i.e., 1600 or 6250 BPI for 9-track tapes and 8200 or 8500 format for 8-mm tapes, labeled or nonlabeled, ASCII or EBCDIC characters, variable or fixed-record lengths). Requests without tape specifications will be filled on 9-track, 6250 BPI, nonlabeled tapes.
This documentation is available only from CDIAC.
Printed copies of the documentation that accompanied the original
version of this database (Tao et al. 1991) may be obtained from CDIAC; however, a printed document for the current version
of the database (NDP-039) has not been produced. Requests for printed copies of Tao et al. (1991) may be obtained
using the information below.
The tapes, diskettes, and documentation may also be ordered by telephone, facsimile, or electronic mail:
Telephone: (865) 574-3645 or (865) 574-0390
Fax: (865) 574-2232
Electronic mail: cdiac@ornl.gov
FTP access: ftp cdiac.esd.ornl.gov (or 128.219.24.36)
Enter anonymous at the userid prompt
Enter your e-mail address as the password
Change the directory to /pub/ndp039 (i.e., ftp> cd /pub/ndp039)
Retrieve all files (i.e., ftp> mget *)
NOTE: When using these climate data in a presentation or publication, PLEASE acknowledge the principal investigators, Shiyan Tao, Congbin Fu, Zhaomei Zeng, Qingyun Zhang, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
This section describes the 82 files contained in this database. In addition to the actual data files, the 82 files include associated documentation and FORTRAN and SAS codes for reading the data files.
This file is an ASCII version of the documentation that may be found for NDP-039 on CDIAC's World Wide Web site. It exists for the benefit of those downloading the database directly from CDIAC's file transfer protocol (FTP) area without the use of a web browser.
These files are provided for the benefit of users with FORTRAN or SAS on their systems, enabling them to read any of the 5 data files in this database using these software packages. The program files are:
The station inventory file for the 65-station climate data set is sorted by sequence number (1-65) and 5-digit station number, with one record per station containing station name, station number, latitude, longitude, elevation above sea level, and the beginning year of the station's record. The contents of the station inventory file are shown in Table 1.
The file may be read using the following FORTRAN format:
INTEGER SEQNUM,STANUM,LATDEG,LATMIN,LONDEG,LONMIN,BEGYR
REAL ELEV
CHARACTER*10 STNAME
READ(5,100,END=99)SEQNUM,STNAME,STANUM,LAT,
+ LON,ELEV,BEGYR
100 FORMAT(I2,1X,A10,1X,I5,1X,F5.2,1X,F6.2,1X,F6.1,1X,I4)
or by using the SAS format:
INPUT SEQNUM 1-2 STNAME $ 4-13 STANUM 15-19 LAT 21-25
LON 27-32 ELEV 34-39 BEGYR 41-44
Stated in tabular form the contents include the following:
Variable Variable Starting Ending
Variable type width column column
SEQNUM Numeric 2 1 2
STNAME Character 10 4 13
STANUM Numeric 5 15 19
LAT Numeric 5 21 25
LON Numeric 6 27 32
ELEV Numeric 6 34 39
BEGYR Numeric 4 41 44
where
SEQNUM is the station's relative position in the file (1-65);
STNAME is the name of the station;
STANUM is the WMO station number;
LAT is the latitude of the station in decimal degrees North;
LON is the longitude of the station in decimal degrees East;
ELEV is the elevation of the station above sea level (m); and
BEGYR is the beginning year of the station's record.
INTEGER SEQNUM,STANUM
CHARACTER*10 STNAME
CHARACTER*51 GAPS
READ(5,100,END=99)SEQNUM,STNAME,STANUM,GAPS
100 FORMAT(I2,1X,A10,2X,A51)
or by using the SAS format:
INPUT SEQNUM 1-2 STNAME $ 4-13 STANUM 19-23 $ GAPS 26-76
Stated in tabular form the contents include the following:
Variable Variable Starting Ending
Variable type width column column
SEQNUM Numeric 2 1 2
STNAME Character 10 4 13
STANUM Numeric 5 19 23
GAPS Character 51 26 76
where
SEQNUM is the station's relative position in the file (1-65);
STNAME is the name of the station;
STANUM is the WMO station number;
GAPS is a list of gaps in the record (individual years or ranges of years;
Beijing (54511) has 3 records in this file due to its long observation
history and numerous gaps).
The station inventory file for the 205-station data sets
is sorted by 5-digit station number, with one record per station containing a sequence number
(1-205), station name, station number, latitude, longitude, elevation above sea level, and the
beginning years of the station's temperature and precipitation records. The contents of the station
inventory file are shown in Table 3.
The file may be read using the following FORTRAN format:
INTEGER SEQNUM,STANUM,LAT,LON,TBEGYR,PBEGYR
REAL ELEV
CHARACTER*20 STNAME
READ(5,100,END=99)SEQNUM,STNAME,STANUM,LAT,LON,ELEV,TBEGYR,PBEGYR
100 FORMAT(I3,1X,A20,1X,I5,1X,F5.2,1X,F6.2,1X,F6.1,2(1X,I4))
or by using the SAS format:
INPUT SEQNUM 1-3 STNAME $ 5-24 STANUM 26-30 LAT 32-36
LON 38-43 ELEV 45-50 TBEGYR 52-55 PBEGYR 57-60
Stated in tabular form, the contents include the following:
Variable Variable Starting Ending
Variable type width column column
SEQNUM Numeric 3 1 3
STNAME Character 20 5 24
STANUM Numeric 5 26 30
LAT Numeric 5 32 36
LON Numeric 6 38 43
ELEV Numeric 6 45 50
TBEGYR Numeric 4 52 55
PBEGYR Numeric 4 57 60
where
SEQNUM is the station's relative position in the file (1-205);
STNAME is the name of the station;
STANUM is the WMO station number;
LAT is the latitude of the station in decimal degrees North;
LON is the longitude of the station in decimal degrees East;
ELEV is the elevation of the station above sea level (m);
TBEGYR is the beginning year of the station's temperature record; and
PBEGYR is the beginning year of the station's precipitation record.
The climate data set from the 65-station network contains monthly measurements of 14 climatological variables. The data are sorted by station number, with each record containing data for one month, including station number, year, month, mean station pressure, mean temperature, mean maximum and minimum temperatures, total precipitation, sunshine duration, mean cloud amount, mean relative humidity, total days with snow cover, dominant wind direction, mean wind speed, dominant wind frequency, and extreme maximum and minimum temperatures for the month (1984-1988 only). The file may be read using the following FORTRAN format:
INTEGER STANUM,YEAR,MON,PRES,MEANT,MEANMX,MEANMN,
+ PRECIP,SUN,CLD,RH,SNOW,WDIR,WSPD,WFREQ,EXMX,EXMN
CHARACTER*1 RECF,PRESF,MEANTF,MXF,MNF,PRECF,SUNF,CLDF,
+ RHF,SNOWF,WDIRF,WSPDF,WFREQF,EXMXF,EXMNF
READ(5,100,END=99)STANUM,YEAR,MON,RECF,PRES,PRESF,MEANT,
+ MEANTF,MEANMX,MXF,MEANMN,MNF,PRECIP,PRECF,SUN,SUNF,
+ CLD,CLDF,RH,RHF,SNOW,SNOWF,WDIR,WDIRF,WSPD,WSPDF,
+ WFREQ,WFREQF,EXMX,EXMXF,EXMN,EXMNF
100 FORMAT(1X,I5,1X,I4,1X,I2,1X,A1,14(I6,1X,A1))
or by using the SAS format:
INPUT STANUM 2-6 YEAR 8-11 MON 13-14 RECF $ 16 PRES 18-22
PRESF $ 24 MEANT 26-30 MEANTF $ 32 MEANMX 34-38 MXF $ 40
MEANMN 42-46 MNF $ 48 PRECIP 50-54 PRECF $ 56
SUN 58-62 SUNF $ 64 CLD 66-70 CLDF $ 72
RH 74-78 RHF $ 80 SNOW 82-86 SNOWF $ 88
WDIR 90-94 WDIRF $ 96 WSPD 98-102 WSPDF $104
WFREQ 106-110 WFREQF $ 112
EXMX 114-118 EXMXF $ 120 EXMN 122-126 EXMNF $ 128;
Stated in tabular form, the contents include the following.
Variable Variable Starting Ending
Variable type width column column
STANUM Numeric 5 2 6
YEAR Numeric 4 8 11
MON Numeric 2 13 14
RECF Character 1 16 16
PRES Numeric 5 18 22
PRESF Character 1 24 24
MEANT Numeric 5 26 30
MEANTF Character 1 32 32
MEANMX Numeric 5 34 38
MXF Character 1 40 40
MEANMN Numeric 5 42 46
MNF Character 1 48 48
PRECIP Numeric 5 50 54
PRECF Character 1 56 56
SUN Numeric 5 58 62
SUNF Character 1 64 64
CLD Numeric 5 66 70
CLDF Character 1 72 72
RH Numeric 5 74 78
RHF Character 1 80 80
SNOW Numeric 5 82 86
SNOWF Character 1 88 88
WDIR Numeric 5 90 94
WDIRF Character 1 96 96
WSPD Numeric 5 98 102
WSPDF Character 1 104 104
WFREQ Numeric 5 106 110
WFREQF Character 1 112 112
EXMX Numeric 5 114 118
EXMXF Character 1 120 120
EXMN Numeric 5 122 126
EXMNF Character 1 128 128
where
STANUM is the WMO station number;
YEAR is the year of the data;
MON is the month of the data;
PRES is the monthly mean station pressure (mb);
MEANT is the monthly mean temperature (°C);
MEANMX is the monthly mean of the daily maximum temperatures (°C);
MEANMN is the monthly mean of the daily minimum temperatures (°C);
PRECIP is the total precipitation (liquid and equivalent liquid of frozen precipitation)
for the month (mm);
SUN is the total sunshine duration for the month (hr);
CLD is the mean cloud amount for the month (percent of sky cover);
RH is the mean relative humidity for the month (percent);
SNOW is the number of days in the month with measurable snow cover;
WDIR is the dominant (most frequent) wind direction observed over the month,
measured in 22.5° increments of azimuth clockwise from north (0 indicates
calm winds, while 360 indicates a north wind);
WSPD is the mean wind speed for the month (m/s);
WFREQ is the dominant wind frequency for the month (percent);
EXMX is the extreme maximum temperature observed for the month (°C); and
EXMN is the extreme minimum temperature observed for the month (°C).
All of the above meteorological variables are expressed in tenths of their specified
units of measure (i.e., actual values are multiplied by 10 to yield an integer value). For example,
a value of "10132" for mean station pressure means the pressure is 1013.2 mb).
Missing data values are indicated by "-9999".
Flag Codes for the Data
RECF is a flag denoting whether any observations in the record have been corrected using
other sources or flagged as being suspect. The following codes indicate which
values have been flagged:
P = pressure;
T = one or more temperature;
R = precipitation total;
S = sunshine duration;
M = multiple parameters; and
blank = record contains no data flags.
PRESF is the pressure value flag. The codes are as follows:
T = the pressure departs from general monthly trends;
and
E = pressure values for this year suggest a prior or subsequent change
in barometer elevation not noted in the station history.
MEANTF is a flag denoting suspect values of mean monthly temperature. The codes are
as follows:
A = outlier value*; not consistent with other reported
mean temperature variables for this month;
B = outlier value; repeated the following month;
C = outlier value;
D = value is identical to previous month's value;
E = value does not fit typical monthly trends and is inconsistent with
other reported mean temperature variables for the month;
F = value is the highest ever reported for this month at this station
and is repeated the following month;
G = value is identical to previous month's value, which has been flagged
as being suspect; and
H = all three mean temperature variables have identical values over
May and June of the current year.
X = this temperature does not satisfy the relationship: MEANMN < MEANT < MEANMX,
whereas the other two mean temperature entries are considered valid.
Y = this temperature and at least one other mean temperature entry does not satisfy
the relationship: MEANMN < MEANT < MEANMX.
MXF is a flag denoting suspect values of monthly mean maximum temperature.
The codes include A, D, E, H, and X from the aforementioned MEANTF flag,
in addition to the following:
I = outlier value; likely caused by an error in sign.
MNF is a flag denoting suspect values of monthly mean minimum temperature. The
codes are A, D, E, H, X, and I from the aforementioned MEANTF and MXF
flags.
PRECF is the precipitation total flag. The codes are as follow:
R = total is identical to the previous or following month's total;
H = total is especially high for this station and is considered suspect;
and;
E = original total was considered suspect due to being especially
high for the station. It has been replaced by data from
Eischeid et al. (1991).
SUNF is the sunshine duration flag. The code used is:
R = total is identical to the previous or following month's total.
(See Sect.6 for further information on questionable sunshine
duration values.)
CLDF is the cloud amount flag. The code used is:
L = cloud amount is likely too low, as determined by a scatter plot of monthly sunshine
duration vs. cloud amount.
EXMXF is the monthly extreme maximum temperature flag. The code used is:
L = monthly extreme maximum temperature is lower than the monthly mean maximum
temperature, which is considered valid.
EXMNF is the monthly extreme minimum temperature flag. The code used is:
H = monthly extreme minimum temperature is higher than the monthly mean minimum
temperature, which is considered valid.
(*Defined as lying 3.5 or more standard deviations away from the mean value of the variable.)
The data flags RHF, SNOWF, WDIRF, WSPDF, and WFREQF
are not presently used in the 65-station data set (their record locations
contain only blanks). Relative humidity and number of days with snow cover data
contain no obvious outliers. However, the dominant wind direction
data were found to contain values of a questionable nature. Pre-1981 data contain a considerable number
of dominant wind directions of 0 (calm winds), whereas data from the period 1984-1988
contain none. (Dominant wind direction data for the period 1981-1983 are missing.)
The file may be read using the following FORTRAN format:
INTEGER STANUM, YEAR, TEMP(12)
CHARACTER*1 RFLAG, TFLAG(12)
READ (5,100,END=99) STANUM, YEAR, RFLAG,
+ (TEMP(I),TFLAG(I), I=1,12)
100 FORMAT(2I6,1X,A1,12(I6,1X,A1))
or by using the SAS format:
INPUT STANUM 2-6 YEAR 9-12 RFLAG $ 14
JAN 16-20 JANFL $ 22 FEB 24-28 FEBFL $ 30 MAR 32-36 MARFL $ 38
APR 40-44 APRFL $ 46 MAY 48-52 MAYFL $ 54 JUN 56-60 JUNFL $ 62
JUL 64-68 JULFL $ 70 AUG 72-76 AUGFL $ 78 SEP 80-84 SEPFL $ 86
OCT 88-92 OCTFL $ 94 NOV 96-100 NOVFL $ 102 DEC 104-108 DECFL $ 110
Stated in tabular form, using variable names from the SAS format, the contents include the
following:
Variable Variable Starting Ending
Variable type width column column
STANUM Numeric 5 2 6
YEAR Numeric 4 9 12
RFLAG Character 1 14 14
JAN Numeric 5 16 20
JANFL Character 1 22 22
FEB Numeric 5 24 28
FEBFL Character 1 30 30
MAR Numeric 5 32 36
MARFL Character 1 38 38
APR Numeric 5 40 44
APRFL Character 1 46 46
MAY Numeric 5 48 52
MAYFL Character 1 54 54
JUN Numeric 5 56 60
JUNFL Character 1 62 62
JUL Numeric 5 64 68
JULFL Character 1 70 70
AUG Numeric 5 72 76
AUGFL Character 1 78 78
SEP Numeric 5 80 84
SEPFL Character 1 86 86
OCT Numeric 5 88 92
OCTFL Character 1 94 94
NOV Numeric 5 96 100
NOVFL Character 1 102 102
DEC Numeric 5 104 108
DECFL Character 1 110 110
where
STANUM is the WMO station number;
YEAR is the year of the data; and
JAN-DEC are the monthly mean temperatures, given in tenths of degrees Celsius.
Flag Codes for the Data
RFLAG is a flag denoting whether any observations in the record are considered
suspect and/or have been flagged. The codes are as follows:
X = one or more temperatures have been flagged;
Z = the record is not recommended for use due to a spurious series of
at least three consecutive monthly values; and
blank = the record contains no data flags.
JANFL-DECFL are flags denoting suspect temperature values. The codes are as follows:
A = outlier value*; departs from typical monthly trends;
B = outlier value; likely caused by an error in sign;
C = outlier value; repeated the following month;
D = outlier value; identical to previous month's value;
E = outlier value;
F = value is identical to the previous month's value;
G = this station (No. 54852) shows identical July and August
temperatures over the period 1973-1975;
H = this station (No. 57411) shows two pairs of repeated temperatures
over the period May-August 1969. The values are not statistical
outliers, but their pattern makes them suspect; and
I = this station (No. 58734) has repeated temperatures for
October-December 1945; the December value is an outlier.
(*Defined as lying 3.5 or more standard deviations away from the mean value of the variable.)
INTEGER STANUM,YEAR,P(12)
CHARACTER*1 RFLAG, PFLAG(12)
READ (5,100,END=99) STANUM, YEAR, RFLAG, (P(I),PFLAG(I), I=1,12)
100 FORMAT(2I6,1X,A1,12(I6,1X,A1))
or by using the SAS format:
INPUT STANUM 2-6 YEAR 9-12 RFLAG $ 14
JAN 16-20 JANFL $ 22 FEB 24-28 FEBFL $ 30 MAR 32-36 MARFL $ 38
APR 40-44 APRFL $ 46 MAY 48-52 MAYFL $ 54 JUN 56-60 JUNFL $ 62
JUL 64-68 JULFL $ 70 AUG 72-76 AUGFL $ 78 SEP 80-84 SEPFL $ 86
OCT 88-92 OCTFL $ 94 NOV 96-100 NOVFL $ 102 DEC 104-108 DECFL $ 110
Stated in tabular form, using variable names from the SAS format, the contents include the
following:
Variable Variable Starting Ending
Variable type width column column
STANUM Numeric 5 2 6
YEAR Numeric 4 9 12
RFLAG Character 1 14 14
JAN Numeric 5 16 20
JANFL Character 1 22 22
FEB Numeric 5 24 28
FEBFL Character 1 30 30
MAR Numeric 5 32 36
MARFL Character 1 38 38
APR Numeric 5 40 44
APRFL Character 1 46 46
MAY Numeric 5 48 52
MAYFL Character 1 54 54
JUN Numeric 5 56 60
JUNFL Character 1 62 62
JUL Numeric 5 64 68
JULFL Character 1 70 70
AUG Numeric 5 72 76
AUGFL Character 1 78 78
SEP Numeric 5 80 84
SEPFL Character 1 86 86
OCT Numeric 5 88 92
OCTFL Character 1 94 94
NOV Numeric 5 96 100
NOVFL Character 1 102 102
DEC Numeric 5 104 108
DECFL Character 1 110 110
where
STANUM is the WMO station number;
YEAR is the year of the data; and
JAN-DEC are the monthly precipitation totals, given in tenths of millimeters.
Flag Codes for the Data
RFLAG is a flag denoting whether any observations in the record have been flagged as
being suspect. The codes are as follows:
X = one or more precipitation totals have been flagged; and
blank = the record contains no data flags.
JANFL-DECFL are flags denoting suspect precipitation values. The codes used are:
R = total is repeated over consecutive months. Totals less than or equal
to 1.0 mm repeated over two or more consecutive months were
not flagged. If all entries in records containing repeated totals
contained zeros in their tenths place, the repeated totals were only
flagged if they were greater than or equal to 10.0 mm. All non-zero
totals repeated over three consecutive months were flagged, regardless
of magnitude.
H = total has been deemed unrealistically high.
Eischeid, J. K, H. F. Diaz, R. S. Bradley, and P. D. Jones. 1991. A comprehensive precipitation data set for global land areas. DOE/ER-69017T-H1. Carbon Dioxide Research Division, U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, D.C.
Karl, T. R., and P. M. Steurer. 1990. Increased cloudiness in the United States during the first half of the twentieth century: Fact or fiction? Geophysical Research Letters 17(11):1925-28.
Kaiser, D. P. 1993. Cloud amount and sunshine duration in the People's Republic of China, 1954-88. Eighth Conference on Applied Climatology, 17-22 January 1993, Anaheim, CA. American Meteorological Society.
Riches, M. R., Zhao Jianping, W.-C. Wang, and Tao Shiyan. 1992. The U.S. Department of Energy and the People's Republic of China's Academy of Sciences Joint Research on the Greenhouse Effect: 1985-1991 Research Progress. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 73: 585-594.
Tao Shiyan, Congbin Fu, Zhaomei Zeng, and Qingyun Zhang. 1991. Two long-term instrumental climatic data bases of the People's Republic of China. ORNL/CDIAC-47, NDP-039. Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
INSTRUMENTATION AND DATA COLLECTION METHODS
OF STATIONS IN THE PRC 65-STATION CLIMATE DATABASE
The Beaufort Scale entries from these stations have been converted to m/s.
Observation times used in calculating the daily mean are unclear for the period prior
to 1951. Several different time groups were used over the period 1951-1953
(see station histories via Table 1).
For the period January 1954-July 1960, observations from 0100, 0700, 1300 and 1900 were used
(assumably LMST), and since August 1960, observations from 0200, 0800, 1400, and 2000
have been used (assumably BT). Wind direction is recorded in 22.5° increments of azimuth
clockwise from north (sixteen directions), with 0° indicating calm winds and 360° indicating a
north wind. The monthly dominant wind direction is simply the most frequent wind direction
observed during the month, and its frequency (percentage of the time it was observed) is the
dominant wind frequency.