TY - JOUR
T1 - Development of a submonthly temperature product to monitor near-real-time climate conditions and assess long-term heat events in the United States
AU - Rennie, Jared
AU - Bell, Jesse E.
AU - Kunkel, Kenneth E.
AU - Herring, Stephanie
AU - Cullen, Heidi
AU - Abadi, Azar M.
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgments. This work was supported by NOAA through the Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites–North Carolina under Cooperative Agreement NA14NES432003. Funding was also provided by The Litterman Family Foundation. The authors thank Michael Kruk, Matthew Menne, and the anonymous reviewers for their comments.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 American Meteorological Society.
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - Land surface air temperature products have been essential for monitoring the evolution of the climate system. Before a temperature dataset is included in such analyses, it is important that nonclimatic influences be removed or changed so that the dataset is considered to be homogenous. These inhomogeneities include changes in station location, instrumentation, and observing practices. Many homogenized products exist on the monthly time scale, but few daily and weekly products exist. Recently, a submonthly homogenized dataset has been developed using data and software from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information. Homogeneous daily data are useful for identification and attribution of extreme heat events. Projections of increasing temperatures are expected to result in corresponding increases in the frequency, duration, and intensity of such events. It is also established that heat events can have significant public health impacts, including increases in mortality and morbidity. The method to identify extreme heat events using daily homogeneous temperature data is described and used to develop a climatology of heat event onset, length, and severity. This climatology encompasses nearly 3000 extreme maximum and minimum temperature events across the United States since 1901. A sizeable number of events occurred during the Dust Bowl period of the 1930s; however, trend analysis shows an increase in heat event number and length since 1951. Overnight extreme minimum temperature events are increasing more than daytime maximum temperatures, and regional analysis shows that events are becoming much more prevalent in the western and southeastern parts of the United States.
AB - Land surface air temperature products have been essential for monitoring the evolution of the climate system. Before a temperature dataset is included in such analyses, it is important that nonclimatic influences be removed or changed so that the dataset is considered to be homogenous. These inhomogeneities include changes in station location, instrumentation, and observing practices. Many homogenized products exist on the monthly time scale, but few daily and weekly products exist. Recently, a submonthly homogenized dataset has been developed using data and software from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information. Homogeneous daily data are useful for identification and attribution of extreme heat events. Projections of increasing temperatures are expected to result in corresponding increases in the frequency, duration, and intensity of such events. It is also established that heat events can have significant public health impacts, including increases in mortality and morbidity. The method to identify extreme heat events using daily homogeneous temperature data is described and used to develop a climatology of heat event onset, length, and severity. This climatology encompasses nearly 3000 extreme maximum and minimum temperature events across the United States since 1901. A sizeable number of events occurred during the Dust Bowl period of the 1930s; however, trend analysis shows an increase in heat event number and length since 1951. Overnight extreme minimum temperature events are increasing more than daytime maximum temperatures, and regional analysis shows that events are becoming much more prevalent in the western and southeastern parts of the United States.
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U2 - 10.1175/JAMC-D-19-0076.1
DO - 10.1175/JAMC-D-19-0076.1
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85077845471
SN - 1558-8424
VL - 58
SP - 2653
EP - 2674
JO - Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology
JF - Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology
IS - 12
ER -