The Peñalara Mountain Meteorological Network (1999–2014): description, preliminary results and lessons learned

This work describes a mountain meteorological network that was in operation from 1999 to 2014 in a mountain range with elevations ranging from 1104 to 2428 m in Central Spain. Additionally, some technical details of the network are described, as well as variables measured and some meta information p...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Durán Montejano, Luis, Rodríguez-Muñoz, Irene, Sánchez, Enrique
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2017
País:España
Institución:Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
Repositorio:Docta Complutense
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/94693
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/94693
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:551.5
Mountain meteorology
Mountain climate
Weather observation
Data validation
Meteorología (Física)
2509 Meteorología
Descripción
Sumario:This work describes a mountain meteorological network that was in operation from 1999 to 2014 in a mountain range with elevations ranging from 1104 to 2428 m in Central Spain. Additionally, some technical details of the network are described, as well as variables measured and some meta information presented, which is expected to be useful for future users of the observational database. A strong emphasis is made on showing the observational methods and protocols evolution, as it will help researchers to understand the sources of errors, data gaps and the final stage of the network. This paper summarizes mostly the common sources of errors when designing and operating a small network of this kind, so it can be useful for individual researchers and small size groups that undertake a similar task on their own. Strengths and weaknesses of some of the variables measured are discussed and some basic calculations are made in order to show the potential of the database and to anticipate future deeper climatological analyses over the area. Finally, the configuration of an automatic mountain meteorology station is suggested as a result of the lessons learned and the the common state of the art automatic measuring techniques.