...the Mauna Loa CO2 observatory concentration data.
The Mauna Loa data is dated, of course, and there is a fairly nice description of how the data is generated which is of interest to those who study analytical chemistry.
How we measure background CO2 levels on Mauna Loa.
The wet bulb map, which is from Columbia University could improve by adding a date to the map. I'll see if I can email them with that suggestion.
I have been accessing the Mauna Loa data for many years at least weekly, often daily, so I'm familiar with how that data changes, when it is updated, etc.
I only discovered this map recently myself, while researching the number of deaths associated with extreme heat deaths around the world. (I can't recall how I came to it.) My understanding is that the data is connected to weather stations around the world, and as there seem to be thousands, particular stations may be better or worse at reporting data, may operate at different rates of updates, and may or may not face technical challenges on particular days. As someone who works closely with analytical instrumentation, I know that one has to carefully check instrument performance, usually using acceptance criteria around precision and accuracy with calibrators.
Your question suggests an approach to checking "experimentally" how it is updated.
Let's choose 10 points to allow for the inherent variability of different observatories and their practices. We can use the computer wheel to enlarge the map, click on a point of interest. I am recording this data between 9:40A EDT (US) on 6/12/22 and 10:00A EDT (US).
I enlarge the map with the mouse wheel, drag and drop over the American Southwest, left click over a particular dot in the and find the station at Palm Springs California is reporting a "daily max" wet bulb temperature of 33°C. I then move the cursor the American East Coast, and click on a dot that turns out to be Dover Airforce base in Delaware, where the wet bulb temperature daily max is 30.4°C. Similarly, I move the cursor to the West Coast of Africa, on what appears to be the western most part of the continent, Léopold Sédar Senghor Airport, where the wet bulb temperature daily max is 30.3°C.
I have selected high values at these three stations. For a low value, I move to Iceland, Vestmannaeyjar airport on the extreme lower end. It shows 16.2°C. I move to Norway, Måsøy, Troms og Finnmark fylke, and find 19°C. I move to Ushuaia, Malvinas Argentinas International Airport near Tierra Del Fuego, and find a "daily max" wet bulb temperature of 18.5°C. At Inca Manco Cápac International Airport in Southeastern Peru, we see a temperature of 11.2°C. At Eminpaşa Mahallesi in Eastern Turkey I find a "daily max" wet bulb temperature of 22.5°C, an intermediate value. At Heilongjiang, the Northern most station in China, I see a "daily max" wet bulb temperature of 25°C, again intermediate.
Now I can come back at any time and see how these values have changed, and where they have changed. Note that the different number of significant figures at the different stations suggests variability. The more points I check, the better sense of the data I can discern.
It is very good science to not believe uncritically anything to check sources. You are demonstrating excellence. I am strongly inclined to believe this map is reasonably accurate, but it doesn't offer the same level of information about how the data is collected as does the Mauna Loa CO2 Observatory.
Thank you, again, for your excellent question and welcome to DU.
All the best,
NNadir
= new reply since forum marked as read
