Creating a METAR Climatology Targeting Gradients and Trends Between METARS in the Southwestern U.S. to Examine Impacts on Southern California Weather
Jose Hurtado-Statz · NOAA Cooperative Science Center for Earth System Sciences and Remote Sensing Technologies II (CESSRST-II)
Fri, Oct 16, 2026 · 17:30 UTC
This project tests whether nearby National Weather Service METAR observations can fill missing pressure and temperature records at California's Sky Oaks Field Station, where measurements support carbon-cycle research. Linear mixed-effects models and inverse-distance interpolation combine archived observations from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet with USGS elevation data. The pressure model is statistically significant but its 1.21-millibar mean absolute error exceeds the one-millibar target. The temperature model finds no significant correlation and has a 2.60°F mean absolute error. An eddy-cov