Page 390 - Fundamentals of Air Pollution 3E

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Air Pollution Climatology

Climatology refers to averaged or analyzed meteorology over a period of
record, usually several years. Air pollution climatology involves meteoro-
logical variables that are important in air pollution. Alternatively, it is the
interpretation of air pollution data from a meteorological perspective.

I. SOURCES OF DATA

There are numerous sources of meteorological data. Hourly observations,
primarily to support forecast programs and aviation operations, are made
24 h a day. Observations throughout the world, including those of over
200 stations in the contiguous United States, are also made at other intervals,
when the weather is changing significantly. Since January 1, 1966, when
archiving of each hourly U.S. observation in a computer-compatible form
was discontinued as an economy move, only every third hour (00 GMT
plus every 3 h) has been readily accessible. The other observations are
available as reproductions of manually recorded observations and may be
specially prepared on magnetic tape at cost for computer use. The U.S.
archive for such data is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra-
tion's (NOAA) National Climate Center in Asheville, North Carolina. The
data available from the hourly observations are listed in Table 21-1.

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