Most of the data used by all the global temp agencies is the same dataset so the different products are only independent as far as the algorithms used to homogenize the figures. BEST uses some additional data but it is principally built on the same numbers.
Rural stations are considered better because they are less contaminated by UHI and give a cleaner signal. After 2000 Hansen and GISS went to night brightness to classify rural and urban areas. This would be reasonable if GPS locations were accurate. But often they are not. You would think that organizations with billion dollar budgets could afford to check the coordinates but that is not the case. Many stations are off by kilometers, some by thousands.
Previously I posted on a Russian station that was classified as rural even though it was in a city built up around an aluminum smelter. Why? Because the original coordinates are now in a reservoir behind a dam to produce the electricity needed. Bad enough that one station is fucked up but that station is used to 'homogenize' all the other stations within hundreds of kilometers.
There are other examples in the States where the coordinates are off enough to place the station in nearby lakes rivers and oceans. You would think common sense would catch these mistakes but many remain on the books even after they have been pointed out.
The recent Paraguay fiasco led me to check on the coordinates of one of main stations involved. It put the station across the river into a different country.
Anyone who takes the easy way out by assuming that everything is just fine because the experts say so would be sorely disappointed if they checked into things more closely.
Rural stations are considered better because they are less contaminated by UHI and give a cleaner signal. After 2000 Hansen and GISS went to night brightness to classify rural and urban areas. This would be reasonable if GPS locations were accurate. But often they are not. You would think that organizations with billion dollar budgets could afford to check the coordinates but that is not the case. Many stations are off by kilometers, some by thousands.
Previously I posted on a Russian station that was classified as rural even though it was in a city built up around an aluminum smelter. Why? Because the original coordinates are now in a reservoir behind a dam to produce the electricity needed. Bad enough that one station is fucked up but that station is used to 'homogenize' all the other stations within hundreds of kilometers.
There are other examples in the States where the coordinates are off enough to place the station in nearby lakes rivers and oceans. You would think common sense would catch these mistakes but many remain on the books even after they have been pointed out.
The recent Paraguay fiasco led me to check on the coordinates of one of main stations involved. It put the station across the river into a different country.
Anyone who takes the easy way out by assuming that everything is just fine because the experts say so would be sorely disappointed if they checked into things more closely.
