WegenerNet high-resolution weather and climate data from 2007 to 2020

Abstract

Abstract. This paper describes the latest reprocessed data record (version 7.1) over 2007 to 2020 from the WegenerNet climate station networks, which since 2007 have been providing measurements with very high spatial and temporal resolution of hydrometeorological variables for two regions in the state of Styria, southeastern Austria: (1) the WegenerNet Feldbach Region, in the Alpine forelands of southeastern Styria, which extends over an area of about 22 km × 16 km and comprises 155 meteorological stations placed on a tightly spaced grid with an average spatial density of 1 station per ∼ 2 km2 and a temporal sampling of 5 min, and (2) the WegenerNet Johnsbachtal, which is a smaller “sister network” of the WegenerNet Feldbach Region in the mountainous Alpine region of upper Styria that extends over an area of about 16 km × 17 km and comprises 13 meteorological stations and 1 hydrographic station at altitudes ranging from below 600 m to over 2100 m and with a temporal sampling of 10 min. These networks operate on a long-term basis and continuously provide quality-controlled station time series for a multitude of hydrometeorological near-surface and surface variables, including air temperature, relative humidity, precipitation, wind speed and direction, wind gust speed and direction, soil moisture, soil temperature, and others like pressure and radiation variables at a few reference stations. In addition, gridded data are available at a resolution of 200 m × 200 m for air temperature, relative humidity, precipitation, and heat index for the Feldbach region and at a resolution of 100 m × 100 m for the wind parameters for both regions. Here we describe this dataset (the most recent reprocessing version 7.1) in terms of the measurement site and station characteristics as well as the data processing, from raw data (level 0) via quality-controlled basic station data (level 1) to weather and climate data products (level 2). In order to showcase the practical utility of the data, we also include two illustrative example applications, briefly summarize and refer to scientific uses in a range of previous studies, and briefly inform about the most recent WegenerNet advancements in 2020 towards a 3D open-air laboratory for climate change research. The dataset is published as part of the University of Graz Wegener Center's WegenerNet data repository under the DOI https://doi.org/10.25364/WEGC/WPS7.1:2021.1 (Fuchsberger et al., 2021) and is continuously extended.

A Benchmark Data Set for Long-Term Monitoring in the eLTER Site Gesäuse-Johnsbachtal

“…based on the sand, silt, clay content of the soil [22] soil bulk density mean density of the mineral soil layer [22] soil pH classes of soil acidity (pH CaCl2) of mineralogical soils, inherently indicating the availability of nutrients [23] total organic C concentration concentration of organic carbon [23] CEC (cation exchange capacity) total nitrogen total concentration of nitrogen [23] soil base saturation base saturation of the mineralogical soil [23] particle size distribution particle size distribution of the geological substrate (upper layer), with focus on the matrix material (fine material), distinguishing between coarse material (g) and fine material (f+: clay, silt, f: silty, clayey sand, f−: sand) [20] soil infiltration rate average percolation capacity of organic (humus) and mineralogical soil combined with the subsoil substrate layers [24] Most of the atmospheric and hydrospheric variables included in the eLTER SOs are continuously measured as part of the WegenerNet (see variables with "/WEGC/" in doi string) by the Wegener Center for Climate and Global Change of the University of Graz. The WegenerNet Johnsbachtal comprises 13 meteorological stations distributed over different altitudes and one hydrological station (see Figure 2), with six different station operators [30]. The network concept, metadata information and first analysis have been published in a separate data paper [30].…”

“…The WegenerNet Johnsbachtal comprises 13 meteorological stations distributed over different altitudes and one hydrological station (see Figure 2), with six different station operators [30]. The network concept, metadata information and first analysis have been published in a separate data paper [30]. Data are made available via the data portal of the WegenerNet (https://wegenernet.org/portal/jbt/, accessed on 12 March 2024) where they are explained in detail.…”

The International Soil Moisture Network: serving Earth system science for over a decade

“…The WegenerNet, located in the foreland of the southeastern Austrian Alps, is a long-term weather and climate monitoring facility comprising 155 hydrometeorological stations in a dense grid, with one station every about 2 km 2 (Kirchengast et al, 2014;Fuchsberger et al, 2021). Together with a range of meteorological variables, such as temperature, humidity, precipitation, and wind, it also measures soil moisture and temperature at 12 stations.…”

Small Catchment Runoff Sensitivity to Station Density and Spatial Interpolation: Hydrological Modeling of Heavy Rainfall Using a Dense Rain Gauge Network

“…We used the IDW2 as reference, as it is also the most widely used [37]. In other studies in the WEGN region, the weighting power of 2 was also set for the precipitation interpolation [69,70] based on performance tests such as leave-one-station-out verifications on small-scale rainfall events. Nevertheless, if we use many stations, we see no relevant difference between the different weighting power of the IDW interpolations from about from the 52-Stations case onward (mean distance of around 2.5 km).…”