Reference Climatological Stations
The Reference Climatological Stations (RCS) network represents the first effort by NOAA to create and maintain a nationwide network of stations located only in areas where no changes in the surroundings are foreseen. Efforts to establish the network began in 1954 by the National Weather Service. The network became operational in 1966 with the selection of fifteen stations from a list of 28 candidate sites; six more were added as the network expanded. Most stations were located at university agricultural experiment stations. Core data elements include temperature, rainfall, and wind speed & direction. Some stations also measured evaporation and soil temperature. Observations were taken daily by volunteer observers, and were a subset of the extensive NWS Cooperative Observations network. Stations were assigned Cooperative Station IDs, but were provided with special forms on which to record wind speed and direction, elements not recorded at other Coop stations.
- Cite this dataset when used as a source.
- NCEI DSI 3230_01
- gov.noaa.ncdc:C01300
C01300
Other Access |
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Distribution Formats |
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Ordering Instructions | Contact NCEI for other distribution options and instructions. |
Distributor | NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
ncei.info@noaa.gov |
Dataset Point of Contact | Customer Engagement Branch
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information 1-828-271-4800 ncei.orders@noaa.gov |
Time Period | 1986-01-01 to 1986-09-30 (time interval: 1-day) |
Spatial Bounding Box Coordinates |
N: 50.0
S: 24.0
E: -66.0
W: -125.0
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Spatial Coverage Map |
General Documentation |
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Publication Dates |
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Dataset Progress Status | Complete - production of the data has been completed |
Data Update Frequency | Not planned |
Supplemental Information |
All data except wind data have been included in much larger Summary of the Day (DSI-3200) and Summary of the Month (DSI-3220) datasets, and are generally included in the GHCN-Daily homogenized dataset.
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Purpose | Provides in-situ climatological data for the study of climate variability. Data from these stations were less likely to be biased or contaminated by anthropogenic changes to the environment. |
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Theme keywords | Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Science Keywords
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Data Center keywords | Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Data Center Keywords
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Platform keywords | Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Platform Keywords
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Instrument keywords | Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Instrument Keywords
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Place keywords | Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Location Keywords
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Stratum keywords | Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Location Keywords
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Lineage Statement | Observations were taken by volunteer observers under the supervision of the National Weather Service. The NWS collected and submitted observation forms to NCDC, where the data were key-entered to produce this dataset. |
Processing Steps |
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Last Modified: 2023-06-23
For questions about the information on this page, please email: ncei.info@noaa.gov