HISTORICAL THERMOMETER EXPOSURES IN AUSTRALIA

Abstract

There is ample contempory evidence that most meteorological themometers in Australia were not exposed in Stevenson screens until very late in the nineteenth century, and in many places not until well into the twentieth century. There is also evidence, from a long-running comparision at Adelaide, that mean temperatures in a Stevenson screen are lower than in an open stand in Australian conditions. Thus, there are strong grounds for expecting that ninteenth century, and some early twentieth century, Australian temperatures are biased warm, relative to modern exposures.