Comparative analysis of archived and current national temperature trends

Abstract

Meteorological study is a science that deals with all the parameters of weather, such as atmospheric temperature and humidity, which leads to weather forecasting. Previously in Malta, the meteorological station was located in Valletta, which roughly was in operation between 1900 and 1960. This building was enhanced by a number of equipment that collects meteorological data, such as temperature, wind and humidity data. In fact, the aim of this dissertation is to complete the data rescue process for the historical temperature data charts, with the objective to compare the archived data with the current national temperature trends. Such comparative aspect will be significant to increase the long time-series of patterns for the atmospheric temperature. Furthermore, historical data inputted was compared with 1957 to 2015 long time-series captured from climate station WMO 16597. The monthly mean temperature data of this dissertation dataset of 1909 to1957, considering the number of data gaps in between, which show no trend series in all the 12 months, so that alternative hypothesis is rejected. However, this data was compared with the climate norms of 1961 to 1990, according to each month within the three variables minimum, maximum and average temperature. The data rescued for the annual mean temperature trend was also compared with the annual mean temperature of 1957 to 2015 dataset. Such analysis using the Mann-Kendall test illustrates a significant positive trend at 95% confidence level, where the temperature continuously increases by time; therefore, the alternative hypothesis is accepted. Such historical data, which has been digitized and considered as reliable, resulted in a long time-series dataset, which can then be used for climatological studies. Similarly climate change scenarios could be used for adaptation measures in the event that climate change happens in the foreseeable present.