September 26, 2024
USCRN technicians Mike Rutherford, Blake Randolph, Brandon McCloy and Tony Hamby from NOAA’s Air Resources Laboratory (ARL) and Oak Ridge Associated University (ORAU) spent September 15-18 installing one of ARL’s U.S. Climate Reference Network (USCRN) sites in Massachusetts. USCRN is a network of 141 stations across the U.S., including Alaska and Hawaii, that provide high-quality, long-term climate observations. This is the first station located in the state and brings the total number of states participating in this network to 46.
The new station installed at the Blue Hill Observatory and Science Center on the Blue Hills Reservation in Massachusetts will replace one in nearby Rhode Island that recently saw construction of a large, paved parking lot just over 300 feet away. The parking lot will affect the accuracy of the climate measurements from that site so is scheduled to be decommissioned the summer of 2026. By adding the station at Blue Hill, USCRN will maintain the number of stations in the network.
Changes in climate can influence economic prosperity, national security and human and environmental health. Businesses, citizens, communities and government and international organizations need accurate and high quality meteorological observations and forecasts. This information is vital to being able to assess and adapt to current and potential threats associated with climate variability. The USCRN translates its reference-grade measurements of critical climate measures such as air temperature, precipitation, winds, soil moisture and temperature, and surface temperature and solar radiation for decision-makers to understand how and why climate has changed and allow scientists to see what changes might occur in the future.
Blue Hill Observatory, located on the summit of Great Blue Hill, has maintained an extensive and high-quality record of local climate since 1885. President Emeritus of Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory, Dr. William Minsinger, gave his thoughts on the installation there:
“We are delighted that Blue Hill Observatory, in cooperation with ARL, NCEI and the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) has now been added to USCRN. Since we are located in DCR’s Blue Hill Reservation – a site unlikely to change over the next 50-100 years – Blue Hill datasets will continue to be an important long term climate resource, now in its third century of data collection.”
In 1893, DCR acquired the parklands encompassing the Great Blue Hill that later became the Blue Hills Reservation. Both the surrounding state park, which protects against encroachment, and the longevity of this site, make it an ideal location for USCRN, which provides long-term robust climate observations necessary to document climate change trends in the United States.
ARL’s Atmospheric Sciences and Modeling Division Director Howard Diamond said:
“Blue Hill has a storied history in the field of climate observing, and so the ability to install a USCRN station there is a great achievement that will ensure continuity of observational data from an undisturbed station.”
The Blue Hill station is already collecting measurements. Data from the Blue Hill site, as with all the other USCRN sites, are publicly accessible.
