Rainfall variations in south-eastern Australia part 2: A comparison of documentary, early instrumental and palaeoclimate records, 1788-2008

J Gergis; L Ashcroft

Journal article

Rainfall variations in south-eastern Australia part 2: A comparison of documentary, early instrumental and palaeoclimate records, 1788-2008

J Gergis, L Ashcroft

International Journal of Climatology | Published : 2013

DOI: 10.1002/joc.3639

Abstract

In part 1 of this study, Fenby and Gergis (Fenby C, Gergis J. 2012. A rainfall history of south-eastern Australia Part 1: comparing evidence from documentary and palaeoclimate records, 1788-1860. International Journal of Climatology) established a documentary chronology of droughts and wet years in south-eastern Australia (SEA) from first European settlement in 1788 until widespread meteorological observations begin in 1860. We now compare this newly developed documentary record to a five-station network of historical instrumental rainfall observations from the Sydney region for 1832-1859, and a 45-station rainfall network from a broader range of SEA locations over the 1860-2008 period. Afte..

View full abstract

University of Melbourne Researchers

Dr Joelle Gergis Author

Dr Linden Ashcroft Author

Related Projects (1)

Reconstructing pre-20th century rainfall, temperature and pressure for south-eastern Australia using palaeoclimate, documentary and early weather station data.

South-eastern Australia is in the grip of a severe water crisis due to the worst drought in recorded history and increasing temperatures. Th..

Grants

Awarded by Australian Research Council (ARC)

Awarded by Australian Research Council

Funding Acknowledgements

J.G. and L.A. are funded by an Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Project (LP0990151). Don Garden, David Karoly and Claire Fenby are thanked for helpful advice on earlier versions of the analysis. We are grateful to David Nash and three anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments on this manuscript.