The Atmospheric Temperature of 2010.

To compliment our recent analysis of the five global temperature datasets for the Earth’s surface, I add a similar analysis of three atmospheric temperature data sets. The same provisos apply in that much of this analysis is looking at data in the second or third decimal place and is physically superfluous in a measurement regime that has an accuracy of about 0.1 deg C. But since there are many claims, press releases and comments made about such data that do not observe this distinction the figures have not been rounded up.RSS dataThis is satellite-based microwave sounding data that commenced in 1979 and samples the lower Troposphere (basically the bottom 10 km) between 82.5 deg N and 70 deg S. Since 1979 it shows that most of the globe has warmed by 0.0 – 0.2 deg with the Arctic warming by a much larger amount, 0.5 – 0.6 deg. Note that the data does not include the Antarctic peninsula which measurements say is warming as well.For specific details of the observations see here:2010January; warmest on record. February; cooler than 98. March; warmest on record.April; cooler than 05, 98. May; cooler than 98. June; cooler than 98. August; warmest on record (almost same as 98). September; cooler than 98.October; cooler than 06, 05, 04, 03, 01, 98. November; cooler than 09, 06, 05, 02, 01.December; cooler than 06, 03, 01, 98, 97.Two MSU datasets of the lower Troposphere from the University of Alabama are also included.http://vortex.nsstc.uah.edu/data/msu/t2lt/tltglhmam_5.32010January; warmest on record.February; cooler than 98.March; warmest on record.April; cooler than 98.May; cooler than 98.June; cooler than 98.August; cooler than 98.September; cooler than 09.October; warmest on record (almost same as 06.)November; cooler than 09, 05.December; n/ahttp://vortex.nsstc.uah.edu/data/msu/t2lt/uahncdc.ltJanuary; warmest on record.February; cooler than 98.March; warmest on record.April; cooler than 98.May; cooler than 98.June; cooler than 98.August; cooler than 98.September; warmest on record.October; almost same as 06, cooler than 05, 03, 98.November; cooler than 09, 05.December; cooler than 09, 06, 03, 98.None of the above datasets change the basic assumption we arrived at in our previous post which is that 2010 was a warm year, cooler than 1998 and statistically indistinguishable from most of the years 2001-2009. Its temperature was strongly influenced by the strong El Nino for most of the year, with a La Nina cooling that started in the last third of the year.Feedback: david.whitehouse@netzerowatch.com