Re-Visiting Tasmania'S Reference Climate Stations with A Semi-Objective Network Selection Scheme

A semi-objective weighting scheme is developed to rank stations from the Bureau of Meteorology's synoptic network according to different climate network needs. In particular, Tasmanian stations are ranked according to how well they meet the selection criteria for a Reference Climate Station. The selected stations are then compared with the official Tasmanian Reference Climate Stations in order to determine the usefulness of the scheme in selecting stations for such a network. Various combinations of weights are used in an attempt to assess which attributes are most important and which, if any, can be left out of consideration. An optimum combination for Reference Climate Station selection is determined and may be used in future to assess the relative importance of a Reference Climate Station threatened with closure. The semi-objective selection scheme developed was found to be a useful tool in the selection of stations for climate change purposes. This study also highlights the broader observational requirements for climate monitoring.