Rothamsted Meteorological Station

  • Experiment Code: RMS
  • Experiment Site: Rothamsted
  • Description: Sir John Lawes, the founder of Rothamsted, realized that to understand crop growth, it was important to have records of the weather. Weather records also help us to understand the spread of crop diseases and insect behaviour. Rainfall and wind direction have been measured at Rothamsted every day since 1853, temperature since 1878 and sunshine since 1890, making this one of the longest sets of meteorological (weather) data available in the UK.
  • Date Start: 1843
  • Establisment Period End: 1951
  • Date End: Ongoing

Key Contacts

  • Andy Macdonald

  • Role: Principal Investigator
  • Organisation: Rothamsted Research
  • Address: West Common, Harpenden, Hertfordshire, AL5 2JQ, United Kingdom

  • Sarah Perryman

  • Role: Data Manager
  • Organisation: Rothamsted Research
  • Address: West Common, Harpenden, Hertfordshire, AL5 2JQ, United Kingdom

  • Margaret Glendining

  • Role: Data Manager
  • ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6466-4629
  • Organisation: Rothamsted Research
  • Address: West Common, Harpenden, Hertfordshire, AL5 2JQ, United Kingdom

Funding

Experimental Design

Site: Rothamsted Met station - Rothamsted

  • Experiment Site: Rothamsted
  • Description: Description of the Met Station
  • Management: More desctiption of met station / related to managment
  • Visit Permitted?: Yes
  • Visiting Arrangments: Contact Andy Macdonald
  • Elevation: 130 Metres
  • Geolocation:    51.806876, -0.360137

Datasets available

Title (hover for a longer description) Year of Publication Type DOI or Link Version

Weather data - 30 year means

Rothamsted 30-year mean meteorological data 1961-1990 2019 OA 10.23637/OARES30YrMeans6190 01
Rothamsted 30-year mean meteorological data 1971-2000 2019 OA 10.23637/OARES30YrMeans7100 01
Rothamsted 30-year mean meteorological data 1981-2010 2019 OA 10.23637/OARES30YrMeans8180 01
Rothamsted 30-year mean meteorological data 1991-2020 2021 OA 10.23637/OARES30YrMeans9120 01

Weather data - Rainfall

Total Monthly Rainfall at Rothamsted March 1853 - July 2018 2018 Other 10.23637/RMMRAIN5318 01
Mean monthly rainfall at Rothamsted October 1985-September 2017 2020 OA 10.23637/rmsMMRain10850917 01

Weather data - Temperature

Annual Mean Air Temperature Anomaly at Rothamsted 1878-2019 2020 OA 10.23637/rms-RMAAtempanomaly-1 01
Annual Mean Air Temperature at Rothamsted 1878-2019 2020 Other 10.23637/rms-RMAAtemp-02 02
Mean monthly temperature at Rothamsted October 1985-September 2017 2020 OA 10.23637/rmsmmtemp10850917 01
.

Images

ARG100 rain gauge within turf wallARG100 rain gauge within turf wall eRA curators
AnonometerAnonometer eRA curators
Below drainage gauge (bare soil percolation)Below drainage gauge (bare soil percolation) eRA curators
Campbell-Stokes Sunshine Recorder (discontinued)Campbell-Stokes Sunshine Recorder (discontinued) eRA curators
Drainage gauges (bare soil percolation)Drainage gauges (bare soil percolation) eRA curators
Historical document rain gaugeHistorical document rain gauge eRA curators
Historical document rain gauges with laddersHistorical document rain gauges with ladders eRA curators
Inside Stevenson Temperature Screen (Max/Min Thermometers; Dry and Wet Bulb)Inside Stevenson Temperature Screen (Max/Min Thermometers; Dry and Wet Bulb) eRA curators
Manual recording of Wind RunManual recording of Wind Run eRA curators
Met Office tipping bucket rain gauge (now replaced)Met Office tipping bucket rain gauge (now replaced) eRA curators
Soil thermometers under grass at 30, 50 & 100cm (dicontinued - replaced by electronic sensors)Soil thermometers under grass at 30, 50 & 100cm (dicontinued - replaced by electronic sensors) eRA curators
Stevenson Temperature ScreenStevenson Temperature Screen eRA curators
Stevenson Temperature Screen (closed)Stevenson Temperature Screen (closed) eRA curators
Turf wall and wind towerTurf wall and wind tower eRA curators
Wind instrumentsWind instruments eRA curators
Wind recording instrumentsWind recording instruments eRA curators
Wind tower - 10m mast with Wind Vane, Wind Speed Cup Anemometer and Radiation PyranometerWind tower - 10m mast with Wind Vane, Wind Speed Cup Anemometer and Radiation Pyranometer eRA curators
Wind tower - 10m mast with Wind Vane, Wind Speed Cup Anemometer and Radiation PyranometerWind tower - 10m mast with Wind Vane, Wind Speed Cup Anemometer and Radiation Pyranometer eRA curators
ECN atmospheric chemistry instrumentECN atmospheric chemistry instrument eRA curators
AnemometerAnemometer eRA curators
Campbell Stokes Sunshine Recorder (discontinued) and Met Office Radiation PyranometerCampbell Stokes Sunshine Recorder (discontinued) and Met Office Radiation Pyranometer eRA curators
Centennial weather station presentation 2019Centennial weather station presentation 2019 eRA curators
Grass minimum sensor (type 107)Grass minimum sensor (type 107) eRA curators
Ladder down to rain gauge below 40inchLadder down to rain gauge below 40inch eRA curators
Large Temperature Screen with Max/Min/Dry bulb & Wet Bulb thermometers with ThermographLarge Temperature Screen with Max/Min/Dry bulb & Wet Bulb thermometers with Thermograph eRA curators
Looking into area below 40inchLooking into area below 40inch eRA curators
MK11 cylindrical rain gauge within turf wall enclosureMK11 cylindrical rain gauge within turf wall enclosure eRA curators
Met station turf wall foregroundMet station turf wall foreground eRA curators
Rain gaugesRain gauges eRA curators
Rothamsted Meteorological Station (Harpenden) (Met Office location Rothamsted No. 2)Rothamsted Meteorological Station (Harpenden) (Met Office location Rothamsted No. 2) eRA curators
Rothamsted rain & drain gauges etching in The Gardeners Chronicle 1877Rothamsted rain & drain gauges etching in The Gardeners Chronicle 1877 eRA curators
Soil temperature measurment under grass at 30, 50 & 100cm (discontinued - replaced by electronic sensors)Soil temperature measurment under grass at 30, 50 & 100cm (discontinued - replaced by electronic sensors) eRA curators
Stevenson Temperature ScreenStevenson Temperature Screen eRA curators
Temperature stripes 1878 2019 based on Rothamsted Mean Annual TemperatureTemperature stripes 1878 2019 based on Rothamsted Mean Annual Temperature eRA curators
Thousandth of an acre rain gauge with stainless steel funnel (previously lead)Thousandth of an acre rain gauge with stainless steel funnel (previously lead) eRA curators
Turf wall and rain gaugesTurf wall and rain gauges eRA curators
Wind Vane, Wind Speed Cup Anemometer and Radiation Pyranometer at top of 10m mastWind Vane, Wind Speed Cup Anemometer and Radiation Pyranometer at top of 10m mast eRA curators
Wind Vane, Wind Speed Cup Anemometer and Radiation Pyranometer at top of 10m mastWind Vane, Wind Speed Cup Anemometer and Radiation Pyranometer at top of 10m mast eRA curators

More about Rothamsted Met Station

Extreme weather at Rothamsted
Weather 30-year means at Rothamsted
History of weather recording at Rothamsted

Key References

2021

  • Addy, J. W. G. , Ellis, R. H. , Macdonald, A. J. , Semenov, M. A. and Mead, A.(2021) "The impact of weather and increased atmospheric CO2 from 1892 to 2016 on simulated yields of UK wheat", J. R. Soc. Interface, 18, 20210250
    DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2021.0250

2020

  • Addy, J. W. G. , Ellis, R. H. , Macdonald, A. J. , Semenov, M. A. and Mead, A.(2020) "Investigating the effects of inter-annual weather variation (1968-2016) on the functional response of cereal grain yield to applied nitrogen, using data from the Rothamsted Long-Term Experiments", Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 284, 107898
    DOI: 10.1016/j.agrformet.2019.107898
Rothamsted
BBSRC

For further information and assistance, please contact the e-RA curators, Sarah Perryman and Margaret Glendining using the e-RA email address: era@rothamsted.ac.uk