A HISTORICAL ANNUAL TEMPERATURE DATASET FOR AUSTRALIA

A high-quality historical surface air temperature dataset, for mean an nual temperatures, has been prepared for Australia by adjusting data f or inhomogeneities caused by station relocations, changes in exposure and other discontinuities. An objective procedure was developed for de termining the necessary adjustments, Station history documentation was also used for this purpose, Time-series of annual mean maximum and me an minimum temperatures have been produced for 224 stations, Trends in annual mean maximum, minimum, the mean of the maximum and minimum, an d the range between maximum and minimum, have been calculated at each site, The dataset provides adequate spatial coverage of Australia back to 1910 for the production of all-Australia average temperatures, Max imum and minimum temperatures have increased since about 1950, with mi nimum temperatures increasing faster than the maximum temperatures.