Station location: 62°12'S, 58°58'W, Fildes Peninsula, King George Island, South Shetland Islands.
WMO identification: 89050
Data in black are derived from the READER dataset and are calculated from 6-hourly synoptic data. Values in red, from 2006 onwards, have been provided by Dr Victor Lagun of the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI), St Petersburg; they are also believed to have been calculated from synoptic data but have not been checked by the READER team. It is possible that values in red may be updated in the future.
Note data before March 1968, in blue, are proxy data from Jones & Reid (2001) and should be considered a tentative estimate at best: they are included for completeness. The following, on how these data were produced, is taken from the original Jones & Limbert (1987) report:
"Composed of Deception Island (1944 - Nov. 1967; 62°59'S, 60°34'W) ... For temperature, Bellingshausen is cooler and 0.3°C was deducted from the whole Deception Island record. No seasonal cycle of corrections was considered necessary. Data for the months December 1967 - March 1968 was infilled from the Chilean bases of Presidente Aguirre Cerda (62°56'S, 60°36'W) and Bernado O'Higgins"
Jones, P.D. and P.A. Reid. 2001: A Data Bank of Antarctic Surface Temperature and Pressure Data. ORNL/CDIAC-27 NDP-032. Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy, Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
This report can be accessed here.
Go straight to the data.
(i) Annual, seasonal and monthly temperature statistics for Bellingshausen
These data are updated monthly and are derived only from actual Bellingshausen observations beginning in March 1968. With regard to summer (DJF) the year refers to the December.
| Annual/Season/Month | Mean (°C) | σ (°C) | Min. (°C) | q0.25 (°C) | q0.75 (°C) | Max. (°C) | Period | n |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calendar year | −2.3 | 0.8 | −4.0 | −2.8 | −1.7 | −0.7 | 1969-2011 | 43 |
| Autumn | −1.7 | 1.1 | −4.0 | −2.4 | −1.1 | +0.6 | 1968-2012 | 45 |
| Winter | −6.1 | 1.9 | −10.5 | −7.7 | −4.4 | −1.8 | 1968-2012 | 45 |
| Spring | −2.7 | 0.9 | −4.7 | −3.3 | −2.3 | −0.9 | 1968-2012 | 45 |
| Summer | +1.2 | 0.5 | +0.3 | +0.9 | +1.6 | +2.0 | 1968-2011 | 44 |
| January | +1.5 | 0.6 | +0.1 | +1.1 | +2.1 | +2.8 | 1969-2012 | 44 |
| February | +1.6 | 0.7 | +0.2 | +1.1 | +2.1 | +2.7 | 1969-2012 | 44 |
| March | +0.4 | 0.9 | −1.8 | −0.1 | +0.9 | +2.6 | 1968-2012 | 45 |
| April | −1.8 | 1.5 | −4.8 | −2.8 | −0.7 | +0.9 | 1968-2012 | 45 |
| May | −3.6 | 2.0 | −8.7 | −5.2 | −2.4 | −0.8 | 1968-2012 | 45 |
| June | −5.6 | 2.1 | −9.6 | −7.2 | −4.2 | −1.2 | 1968-2012 | 45 |
| July | −6.5 | 3.0 | −13.8 | −8.1 | −4.3 | −1.1 | 1968-2012 | 45 |
| August | −6.2 | 2.3 | −11.5 | −7.8 | −4.5 | −2.1 | 1968-2012 | 45 |
| September | −4.3 | 1.7 | −8.1 | −5.6 | −3.2 | −1.3 | 1968-2012 | 45 |
| October | −2.6 | 1.2 | −6.0 | −3.3 | −1.8 | −0.8 | 1968-2012 | 45 |
| November | −1.1 | 0.8 | −2.9 | −1.8 | −0.5 | +0.3 | 1968-2012 | 45 |
| December | +0.4 | 0.6 | −1.4 | +0.1 | +0.9 | +1.8 | 1968-2011 | 44
|
Bellingshausen monthly temperature statistics: this plot shows the mean, quartiles and range for each month.
(ii) Annual, seasonal and monthly trends in the Bellingshausen surface temperature data
The trends listed below include 95% confidence intervals. The methodology is based upon:
Santer B.D., T.M.L. Wigley, J.S. Boyle, D. J. Gaffen, J.J. Hnilo, D. Nychka, D.E. Parker and K.E. Taylor. 2000: Statistical significance of trends and trend differences in layer-average temperature time series. Journal of Geophysical Research, 105, 7337-7356.
Briefly, an effective sample size is calculated based on the lag-1 autocorrelation coefficient of the regression residuals, This effective sample size is used for the computation of the standard error and in indexing the critical values of the Student''s t distribution.
The significance level of the trend is given if it is less than 10%, 5% or 1%. With regard to summer (DJF) the year refers to the December.
| Annual/Season/Month | Annual trend (°C a−1) | Significance (%) | Period | n |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calendar year | +0.0221 ± 0.0167 | 5 | 1969-2011 | 43 |
| Autumn | +0.0262 ± 0.0372 | - | 1968-2012 | 45 |
| Winter | +0.0327 ± 0.0399 | - | 1968-2012 | 45 |
| Spring | +0.0041 ± 0.0196 | - | 1968-2012 | 45 |
| Summer | +0.0094 ± 0.0106 | 10 | 1968-2011 | 44 |
| January | +0.0130 ± 0.0161 | - | 1969-2012 | 44 |
| February | +0.0133 ± 0.0147 | 10 | 1969-2012 | 44 |
| March | +0.0182 ± 0.0198 | 10 | 1968-2012 | 45 |
| April | +0.0011 ± 0.0455 | - | 1968-2012 | 45 |
| May | +0.0594 ± 0.0573 | 10 | 1968-2012 | 45 |
| June | +0.0299 ± 0.0498 | - | 1968-2012 | 45 |
| July | +0.0129 ± 0.0627 | - | 1968-2012 | 45 |
| August | +0.0552 ± 0.0496 | 5 | 1968-2012 | 45 |
| September | +0.0054 ± 0.0492 | - | 1968-2012 | 45 |
| October | +0.0045 ± 0.0239 | - | 1968-2012 | 45 |
| November | +0.0023 ± 0.0135 | - | 1968-2012 | 45 |
| December | +0.0019 ± 0.0112 | - | 1968-2011 | 44
|
Calendar year
Autumn (MAM)
Winter (JJA)
Spring (SON)
Summer (DJF)
JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC ANN
1944 0.7 -0.5 1.6 0.4 -4.0 -8.3 -7.6 -8.2 -7.1 -4.0 -1.2 0.2 -3.2
1945 1.4 3.0 -0.6 -4.4 -5.1 -11.5 -13.0 -10.9 -6.2 -2.5 -2.8 0.5 -4.3
1946
1947 0.7 1.8 1.0 -1.9 -4.2 -7.1 -5.7 -6.2 -6.0 -2.9 -0.1 -0.5 -2.6
1948 1.4 0.1 -0.4 -3.1 -5.0 -6.2 -11.6 -9.3 -6.8 -2.6 -5.0 -0.6 -4.1
1949 -0.1 -1.1 -1.8 -6.6 -4.8 -9.1 -10.0 -10.8 -7.7 -3.6 -3.1 -0.2 -4.9
1950 0.2 -0.6 0.3 -3.8 -6.6 -7.9 -10.0 -10.9 -5.6 -2.2 -1.0 0.9 -3.9
1951 0.6 1.6 1.0 1.0 -2.7 -4.7 -7.2 -5.8 -6.1 -2.9 -1.6 1.2 -2.1
1952 1.5 1.3 -1.9 -3.6 -7.7 -5.2 -8.2 -5.6 -2.9 -2.8 -1.6 -0.3 -3.1
1953 0.3 0.2 -1.7 -4.6 -5.7 -9.2 -7.6 -5.0 -4.6 -3.7 -1.5 0.9 -3.5
1954 0.4 0.9 -0.5 -0.7 -3.1 -7.7 -9.6 -13.3 -8.9 -1.5 -0.5 0.4 -3.7
1955 2.6 2.6 -0.2 -1.2 -2.5 -3.7 -4.2 -4.5 -2.7 -1.6 -2.5 -0.6 -1.5
1956 1.4 1.1 0.6 -0.9 -2.8 -1.9 -4.0 -2.7 -4.5 -2.1 -0.4 -0.1 -1.4
1957 0.9 2.1 0.8 0.1 -3.1 -8.6 -9.4 -7.6 -3.1 -5.9 -0.7 0.0 -2.9
1958 1.5 0.1 -0.4 -2.3 -7.5 -12.6 -13.4 -10.9 -9.0 -2.9 -0.2 -0.7 -4.9
1959 -0.1 -1.3 -1.0 -6.9 -8.1 -7.9 -13.5 -10.7 -6.4 -3.6 -2.8 -0.2 -5.2
1960 1.3 2.4 0.6 -4.6 -5.4 -6.0 -6.8 -7.0 -3.1 -2.5 -2.6 -0.2 -2.8
1961 1.8 0.8 -1.1 -3.4 -6.1 -9.5 -8.2 -9.2 -4.6 -2.7 -2.0 0.3 -3.7
1962 2.0 1.5 -0.6 -0.1 -1.5 -4.2 -4.0 -4.3 -3.4 -1.0 -1.3 1.0 -1.3
1963 1.9 1.9 -0.8 -2.9 -2.2 -4.6 -5.1 -8.6 -6.5 -4.3 -0.9 0.3 -2.6
1964 1.0 1.5 0.0 -3.9 -3.7 -6.1 -7.9 -15.5 -4.5 -0.9 -0.1 1.1 -3.2
1965 2.2 2.0 2.4 -2.3 -3.0 -4.6 -7.0 -9.0 -3.5 -5.0 -0.9 -0.8 -2.5
1966 1.4 0.4 -0.2 -1.2 -6.5 -7.0 -11.8 -5.7 -5.7 -3.4 -1.4 -0.1 -3.4
1967 0.8 -0.4 0.5 -1.6 -7.2 -7.3 -6.4 -5.0 -4.3 -3.2 -2.2 -0.3 -3.0
1968 1.4 0.9 -0.4 -1.3 -5.5 -6.5 -4.0 -5.8 -3.9 -2.5 -0.8 0.5 -2.3
1969 0.5 0.3 -1.8 -3.7 -5.5 -9.6 -8.1 -7.2 -3.2 -5.1 -2.2 0.2 -3.8
1970 0.7 0.5 -1.1 -3.3 -7.5 -8.7 -3.7 -6.1 -1.5 -1.4 -0.3 0.4 -2.7
1971 1.6 1.0 0.7 -1.1 -6.6 -2.7 -4.5 -6.2 -4.3 -1.4 -0.3 -0.7 -2.0
1972 1.1 0.6 -0.3 -2.7 -3.2 -7.3 -5.7 -10.1 -4.4 -2.4 -1.3 1.0 -2.9
1973 0.1 1.2 0.2 -2.1 -5.8 -8.8 -6.8 -4.9 -5.6 -2.3 -0.8 0.5 -2.9
1974 1.4 2.2 1.3 -3.3 -3.8 -5.3 -5.0 -7.8 -5.1 -1.8 -1.4 1.1 -2.3
1975 1.3 1.0 0.6 -1.4 -4.6 -7.3 -11.5 -10.6 -4.7 -1.3 -1.3 0.2 -3.3
1976 1.0 1.9 0.8 -0.2 -2.6 -5.1 -10.3 -8.3 -6.2 -2.6 -0.6 -0.2 -2.7
1977 1.0 1.3 0.0 -0.7 -2.5 -4.8 -8.3 -8.1 -7.1 -3.4 -0.6 0.0 -2.8
1978 1.4 1.9 0.5 -0.9 -1.1 -4.9 -11.0 -7.8 -3.5 -2.0 -1.8 0.0 -2.4
1979 2.1 1.8 1.0 -0.4 -3.2 -5.2 -4.4 -5.9 -3.4 -3.0 -1.8 0.6 -1.8
1980 1.9 1.6 -0.1 -4.6 -3.0 -6.4 -11.9 -11.4 -7.9 -3.5 -2.8 0.0 -4.0
1981 0.9 1.8 -0.2 -1.0 -4.0 -4.4 -4.4 -9.5 -5.1 -4.6 -1.4 0.5 -2.6
1982 2.4 2.1 0.9 -0.1 -1.2 -3.0 -7.1 -6.0 -4.9 -3.4 -2.0 0.9 -1.8
1983 1.5 1.2 0.5 -0.7 -3.4 -4.9 -5.3 -3.1 -4.3 -2.7 -0.5 0.8 -1.7
1984 1.0 1.6 0.8 -1.8 -6.2 -4.7 -4.3 -3.5 -1.4 -3.1 -0.5 1.1 -1.7
1985 2.2 1.8 -0.7 -0.9 -4.1 -4.4 -3.1 -3.7 -1.5 -1.5 0.1 0.9 -1.2
1986 1.1 1.0 1.2 -1.9 -7.7 -7.3 -7.2 -7.3 -5.8 -2.8 -2.9 -0.5 -3.3
1987 0.8 1.0 0.1 -3.2 -5.6 -7.8 -13.8 -5.2 -6.7 -2.8 -0.4 0.7 -3.6
1988 1.3 2.3 -0.2 -1.4 -2.2 -7.2 -5.6 -8.9 -3.8 -3.3 -1.9 -0.2 -2.6
1989 1.3 2.2 2.1 -4.8 -1.3 -2.1 -1.1 -2.2 -3.1 -0.8 -0.1 1.1 -0.7
1990 2.3 2.7 1.0 -4.7 -5.2 -4.8 -5.6 -5.5 -3.6 -2.4 -1.1 0.2 -2.2
1991 1.6 0.6 -0.8 -2.8 -7.4 -9.6 -6.6 -7.3 -3.3 -3.7 -1.0 -0.2 -3.4
1992 2.4 1.4 -0.8 -0.6 -8.7 -8.6 -8.0 -4.9 -2.9 -3.4 -1.0 1.8 -2.8
1993 1.6 2.1 0.1 -1.3 -2.4 -4.2 -3.5 -4.2 -3.8 -2.4 -0.7 0.1 -1.6
1994 1.7 1.3 0.6 -1.4 -4.2 -4.2 -10.9 -4.4 -3.9 -6.0 -0.3 0.7 -2.6
1995 2.3 2.0 -0.1 -1.5 -2.6 -6.8 -13.1 -11.5 -6.5 -1.9 -1.3 0.7 -3.4
1996 1.6 2.4 1.2 -1.5 -2.6 -5.1 -3.8 -4.3 -2.0 -1.9 -0.5 0.8 -1.3
1997 2.8 2.1 1.7 -1.4 -1.7 -4.6 -6.5 -5.5 -7.3 -3.2 -2.5 0.5 -2.1
1998 2.4 2.3 1.1 0.9 -1.8 -1.2 -5.1 -6.8 -8.1 -2.3 -0.7 0.3 -1.6
1999 1.9 1.9 1.7 0.8 -0.8 -3.7 -3.4 -5.3 -5.6 -2.0 -0.2 1.0 -1.1
2000 1.8 1.9 0.8 0.0 -1.5 -2.4 -3.5 -6.5 -6.0 -2.0 -1.5 0.1 -1.6
2001 1.3 0.4 -0.1 -3.0 -1.3 -5.2 -7.0 -3.1 -3.0 -1.3 -0.6 1.0 -1.8
2002 2.1 2.4 -0.1 0.0 -5.7 -8.9 -6.8 -4.7 -3.2 -5.8 -1.7 0.3 -2.7
2003 1.6 2.1 -0.4 -0.7 -2.5 -7.2 -5.8 -2.1 -2.9 -2.5 -2.1 -1.4 -2.0
2004 1.1 1.5 0.7 -1.8 -2.5 -2.7 -3.7 -4.4 -4.4 -2.8 -0.7 0.3 -1.6
2005 1.3 1.9 0.1 -1.1 -3.3 -7.4 -6.1 -3.8 -2.4 -1.7 -0.8 0.0 -1.9
2006 2.7 2.5 2.6 -0.5 -0.8 -4.0 -4.2 -8.1 -4.7 -1.5 -0.7 1.1 -1.3
2007 2.0 1.8 -0.9 -3.8 -4.6 -7.2 -11.7 -5.5 -3.4 -4.0 -2.0 0.3 -3.2
2008 1.2 1.8 0.7 -1.7 -1.9 -3.4 -3.7 -5.1 -1.3 -1.3 -0.1 1.2 -1.1
2009 2.1 1.6 1.5 -1.8 -2.9 -6.9 -8.5 -8.4 -4.5 -2.7 -2.1 0.1 -2.7
2010 0.5 0.2 0.0 -2.2 -2.4 -2.4 -4.3 -4.5 -3.2 -0.8 0.3 -0.1 -1.6
2011 1.2 2.3 0.6 -4.2 -2.8 -7.1 -9.8 -7.8 -6.1 -1.8 -0.7 0.9 -2.9
2012 1.5 0.8 0.9 -4.2 -2.9 -6.7 -5.4 -4.6 -5.7 -3.8 -2.1
The AARI website with information about the Russian stations including
Bellingshausen.
The station was named after Fabian Gottleib von Bellingshausen (1778-1852), Russian explorer and naval
officer.An overview of Bellingshausen's expedition south of the Antarctic Circle in 1819 can
be found here.
An oblique aerial photograph of the station taken in 1987. The meteorological site can be
seen slightly right of centre immediately in front of the bend in the river channel (photo courtesy of Victor
Lagun).
Vertical aerial photography of the station and environs in March 1989 (taken by the Royal Navy, copyright United Kingdom
Hydrographic Office).
Bellingshausen in the sun ... well nearly! (photo courtesy of Victor Lagun).
A penguin's eye view of the main station buildings (photo courtesy of Victor
Lagun).
An earlier colour scheme (photo courtesy of Skip Novak).
The meteorological site taken in March 2000 (photo courtesy of Victor Lagun).
The meteorological station itself taken in February 1999 (photo courtesy of Peter Koronka).
The latest synoptic report from Bellingshausen station.
This web page was written to look good in MS Explorer 5.0+ using character entity references from HTML 4.0. Apologies if it doesn't quite work for you — anyway the data should be OK. Comments should be addressed to Dr Gareth Marshall at GJMA@bas.ac.uk.
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