Rothamsted Long-Term Weather (RLTW) and its Application to Past and Future Agricultural Research

Abstract: Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, has one of the longest continuous sets of daily meteorological recordings in the UK. Rain and wind direction have been measured since 1853, temperature since 1878 and sunshine from 1890. Rothamsted sent returns to the UK Meteorological Office since at least 1878 until automation in 2004. In 2017, Rothamsted was recognised by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) as a Centennial Observation Station being one of the relatively small number of sites in the UK that has been recording reliable observations continuously for more than 100 years. Weather variables were recorded manually until the end of 2003; an automatic data logger was installed to record the data electronically from 1st January 2004.

We highlight the many varied applications of this long-term weather data for the Rothamsted Long-Term Experiments. These include evaluating variations in biomass and community composition of hay meadow flora, simulation of trends in soil organic carbon of the long-term experiments, the effects of drought stress on crops, whether bioenergy crops are water-limited, forecasting plant diseases and crop pests, investigating the effects of inter-annual variability on crop yield stability and the role of weather types on rainfall chemistry. We also present the application of Rothamsted Long-Term Weather (RLTW) in new projects at Rothamsted including net zero and resilient farming.

As concern about climate change increases these ongoing daily weather data provide the means to assess past trends and predict future impacts on agriculture.

Biography: Sarah has a diverse scientific background, having worked at Rothamsted Research for more than 25 years in agricultural science. She has spent the last 10 years curating and digitising the data from both the Rothamsted Long-Term Experiments and Rothamsted Meteorological Station. The electronic Rothamsted Archive (e-RA), plays host to these data and makes them freely available for users worldwide.