The World Meteorological
Organisation (WMO) has recently awarded Eskdalemuir Observatory Centennial
Observing Station status. The WMO issues this status to nominated stations that
have provided long-term, high-quality climate records that tell current and
future generations about climate variability and trends.
Eskdalemuir
Observatory is owned by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and operated
by the British Geological Survey (BGS). Eskdalemuir Observatory is part of the
UK Met Office official observation network and the data that it provides is available in WOW. The observatory is also part of the Global Climate
Observing System(GCOS); one of only 8 observing stations in the UK incorporated into this important climate monitoring network (Stornoway,
Aldergrove, Waddington, Rothamsted, Camborne, Lerwick, Eskdalemuir and Shawbury are all classed as GCOS surface network stations).
Centennial celebrations
On Thursday 18 July, nearby residents and former staff
joined BGS and the Met Office to celebrate its new status and find out more
about the world-leading science that takes place in the observatory’s offices
and bunkers.
Stuart Goldstraw (Head of Observations Operations, Met Office) & Pete Harvey (Senior Met Officer, Eskdalemuir). |
Chris Turbitt from BGS (the Observatory Manager) said,
"We were pleased that members of the local community and former staff
members, both BGS and Met Office, were able to join us to celebrate. The
observatory opened in 1908 and since then has been a renowned site for
magnetic, seismic and of course meteorological observations."
Meanwhile, Stuart Goldstraw (Head of
Observations Operations at the Met Office) said, “Eskdalemuir
Observatory provides meteorological data for a global network of high quality
sites, as well as forming part of the Met Office Climate and Synoptic network.
We are proud this partnership of over 100 years has been acknowledged with the
award of WMO centennial observing station status”.
Visitors to
Eskdalemuir were given a tour round the observatory and enjoyed a series of
talks from BGS and Met Office experts.
The History of Eskdalemuir Observatory
Eskdalemuir
Observatory is world-renowned as a leading geophysical and meteorological
observation station. This reputation comes from the long, unbroken, high
quality recordings that have been made possible by a remote site that was well
chosen and has remained almost unchanged for over a century.
The main building
seen from near the Underground Magnetograph House (note the anemometer mast on the roof). |
The origins of the Observatory can be traced to London in the
mid-19th century when measurements of the Earth’s magnetic field began at Kew
Observatory. By the end of the 19th century, these measurements had become
unsustainable in London as the electrification of the capital's tram network
caused increasing disturbance to the magnetic records.
By 1903, The Royal Society had identified a new
site for the Kew instruments - on Nether Cassock Farm in the Parish of
Eskdalemuir; a location sufficiently far enough away from existing and future
sources of electrical and magnetic interference (including the national railway
network). The land was provided in trust by the Duke of Buccleuch to His
Majesty’s Department of Works and Public Buildings, “for an Observatory or
other scientific purposes, and for no other purpose what so ever”.
Aerial view of Eskdalemuir Observatory. |
The labour required to build and run the new observatory was
assigned to the recently formed National Physical Laboratory, assisted by a
substantial contribution from a London tram company. Many of the early
magnetometers were transferred from Kew Observatory and the magnetic
measurements were supplemented in the initial years by atmospheric electrical
measurements and daily measurements of air temperature and pressure.
Meteorological measurements began officially in 1910 (when
the Meteorological Office took over operation of the Observatory). One of the
early geophysics experiments in the post-World War One years involved laying a
series of large loops of copper wire around the Observatory (and nearby
Dumfedling Hill) to detect geomagnetically induced currents, although a more
important role of these induction loops was to evaluate the feasibility of
detecting passing submarines in the vicinity of estuaries and harbours.
Seismometers were housed in the main observatory building
until 1925. However, a dedicated vault was built on site in 1964 to accommodate
instruments of the World-Wide Standardized Seismograph Network (and latterly
BGS and US Project IDA instruments); Eskdalemuir being one of the quietest
seismic stations in the world at long periods. Recordings have since been used
to locate events such as the magnitude 4.7 Longtown earthquake (Boxing Day,
1979), and by air crash investigators timing the Lockerbie disaster (1988).
View of part of the Eskdalemuir enclosure, showing the entrance to the underground room where seismological & magnetic
instruments were kept.
|
Management of the Observatory passed from the Meteorological
Office to the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) in 1967, and by 1974,
staff numbers peaked at just under 30 (due to the wide range of science being
carried out on site). However, with the advent of automatic instruments and
digital communications in the 1980s, staff numbers gradually decreased. Today,
one BGS member of staff remains, alongside two Met Office staff members.
The variety of geophysical measurements has, however,
continued to expand. Eskdalemuir is well regarded as a pristine measuring
environment, hosting continuous GNSS monitoring, magnetic induction coils,
geo-electric probes, absolute gravimeters and VLF radio detection – studying
physical phenomena from the core of the Earth to the ionosphere and beyond.
Today, magnetic recordings are used in real-time to navigate drilling for oil
and gas below the North Sea and assessing the effect of space weather events on
the electricity distribution network. Although the applications have changed,
the fact that the site and the measurements made there are as relevant today as
they were over a century ago is a testament to those scientists who made the
decision to establish an observatory at Eskdalemuir.