The Research Focus on Confronting Earth System Model Trends and Multidecadal Variability with Observations invites you to join its webinar series:

Title: Historical Temperature Records: From Bias Correction to Dataset

Speaker: Duo Chen - University of Southampton
When: November 16, 2026 15:00 UTC

You can Sign up the Webinars Mailing list here

Abstract:

Instrumental temperature records underpin our understanding of historical climate change, but measurements from land stations and ocean observations contain substantial biases and inhomogeneities, particularly in the early record. In this talk, I will review recent advances in homogenising these observations and introduce the Dynamically Consistent ENsemble of Temperature (DCENT), which combines improved bias corrections for sea-surface temperature (SST) and land air temperature with land–ocean inter-calibration to provide a consistent estimate of global temperature change since 1850.

I will then place these bias corrections in the broader context of long-term SST datasets, reviewing how the data landscape has evolved over recent decades and why different products differ.  These differences can materially affect scientific conclusions, including estimates of warming trends and climate variability, as well as model–data comparisons. Drawing on our recent BAMS assessment and the NCAR Climate Data Guide, the talk aims to provide a practical starting point for selecting the most appropriate SST product for specific scientific applications.