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Swiss National Basic Climatological Network

The Swiss National Basic Climatological Network (Swiss NBCN) connects the major ground-based stations within the MeteoSwiss monitoring network. It consists of 29 climate monitoring stations and 46 precipitation stations. The measurement series available in digital form for temperature, precipitation and hours of sunshine date back, in some cases, to the mid-nineteenth century.

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MeteoSwiss has been conducting systematic measurements of climate parameters at ground level in all parts of the country since 1864. Certain monitoring stations in this network are run with particular precision and are the bedrock for research into climate change. The particular ground-based monitoring stations in the network that are the most important from a climatological perspective together form the Swiss National Basic Climatological Network (Swiss NBCN). These provide the basis for long-term, continual high-quality climate data series.

29 climate stations and 46 precipitation stations

The Swiss NBCN consists of 29 climate stations and 46 precipitation stations.

Climate stations

  • Various meteorological parameters are recorded at climate stations. Long-term data series of temperature, precipitation, sunshine duration, air pressure, humidity and cloud cover at the 29 NBCN stations date back in some cases to the middle of the 19th century.
  • The data series for temperature (average, extremes), precipitation and sunshine duration from the NBCN stations have been completely digitized and homogenised back to the start of measurements.
  • Data series for all five parameters are mainly available from stations at an altitude of under 1,000 meters above sea level. In most cases, higher-altitude NBCN stations are only able to provide long data series for average temperature and precipitation.

Precipitation stations

  • Precipitation stations measure precipitation and, in some cases, snow (new snow, snow depth). Precipitation measurements began at most of the 46 NBCN stations in the second half of the 19th century.
  • The precipitation measurements from the Swiss NBCN stations have been completely digitized and homogenised back to the start of measurements.
  • Precipitation is an important meteorological parameter with a high level of local variability. Precipitation stations supplement the climate station measurement network for this variable.

Selection of the stations in the Swiss NBCN

The following criteria were of prime importance in forming the Swiss NBCN and selecting the individual ground-based stations:

  • Long-term data series of a number of meteorological parameters
  • A representative geographical spread of the different sites throughout Switzerland, covering all climate regions and altitudes
  • Affiliation with international monitoring networks.

References

Detailed information on the creation and operation of the Swiss climate monitoring network is provided in various MeteoSwiss publications and activity reports.