Summary of meteorological observations for the year 2022 made at the Italy Costa Rica Meteoclimatic and Biological Station Karen Mogensen Reserve, Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica
Luca Lombroso, AMPRO Meteorologist
Geophysical Observatory of DIEF UNIMORE and volunteer Foreste per Semper OdV
The mean temperature of the year 2022 at the meteorological station at the Karen reserve, installed at the Italia Costa Rica biological and meteorological station, it’s 25.8°C, the total rainfall in the year was 2151.6 mm.
Before analyzing the climatic anomalies, it should be emphasized that the weather station functioned regularly during the year, thanks to the maintenance intervention carried out in February 2022 by Luca Lombroso, AMPRO meteorologist and voluntary of Foreste per sempre OdV. During the year, there were only 21 days of interruption in measurements due to a problem with the data logger resulting from power outage in the laboratory of the biological station. The problem with the weather station was solved thanks to the interventions of Dario Sonetti and Giuseppe Romeo of Foreste per Sempre OdV. Furthermore, during 2022 the historical and real-time data of the weather station will be included in the new weather database of the Geophysical Observatory of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, developed by Sofia Costanzini of the LARMA Laboratory.
It is a result that we consider flattering and important, as we will see from the following data. In fact, the measurement conditions are particular, the logistics are not easy, but at the same time, 6 years after the installation, we are already starting to have some interesting data that are starting to show signs of climate change.
In detail, the mean temperature of 2022 is slightly below the average, by -0.1°C compared to the available period of our measurements, 2017-2022 (25.9°C). However, it should be noted that the year was characterized by a long phase of the La Niña phenomenon, which involves a momentary cooling of the temperature of the tropical Pacific Ocean with consequent impacts on the atmosphere in tropical areas including, of course, Costa Rica.
The temperatures extremes of the year indicate a lowest minimum temperature of 15.7°C on February 21, 2022, the highest temperature being the maximum temperature of March 26, 36.3°C. Since the beginning of our measurements, in 2017, the coldest day is 4 February 2018 with minimum temperature 14.4°C, the hottest day is 7 April 2020 with maximum temperature 37.4°C.
Unfortunately, the total precipitation is not directly comparable with the average, due to the aforementioned interruption of measurements. However, we note the heavy rainfall in the month of June, 578.2 mm and above all in November, which should see the end of the rainy season and which instead had 285.2 mm with 23 rainy days.
The rainiest day of the year was 8 June 2022 with 103.8 mm, in our measurements the maximum daily rainfall is 244.4 mm on 4 October 2018
Among other data, we count 214 “warm days” with maximum temperature above 30°C, a total solar radiation (radiance exposure) of 4020.6 MJ/m2 and a UV-B exposure of 3746 MEDs.
As a first analysis of climate trends updated to 2022, we already note an excellent correlation between our measurements and the El Nino – La Nina cycles. Furthermore, in just 6 years of historical series, an overall warming trend is already observed. The details will be analyzed and shown in future works, and could also be the basis of scientific publications.
These data therefore encourage us to continue the monitoring project, with an eye to the future to evaluate possible projects that allow us to consolidate the experience and in the future to improve the instrumentation by guaranteeing its continuous maintenance. To this end, it is essential to improve the reliability of the internet connection as well as upgrade the electrical system of the laboratory of the Italia Costa Rica station.
