Monthly Mean Surface Temperature At Vostok Station

Monthly mean surface temperature at Vostok station

1. Dataset information

Station location: 78°27'S, 106°52'E, central ice plateau, East Antarctica.

WMO identification: 89606

Data in black are derived from the READER dataset and are calculated from 6-hourly synoptic data. Values in red before 2003 are monthly figures from CLIMAT messages. Data in red from 2003 onwards have been provided by Dr Victor Lagun of the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI), St Petersburg; they are also believed to have been calculated from synoptic data but have not been checked by the READER team. It is possible that values in red may be updated in the future.

Go straight to the data.

2. Derived climate information

(i) Annual, seasonal and monthly temperature statistics for Vostok

These data are updated monthly. With regard to summer (DJF) the year refers to the December.

Annual/Season/Month	Mean(°C)	σ(°C)	Min.(°C)	q0.25(°C)	q0.75(°C)	Max.(°C)	Period	n
Calendar year	−55.2	0.9	−57.3	−55.7	−54.8	−53.2	1958-61, 64-81, 83-93, 95, 97-02, 2005-2011	47
Autumn	−62.8	1.7	−66.4	−64.1	−61.8	−59.1	1958-61, 63-93, 95, 97-02, 2004-2012	51
Winter	−66.7	2.2	−70.0	−68.3	−64.8	−62.6	1958-61, 63-81, 83-93, 95, 97-02, 2004-2012	50
Spring	−55.3	1.3	−58.5	−56.0	−54.4	−52.7	1958-61, 63-93, 95, 97-02, 2004-2012	51
Summer	−36.0	1.0	−37.9	−36.6	−35.2	−34.1	1958-60, 63-92, 94, 97-01, 2005-2011	47
January	−32.0	1.4	−35.5	−33.3	−31.1	−29.0	1958-61, 64-95, 97-03, 2005-2012	51
February	−44.3	1.6	−47.4	−45.5	−43.5	−39.4	1958-61, 63-93, 95, 97-02, 2005-2012	50
March	−57.9	2.1	−63.9	−59.0	−56.9	−52.9	1958-61, 63-93, 95, 97-02, 2004-2012	51
April	−64.8	2.3	−70.4	−66.4	−62.7	−60.3	1958-61, 63-93, 95, 97-02, 2004-2012	51
May	−65.8	2.7	−70.5	−67.9	−63.9	−59.2	1958-61, 63-93, 95, 97-02, 2004-2012	51
June	−65.4	3.0	−70.8	−67.6	−63.4	−59.3	1958-61, 63-81, 83-93, 95, 97-02, 2004-2012	50
July	−66.7	3.5	−73.8	−69.3	−64.6	−56.7	1958-61, 63-93, 95, 97-02, 2004-2012	51
August	−68.0	3.5	−75.4	−70.8	−66.2	−60.6	1958-61, 63-93, 95, 97-02, 2004-2012	51
September	−66.1	3.1	−71.8	−68.0	−64.0	−57.5	1958-61, 63-93, 95, 97-02, 2004-2012	51
October	−57.1	1.7	−61.3	−58.2	−56.0	−53.5	1958-61, 63-93, 95, 97-02, 2004-2012	51
November	−42.7	1.5	−45.4	−43.8	−41.9	−38.8	1958-61, 63-93, 95, 97-02, 2004-2012	51
December	−31.8	1.5	−35.1	−33.1	−30.8	−28.0	1958-61, 63-95, 97-02, 2004-2011	51 Summary of annual, seasonal and monthly Vostok surface temperature statistics

The monthly data are summarised in a PDF plot: Adobe Acrobat Reader can be downloaded from here

Vostok monthly temperature statistics: this plot shows the mean, quartiles and range for each month.

(ii) Annual, seasonal and monthly trends in the Vostok surface temperature data

The trends listed below include 95% confidence intervals. The methodology is based upon:

Santer B.D., T.M.L. Wigley, J.S. Boyle, D. J. Gaffen, J.J. Hnilo, D. Nychka, D.E. Parker and K.E. Taylor. 2000: Statistical significance of trends and trend differences in layer-average temperature time series. Journal of Geophysical Research, 105, 7337-7356.

Briefly, an effective sample size is calculated based on the lag-1 autocorrelation coefficient of the regression residuals, This effective sample size is used for the computation of the standard error and in indexing the critical values of the Student''s t distribution.

The significance level of the trend is given if it is less than 10%, 5% or 1%. With regard to summer (DJF) the year refers to the December.

Annual/Season/Month	Annual trend(°C a−1)	Significance(%)	Period	n
Calendar year	+0.0169 ± 0.0156	5	1958-61, 64-81, 83-93, 95, 97-02, 2005-2011	47
Autumn	+0.0076 ± 0.0299	-	1958-61, 63-93, 95, 97-02, 2004-2012	51
Winter	+0.0156 ± 0.0324	-	1958-61, 63-81, 83-93, 95, 97-02, 2004-2012	50
Spring	+0.0115 ± 0.0239	-	1958-61, 63-93, 95, 97-02, 2004-2012	51
Summer	+0.0180 ± 0.0194	10	1958-60, 63-92, 94, 97-01, 2005-2011	47
January	+0.0183 ± 0.0223	-	1958-61, 64-95, 97-03, 2005-2012	51
February	+0.0021 ± 0.0280	-	1958-61, 63-93, 95, 97-02, 2005-2012	50
March	+0.0108 ± 0.0349	-	1958-61, 63-93, 95, 97-02, 2004-2012	51
April	+0.0091 ± 0.0441	-	1958-61, 63-93, 95, 97-02, 2004-2012	51
May	+0.0028 ± 0.0482	-	1958-61, 63-93, 95, 97-02, 2004-2012	51
June	−0.0075 ± 0.0425	-	1958-61, 63-81, 83-93, 95, 97-02, 2004-2012	50
July	+0.0305 ± 0.0442	-	1958-61, 63-93, 95, 97-02, 2004-2012	51
August	+0.0240 ± 0.0586	-	1958-61, 63-93, 95, 97-02, 2004-2012	51
September	−0.0037 ± 0.0570	-	1958-61, 63-93, 95, 97-02, 2004-2012	51
October	+0.0004 ± 0.0441	-	1958-61, 63-93, 95, 97-02, 2004-2012	51
November	+0.0379 ± 0.0182	1	1958-61, 63-93, 95, 97-02, 2004-2012	51
December	+0.0278 ± 0.0275	10	1958-61, 63-95, 97-02, 2004-2011	51 Summary of trends in annual, seasonal and monthly Vostok surface temperature

PDF plots of the annual and seasonal data: Adobe Acrobat Reader can be downloaded from here

Calendar year Autumn (MAM) Winter (JJA) Spring (SON) Summer (DJF)

3. The dataset

JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC ANN 1958 -30.9 -44.6 -57.0 -63.8 -62.5 -67.9 -65.3 -71.7 -66.1 -58.6 -43.2 -33.2 -55.4 1959 -34.3 -43.7 -52.9 -61.8 -64.7 -66.3 -68.4 -69.5 -68.4 -57.6 -44.5 -32.1 -55.3 1960 -33.4 -43.7 -61.8 -67.6 -67.8 -70.7 -68.3 -70.9 -66.5 -58.6 -44.8 -33.2 -57.3 1961 -32.9 -43.0 -57.7 -65.2 -65.3 -60.0 -64.1 -67.1 -62.6 -54.8 -43.4 -34.0 -54.2 1962 1963 -45.3 -59.3 -64.3 -66.0 -65.0 -63.9 -63.7 -57.5 -58.0 -45.2 -33.4 1964 -32.4 -46.3 -61.1 -69.3 -68.8 -61.1 -66.6 -61.9 -70.4 -58.2 -42.3 -32.4 -55.9 1965 -33.6 -43.1 -58.9 -65.9 -64.1 -66.7 -69.3 -66.1 -66.9 -56.8 -44.0 -33.3 -55.7 1966 -35.5 -42.7 -54.2 -66.9 -67.2 -68.9 -67.3 -71.5 -67.8 -56.8 -42.9 -31.6 -56.1 1967 -30.4 -45.7 -54.8 -66.3 -69.2 -66.9 -67.3 -73.0 -64.6 -57.1 -41.3 -31.1 -55.6 1968 -33.3 -44.6 -57.9 -62.5 -65.0 -63.7 -71.2 -70.2 -71.5 -53.5 -42.5 -33.0 -55.7 1969 -32.6 -43.8 -59.8 -63.0 -66.8 -62.4 -69.3 -69.5 -69.8 -55.5 -43.7 -32.5 -55.7 1970 -31.8 -44.0 -55.8 -64.6 -66.1 -62.7 -67.2 -70.1 -64.1 -55.5 -44.4 -32.1 -54.9 1971 -30.1 -41.5 -58.2 -65.3 -63.5 -65.6 -69.1 -66.7 -63.3 -56.2 -43.4 -30.6 -54.5 1972 -31.1 -44.9 -57.7 -65.1 -65.8 -66.4 -68.8 -61.5 -62.5 -56.4 -43.8 -33.6 -54.8 1973 -34.1 -44.4 -59.0 -60.3 -63.6 -64.6 -68.4 -71.5 -62.7 -56.0 -40.5 -33.8 -54.9 1974 -29.4 -46.6 -62.0 -68.4 -66.8 -62.9 -66.1 -68.3 -68.7 -55.2 -41.9 -31.9 -55.7 1975 -32.1 -45.5 -56.0 -63.5 -61.7 -66.5 -69.5 -73.2 -69.9 -56.1 -42.0 -33.1 -55.8 1976 -32.4 -43.5 -58.0 -66.3 -70.5 -64.7 -62.8 -65.4 -68.1 -57.4 -42.4 -28.9 -55.0 1977 -30.0 -43.3 -57.3 -67.0 -62.5 -64.5 -64.0 -67.3 -71.1 -59.2 -45.2 -31.5 -55.2 1978 -34.5 -43.6 -58.7 -64.7 -64.5 -64.5 -63.2 -73.5 -64.3 -58.7 -41.9 -29.9 -55.2 1979 -31.9 -45.9 -60.5 -62.2 -69.4 -69.4 -72.3 -68.3 -67.7 -61.2 -43.9 -31.0 -57.0 1980 -30.0 -43.3 -54.5 -61.8 -65.3 -61.7 -64.6 -61.9 -62.9 -58.0 -42.5 -31.7 -53.2 1981 -33.2 -44.9 -56.6 -66.7 -69.5 -66.4 -63.0 -60.7 -61.4 -58.8 -44.2 -31.5 -54.7 1982 -32.6 -44.4 -63.9 -65.3 -63.7 -63.2 -72.4 -71.3 -57.3 -38.8 -31.2 1983 -31.5 -44.6 -58.0 -63.5 -60.4 -61.9 -73.8 -67.1 -60.8 -57.4 -45.4 -33.2 -54.8 1984 -32.1 -47.4 -57.2 -62.8 -61.0 -70.8 -65.5 -68.1 -63.1 -58.0 -41.8 -30.4 -54.9 1985 -31.2 -46.7 -59.7 -62.2 -68.1 -66.6 -70.4 -66.3 -66.6 -58.3 -44.7 -32.4 -56.1 1986 -30.8 -39.4 -59.1 -66.7 -66.7 -70.6 -68.0 -69.3 -66.3 -56.9 -43.0 -32.0 -55.7 1987 -31.1 -45.7 -57.0 -64.4 -66.8 -59.7 -65.8 -75.4 -67.0 -56.2 -45.0 -32.5 -55.6 1988 -31.6 -45.9 -56.2 -65.5 -63.4 -63.9 -70.6 -66.7 -65.8 -55.3 -43.2 -33.6 -55.1 1989 -34.6 -45.0 -56.8 -66.5 -68.9 -68.5 -67.3 -64.7 -61.2 -54.3 -42.6 -28.0 -54.9 1990 -30.4 -44.4 -59.2 -61.8 -66.8 -65.5 -66.2 -69.4 -66.0 -56.0 -41.2 -28.8 -54.6 1991 -32.2 -42.0 -57.3 -62.1 -68.3 -62.3 -58.6 -67.5 -67.8 -58.9 -42.9 -30.4 -54.2 1992 -32.7 -41.2 -57.3 -65.8 -66.1 -63.4 -67.8 -63.3 -67.6 -58.2 -42.1 -33.1 -54.9 1993 -30.8 -43.5 -57.3 -67.0 -68.3 -68.4 -70.6 -70.7 -68.4 -55.9 -42.5 -33.0 -56.4 1994 -31.0 -33.2 1995 -33.5 -43.6 -57.8 -65.6 -69.1 -67.6 -56.7 -67.7 -68.7 -57.6 -42.8 -31.9 -55.2 1996 1997 -33.5 -44.8 -58.2 -64.4 -67.9 -64.1 -72.9 -71.5 -65.9 -58.0 -39.7 -30.4 -55.9 1998 -33.6 -43.9 -60.4 -68.5 -65.5 -67.2 -66.7 -67.1 -71.8 -60.3 -42.6 -31.5 -56.6 1999 -31.7 -45.2 -57.9 -70.4 -70.2 -64.6 -69.8 -67.8 -67.9 -58.7 -43.2 -35.1 -56.9 2000 -33.5 -45.2 -60.9 -65.1 -68.0 -60.0 -66.7 -66.8 -66.2 -61.3 -40.8 -30.6 -55.4 2001 -31.5 -43.3 -58.3 -63.1 -63.4 -66.9 -66.5 -69.1 -65.7 -56.4 -40.6 -30.5 -54.6 2002 -29.0 -45.7 -56.9 -61.9 -59.4 -65.9 -64.9 -71.6 -67.8 -55.7 -43.8 -34.0 -54.7 2003 -31.8 2004 -57.3 -62.5 -64.4 -65.8 -70.3 -62.4 -65.9 -56.7 -42.0 -29.5 2005 -31.4 -44.6 -56.4 -65.8 -67.3 -63.7 -63.4 -68.1 -63.2 -54.9 -42.1 -29.2 -54.2 2006 -32.7 -44.4 -58.2 -62.4 -66.2 -64.3 -66.9 -65.6 -64.2 -57.2 -43.2 -32.6 -54.8 2007 -32.6 -45.8 -56.2 -61.9 -59.2 -59.3 -64.7 -63.8 -63.9 -55.5 -42.5 -32.7 -53.2 2008 -33.3 -46.0 -54.2 -63.5 -66.7 -70.5 -65.2 -69.9 -67.8 -58.3 -40.4 -30.9 -55.6 2009 -31.1 -40.4 -57.5 -67.6 -62.9 -61.7 -59.5 -67.9 -64.2 -57.1 -40.8 -31.7 -53.5 2010 -30.2 -43.6 -55.7 -67.5 -64.7 -68.9 -69.4 -70.9 -65.3 -58.1 -43.9 -30.8 -55.8 2011 -30.6 -42.1 -57.9 -61.3 -67.8 -68.7 -61.7 -60.6 -63.9 -55.5 -40.7 -30.7 -53.5 2012 -31.6 -45.9 -58.4 -65.2 -67.6 -68.7 -69.8 -70.9 -70.0 -54.7 -40.9

4. Links

The AARI website with information about the Russian stations including Vostok.

The latest synoptic report from Vostok station.

This web page was written to look good in MS Explorer 5.0+ using character entity references from HTML 4.0. Apologies if it doesn't quite work for you — anyway the data should be OK. Comments should be addressed to Dr Gareth Marshall at [email protected].

Return to the top of the page. Return to the main Antarctic monthly mean surface temperature page.