DOI: 10.14288/1.0447131
title: Meteorological data for Pitilla Biological Station, Guanacaste, Costa Rica

description: &lt;p&gt;These meteorological data were collected at Pitilla Bilogical Station, in the Guanacaste Conservation Area, Guanacaste, Costa Rica. &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;The data were collected either manually ("manual" in variable name) or by a Campbell automated weather station ("stn" in variable name). The manual data was recorded manually each morning at approximately 0900 h with basic instruments. Manual temperature was measured with a battery operated max-min thermometer, and gives the maximum and minimum temperature over the preceding 24 hours. Manual precipitation (rainfall) data was physically collected in a rain gauge over the 24 hours preceding the recording of this data. Automated temperature data was collected by the Campbell station each minute with the MetSENS500-DS-17-PT sensor and communicated with a CR300 wireless data logger. The station outputs calculations of maximum and minimum temperature based on by the temperature data collected each minute from midnight (00:00) to midnight (24:00) on “Date”. The automated precipitation data was calculated from 06:01 the previous day to 06:00 on the day corresponding to “Date”, and utilized an automatically-emptying rain gauge. This rain gauge was found in October 2023 to have been colonized by ants, and the measures leading up to this period would have been affected by this. In general, automatic rain gauges may not be reliable for the amount of rain experienced during some tropical rain storms. &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;We re-calculated the maximum and minimum temperatures to correspond to the same time window as the manual temperature data; specifically, starting the previous day at 09:01 h and ending the day corresponding to “Date” at 09:00 h. This staggering procedure can only be done for temperature, not rainfall, because rainfall is only reported by Campbell for 6 hour blocks. Staggered measures of temperature include "stag" in the variable name. All time measures in Central Standard Time (GMT-6). &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Variable names:&lt;/b&gt; &lt;/p&gt; &lt;ul&gt; &lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;"Date"&lt;/b&gt;: yyyy-mm-dd format date of measurement&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;"AirTemp_max_stag_stn"&lt;/b&gt;: maximum air temperature from station, 09:01 previous day-0:900&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;"AirTemp_min_stag_stn"&lt;/b&gt; : minimum air temperature from station, 09:01 previous day-0:900&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;"Rain_Tot_stn"&lt;/b&gt;: precipitation automatically measured by station, unreliable, 06:01 the previous day to 06:00&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;"AirTemp_min_raw_stn"&lt;/b&gt;: minimum air temperature from station, 00:00 to 24:00&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;"AirTemp_max_raw_stn"&lt;/b&gt;: maximum air temperature from station, 00:00 to 24:00&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;"AirTemp_min_manual"&lt;/b&gt;: minimum air temperature measured manually, 09:01 previous day-0:900&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;"AirTemp_max_manual"&lt;/b&gt;: maximum air temperature measured manually, 09:01 previous day-0:900&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;"Rain_Tot_manual"&lt;/b&gt;: total precipitation measured manually, 09:01 previous day-0:900&lt;/li&gt; &lt;/ul&gt;