cc: trenbert@cgd.ucar.edu, m.hulme@uea.ac.uk
date: Wed May  5 09:33:12 2004
from: Phil Jones <p.jones@uea.ac.uk>
subject: A truly awful paper in IJC !!
to: plamb@ou.edu

    Dear Pete,
       The last issue of IJC has a paper saying that the Sahel drought was a function of
    changing gauge configurations !!!  The authors have no idea how a regional precip average
    is calculated - or by inference any variable. Paper is in IJC (attached as a pdf).
        Kevin and I have just agreed to be the CLA's for the Atmos. Obs. chapter for 4AR in
    2.5 years time. If you've got the time to write a response, then please do. If not (as
   likely)
    then can you forward to someone who might be able to - Sharon, for example? It would
    be good to have something to refer to in the IPCC chapter, as I'm sure the sketpics will
    expect to see it there. By implication, their supposed study refers to all regional precip
    series.
         I'm no longer on the editorial board and the present editor (Glenn McGregor - another
    Kiwi) seems impermeable to my suggestions over the last few years about standards
    in the journal. He dispensed with the annual reviews of the UK people on the board and
    is virtually uncontactable by email when reviews take a while. There is another paper in
   the
    issue which I had to hassle him about for ages as it took 9 months to review. He finally
    accepted that with only a partial review. This one is OK though !
        The paper by Chappell and Agnew is all the more galling for Mike and me here in CRU
    and Tyndall at UEA for several reasons:
    1. They got the data from CRU - no idea when or what they got !
    2. Clive Agnew used to be in CRU - only for a while though !
    3. Adrian Chappell is at Mike's old University and I thought he was OK !
    4. They didn't refer to Jones/Hulme in IJC (v16, 1996, 361-377) on how to calculate
   regional
        averages for temp and precip. We did this for the SAR, but no-one refers to it.
    5. No reference to your work - I thought there was till I saw the initials HH !
    Cheers
    Phil

   Prof. Phil Jones
   Climatic Research Unit        Telephone +44 (0) 1603 592090
   School of Environmental Sciences    Fax +44 (0) 1603 507784
   University of East Anglia
   Norwich                          Email    p.jones@uea.ac.uk
   NR4 7TJ
   UK
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