A method of characterizing the thermal relations in mountainous areas / the lower Beskid range in the Polish Carpathians as example

The method discussed in the present paper permits the determination in detail of the mesoclimatic conditions on the basis of standard data provided by a network of a measurement stations. The passage from the data available at certain points and obtained from meteorological stations to spatial conceptions leads along the determination of the relationships between the altitude, various forms of the relief, and the thermal indices of climate. Resulting from these data, the duration of the frostless period is a sensitive index in the scale of mesoclimate, besides all the other indices connected with the minimum air temperatures. The nomographs applied by the authors make it possible to construct detailed climatic maps, which — with the maps of other elements of the geographical environment — form a basis for the elaboration e.g. an agrocological map of habitats. Presented method of the evaluation of climate conditions can be applied to all mountain territories, in which a network of measurement stations enables the determination of the interdependencies between the chosen thermal parameters and the altitude, and the distinction of the impact of the convex and concave forms.     

The distribution of snow in Israel

The area researched is characterized by changes in the weather according to fluctuations in the world pressure belts throughout the year. The temperature climate in this region is typified in winter by changes in the pressure system from cyclonic to anti-cyclonic conditions in spells of about 5 days.When Israel is under the influence of a low pressure system, and the 500 mb surfaces are approximately 250 m lower than average, the temperatures along the vertical cross-sections are 6° – 8° C lower than average on rainy days, then snow may be expected in various sections of the country.This paper investigated the 35 years period from 1938/9 to 1971/2, concentrating on two mountain stations — Jerusalem in the centre of the country and Mt. Kena'an in the north —because of the high snow incidence and its greater regularity than other stations.The conclusions are as follows: The maximum number of days of snow (between 2/3 and 3/4 of the annual total) is noted at all stations during January and February, although there are also years in which there was snow but not during those months. Regional devision of the snowy days indicates that the number increases with altitude, and decreases from north to south.Snowfall in regions which have lower incidence is less stable and given to greater fluctuations. There was no indication of periodity of the number of days of snow per season, nor did it appear that a very snowy year followed a dry one.Investigation of the lenght of the snowy and the number of days of snowfall does not indicate any connection between them, and there may well be a long season with few days of snow, or a short one with relatively many snowy days.Comparison between the shorter period of readings — from 1938/9 till 1971/2 — and the longer one — from 1860/1 till 1971/2 (111 years) — at the Jerusalem station shows the same trends, which reinforce the conclusions presented above.     

The Berchtesgaden National Park (Bavaria, Germany): a platform for interdisciplinary catchment research

The Berchtesgaden National Park (Bavaria, Germany), a study site of the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere program in the catchment of Berchtesgadener Ache, is introduced as a platform for interdisciplinary research. As the investigation of how human activities affect the natural resources in the park area, which has been defined a main aim of the program, naturally requires expertise from different scientific fields, interdisciplinary research has been fostered in the national park plan since the very beginning of the Man and the Biosphere program in 1981. To analyze the complex interactions and mutual dependencies between socio-economic and natural systems, a variety of monitoring programs have been initialized in different disciplines (e.g. climate sciences, zoology, botany) that are addressed in this paper. As a result of these research efforts, the park offers a profound data basis to be used in future studies (e.g. land cover classifications, maps of geological and soil conditions). Detailed information is provided on a climate monitoring network that has been installed in the park starting in the year 1993. The network has been continuously extended over the years and now provides extraordinary comprehensive information on meteorological conditions in the park, setting the basis for current as well as for potential future climate-related studies. A special characteristic of the station network is the fact that it covers a large range of elevations from 600 m a.s.l in the valleys to 2,600 m a.s.l in the summit regions and is therefore able to capture altitudinal gradients in meteorological variables as typical for Alpine regions. Due to the large number of stations in high elevations (15 stations are in elevations higher than 1,500 m a.s.l) the network provides information on the complex hydrometeorological conditions in summit regions which are often insufficiently represented in observation networks due to the increased costs for maintenance of climate stations in these locations. Beside the various monitoring programs, a variety of numerical models have been (further) developed for application in the park area that make extensive use of the different data collected and therefore largely benefit from the comprehensive data pool. The potential and necessity of the climate monitoring network for modelling studies is demonstrated by utilizing the meteorological recordings in the framework of a hydrometeorological simulation experiment. Further examples of environmental modelling efforts are shortly described together with preliminary model results.     

Reconstitution de données climatiques pour l’Algérie du Nord : application des réseaux neuronaux

In the present context of climate change and preservation of biodiversity, the appreciation of the vulnerability of the natural ecosystems and their capacity of adaptation appears among the main preoccupations to the world level (GIEC, 2007). This assessment of the ecosystems requires the availability of climatic data, what is often made difficult by the weak density or even the absence of meteorological stations notably, to the level of the mountains zones. In order to study the climate–vegetation relationship in North Algeria, we use an automatic interpolation method, the neural network method, for the reconstitution of climatic data of the sampled sites, (1035 phytoecological samples), from the existing meteorological network (269 stations). This method is characterized by a great suppleness of non-linearity and by its capacity for reconstituting information from partial and not well-defined indications such as the case of data provided from meteorological networks. In order to reconstitution of climatic data, we use the explicate variables, longitude, latitude and altitude, the variables to explain being the rainfall and temperatures. To define the best approach, the network calibration has been activated on climatic parameters taken globally or solely, for the whole of study zone, and by geographical sector. The results of the interpolation are expressed through a climatic parameter cartography, released automatically by the MapInfo software. The reliability results obtained by this method can be appreciated by elaboration of errors maps comparing to reference data.     

SHARE Asia自动气象站网络：喜马拉雅山—喀喇昆仑山地区气候研究的一个必要组成部分

Ev K2 CNR SHARE Asia计划的目标就是建立一个沿喜马拉雅山—喀喇昆仑山脉的监测网络，为气象学和气候研究提供参数，特别是为季风变化、大气化学、冰川学、高海拔湖沼学和古湖沼学等研究，同时也为准确地确定地球表面坐标。SHARE Asia 计划的一个特殊的目的是发展一套完整的测量系统，以满足不断进步的环境与地球科学；促进当地的技术升级和建设的能力。 就像WMO CEOP 和UNEP ABC一样，SHARE Asia 气象—气候及大气化学观测站已经成为重要的国际科学计划的一部分。     

Changes in annual temperature extremes in the Carpathians since AD 1961

The Carpathian Mountains region cover areas from seven countries of central and southeastern Europe, the mountain chain having major regional influences on the temperate climate, specific to latitudes between 43°N and 49°N. In order to identify changes in the annual temperature extremes, the Mann–Kendall nonparametric trend test has been applied to several thermal indices, recommended by the expert team on climate change detection and indices. The indices were computed from gridded daily datasets of minimum and maximum temperature at 0.1° resolution (~10 km), available online within the framework of the project CarpatClim (climate of the Carpathian region) for the period 1961–2010. The results show decreasing trends in cold-related indices, especially in the number of frost days, and increasing trends in warm-related ones. The trend patterns are consistent over the region, i.e., there are no mixed trends for a given index. Regional differences in climate extreme trends within the Carpathian region are related to altitude, rather than latitude. The number of summer days is increasing over the entire area, while the number of tropical nights presents upward trends mainly at lower elevations. The Warm Spell Duration Index presents upward trends over 60 % of the region. The (annual) East Atlantic pattern shows strong correlations with the warm-related indices. Our results are in agreement with previous temperature-related studies in the region.     

Predicted effects of climate warming on the commercial culture of the channel catfish,Ictalurus punctatus

Aquaculture of channel catfish is an industry with an annual worth of hundreds of millions of dollars. Catfish farms in the United States are, for the most part, confined to the south central region and in California. Their commercial success depends on a climate which produces a sufficiently long growing season and an abundant supply of shallow groundwater. The proximity to markets is also essential. The temperature range for maximum growth of the species is 24°C–29°C with the growth rate rapidly decreasing as the upper lethal temperature — about 35°C — is approached. Growth below 13°C is negligible.We review the thermal requirements for growth in catfish and examine the role that climate (air temperature and precipitation) plays in limiting the distribution of profitable fish farms. A model is constructed from these relationships which permits the prediction of changes of this distribution resulting from climate warming.     

The past valley glacier network in the Himalayas and the Tibetan ice sheet during the last glacial period and its glacial-isostatic, eustatic and climatic consequences

Since 1973 new data were obtained on the maximum extent of glaciation in High Asia. Evidence for an ice sheet covering Tibet during the Last Glacial Period means a radical rethinking about glaciation in the Northern Hemisphere. The ice sheet's subtropical latitude, vast size (2.4 million km²) and high elevation (6000 m asl) are supposed to have resulted in a substantial, albedo-induced cooling of the Earth's atmosphere and the disruption of summer monsoon circulation. Moraines were found to reach down to 460 m asl on the southern flank of the Himalayas and to 2300 m asl on the northern slope of the Tibetan Plateau, in the Qilian Shan region. On the northern slopes of the Karakoram, Aghil and Kuen-Lun mountains, moraines occur as far down as 1900 m asl. In southern Tibet radiographic analyses of erratics suggest a former ice thickness of at least 1200 m. Glacial polish and roches moutonnées in the Himalayas and Karakoram suggest former glaciers as thick as 1200–2700 m. On the basis of this evidence, a 1100–1600 m lower equilibrium line (ELA) has been reconstructed, resulting in an ice sheet of 2.4 million km², covering almost all of Tibet. Radiometric ages, obtained by different methods, classify this glaciation as isotope stage 3–2 in age (Würmian = last glacial period). With the help of 13 climate measuring stations, radiation- and radiation balance measurements have been carried out between 3800 and 6650 m asl in Tibet. They indicate that the subtropical global radiation reaches its highest energies on the High Plateau, thus making Tibet today's most important heating surface of the atmosphere. At glacial times 70% of those energies were reflected into space by the snow and firn of the 2.4 million km² extended glacier area covering the upland. As a result, 32% of the entire global cooling during the ice ages, determined by the albedo, were brought about by this area — now the most significant cooling surface. The uplift of Tibet to a high altitude about 2.75 Ma ago, coincides with the commencement of the Quaternary Ice Ages. When the Plateau was lifted above the snowline (= ELA) and glaciated, this cooling effect gave rise to the global depression of the snowline and to the first Ice Age. The interglacial periods are explained by the glacial-isostatic lowering of Tibet by 650 m, having the effect that the initial Tibet ice – which had evoked the build-up of the much more extended lowland ices – could completely melt away in a period of positive radiation anomalies. The next ice age begins, when – because of the glacial-isostatic reverse uplift – the surface of the Plateau has again reached the snowline. This explains, why the orbital variations (Milankovic-theory) could only have a modifying effect on the Quaternary climate dynamic, but were not primarily time-giving: as long as Tibet does not glaciate automatically by rising above the snowline, the depression in temperature is not sufficient for initiating a worldwide ice age; if Tibet is glaciated, but not yet lowered isostatically, a warming-up by 4 °C might be able to cause an important loss in surface but no deglaciation, so that its cooling effect remains in a maximum intensity. Only a glaciation of the Plateau lowered by isostasy, can be removed through a sufficiently strong warming phase, so that interglacial climate conditions are prevailing until a renewed uplift of Tibet sets in up to the altitude of glaciation.An average ice thickness for all of Tibet of approximately 1000 m would imply that 2.2 million km³ of water were stored in the Tibetan ice sheet. This would correspond to a lowering in sea level of about 5.4 m.     

Developments of geochemical methods for ore prospecting in Bulgaria

Three periods in the development of geochemical methods for ore prospecting in Bulgaria may be distinguished — initial (1954–1960), middle (1961–1969) and contemporary (since 1970) — which are characterized by successively increasing numbers of samples and improving methods of geochemical data evaluation. Geochemical methods have been recognized as effective, rapid and relatively cheap methods for prospecting for ore deposits (Cu, Pb, Zn, Au, W, Mo, etc.), some nonmetalliferrous raw materials (fluorite, barite, phosphorites) and hydrocarbons. They are used in all stages of exploration at scales from 1:200,000 to 1:200. They have contributed to the elucidation of the ore perspectives in many regions, and a number of new ore bodies and deposits have been discovered.Basic geochemical methods applied to ore prospecting in the country utilize soil and rock to detect secondary and primary aureoles. Stream-sediment surveys, hydrochemical and atmochemical methods are of more restricted use. Samples are analyzed by emission spectrometry, atomic absorption and other methods. A united system of computerized processing of geochemical data has been developed, including automatic drawing of geochemical maps.Interpretation of the data consists in selection of prospective geochemical anomalies and prognostication of the composition, morphology, depth and industrial significance of hidden ore bodies. The main problem in the mathematical processing of data is the presentation of polydimensional results from analyses in the form of generalized quantities — multiplicative or additive geochemical indicator ratios for the type of mineralization, coefficients of zoning, intensity, etc. The geochemical indices for evaluation of the newly found anomalies are derived through studies of the primary geochemical aureoles of typical standard ore deposits.Residual secondary soil aureoles in most cases are well correlated in composition and structure with the ore bodies and primary aureoles which have generated them. Their successful use is related to the landscape-geochemical conditions in the ore regions. Micro- and macro-chemical zoning of ground waters and different concentration of soluble components in different elevation belts are used for evaluation of hydrochemical anomalies.     

Application of meteorological and vegetation indices for evaluation of drought impact: a case study for Rajasthan, India

Drought is a serious climatic condition that affects nearly all climatic zones worldwide, with semi-arid regions being especially susceptible to drought conditions because of their low annual precipitation and sensitivity to climate changes. Drought indices such as the standardized precipitation index (SPI) using meteorological data and vegetation indices from satellite data were developed for quantifying drought conditions. Remote sensing of semi-arid vegetation can provide vegetation indices which can be used to link drought conditions when correlated with various meteorological data based drought indices. The present study was carried out for drought monitoring for three districts namely Bhilwara, Kota and Udaipur of Rajasthan state in India using SPI, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), water supply vegetation index (WSVI) and vegetation condition index (VCI) derived from the Advanced Very High resolution Radiometer (AVHRR). The SPI was computed at different time scales of 1, 2, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months using monthly rainfall data. The NDVI and WSVI were correlated to the SPI and it was observed that for the three stations, the correlation coefficient was high for different time scales. Bhilwara district having the best correlation for the 9-month time scale shows late response while Kota district having the best correlation for 1-month shows fast response. On the basis of the SPI analysis, it was found that the area was worst affected by drought in the year 2002. This was validated on the basis of NDVI, WSVI and VCI. The study clearly shows that integrated analysis of ground measured data and satellite data has a great potential in drought monitoring.     

Climatic constraints and potential corn production in Saudi Arabia —A study in agroclimate

A parametric crop yield model YIELD, which was developed by Prof. W. Terjung and his team at UCLA, was applied to calculate yield and water consumption for corn in Saudi Arabia. The model employs climatic and environmental data in order to simulate yield for several crops in different places all over the world. A network of 22 stations provided climatic data averaged over a period of 17 years (1967–1983). The nonclimatic data was derived from the FAO soil map of the world and the writer's personal experience. The main objectives of this paper are: [1] to determine suitable places and times for planting corn, under rainfed and irrigated conditions in Saudi Arabia; [2] to contrast irrigation water for corn in each province; and [3] to assess the potential yield for corn in the country in a year. This study concluded that highest yields of corn under fully-irrigated conditions (primary growing season) occurred in the mountainous region in SW Saudi Arabia (about 12,000 kg/ha, and more than 18,000 in Nimas) while lowest yields occurred in Tabuk and Al-Khawsh (about 4,000 kg/ha). Yields in most of the other stations were (5,000–8,000 kg/ha). Under rainfed conditions crop failed in all regions except in the SW region in which yields range between 2,000 kg/ha in Al-Khawsh and — 6,000 kg/ha as in Nimas. According to the findings of this study, the most suitable months for corn sowing in Saudi Arabia are December and January.     

Climate dynamics and interdecadal discharge fluctuations in the Ural River basin

Data gathered from the mean annual water expenditures of the Ural River basin, obtained at 15 hydrological stations over a 70-year observation period was used to analyze its water content fluctuations and the correlation of discharge oscillations with different climate indices. Based on the Morlet-6 wavelet, the method of continuous wavelet transformation was applied to reveal latent periodicities in the discharge series. To establish factors responsible for discharge cycles, a cross wavelet analysis was performed on solar activity, types of Vangengeim atmospheric circulation, and three climate indices: the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, the North Atlantic Oscillation, and the Arctic Oscillation.     

1977 - 2017年雅江流域中下游大气/地面冻融指数时空变化特征

冻结指数是某个地区冻结期长短和严寒程度的综合表征, 融化指数是某个地区融化期长短及正积温高低的综合度量, 冻融指数也是计算活动层厚度和季节冻结深度的关键参数, 并可用于多年冻土分布预报。利用雅鲁藏布江（雅江）流域中下游11个气象站点的逐日气温、 地面温度数据计算了1977 - 2017年大气及地面冻融指数, 并分析其时空变化趋势。结果表明： 雅江流域中下游近40年来冻结指数呈显著下降趋势, 大气冻结指数、 地面冻结指数、 大气融化指数、 地面融化指数多年变化范围分别为208.4 ~ 508.0、 136.9 ~ 371.0、 2 171.8 ~ 2 499.8、 3 350.2 ~ 4 315.2 ℃·d; 其气候倾斜率分别为-36.6、 -48.7、 90.7、 115.8 ℃·d·（10a）^-1。雅江流域大气和地面冻结指数以海拔4 488.8 m的嘉黎最大, 海拔2 991.9 m的林芝最小; 大气和地面融化指数则以海拔3 560 m的泽当最大, 海拔4 488.8 m的嘉黎最小。流域内大气负温日数变化规律与地面负温日数变化趋势基本一致, 其气候倾向率分别是-6.28 d·（10a）^-1和-5.57 d·（10a）^-1。研究结果可为雅江流域冻土预报, 冻融作用所形成的冰缘地貌研究及其引发的地质灾害如冻融滑塌、 冻融泥流等灾害的监测与预防提供借鉴。     

Rapid estimation of ground-shaking maps for seismic emergency management in the Campania Region of southern Italy

Strong ground-shaking mapping soon after a moderate-to-large earthquake is crucial to recognize the areas that have suffered the largest damage and losses. These maps have a fundamental role for emergency services, loss estimation and planning of emergency actions by the Civil Protection Authorities. This is particularly important for areas with high seismic risk levels, such as the Campania-Lucania Region in southern Italy. Taking advantage of the Irpinia Seismic Network (ISNet), a recently installed dense and wide dynamic seismic network, we have developed a procedure for rapid estimation of ground-shaking maps after moderate-to-large earthquakes (GRSmap). This uses an optimal data gridding scheme designed to account for bi-dimensional features of strong ground-motion fields, such as directivity, radiation patterns and focal mechanisms, to which most damage can be correlated. The basis of the mapping technique is a triangulation procedure to locally correct predicted data at the triangle barycentres where their vertices correspond to seismic stations. The method has been tested off-line using a simulated M 6.6 earthquake located at the centre of ISNet and applied to data of the 23 November 1980 Irpina M 6.9 earthquake recorded by a sparse network. This has highlighted its ability to predict peak ground-motion parameters of large magnitude earthquakes with respect to the attenuation relationships.     

The Importance of the Precipitation and the Susceptibility of the Slopes for the Triggering of Landslides Along the Roads

In order to characterise the influence of the heavyrains on the observed landslides during the 1996–1997hydrological cycle, rainfall records for the last 100years are analysed from 104 stations in easternAndalusia. Regarding the amounts of rain recordedbetween October 1996 and March 1997 in the 104stations studied, 31 presented new all-time records;15 presented values that were 80–100% of thepre-1995 record; 49 stations, 80–50%; and 9stations, < 50%. A map has been devised of thesusceptibility of the materials through which thesouth-eastern Andalusian road network crosses,together with an inventory of the damage caused byinstability phenomena on banks and cuttings of theroad network during the winter of 1996–1997. Therelationships between the rainfall during the studyperiod, the damage caused to the road network and thesusceptibility of the materials affected are analysed.The results indicate that there is a clearcorrespondence between the rainfall recorded and thesusceptibility of the materials with the inventorieddamage. It is concluded that the widespread seriousdamage caused in early 1997 to the roads andsurrounding areas in the Alpujarra region and thecoast of the Province of Granada was mainly caused bythe extraordinarily heavy rains. However, considerablyless damage was observed where the susceptibility ofthe terrain is low, thus highlighting the extremeusefulness of terrain-susceptibility maps for riskprevention and territorial planning.     

Study the feasibility of using PPP for establishing CORS network

Nowadays many continuously operating reference stations (CORS) network were established in Middle East to improve the surveying tasks. Establishing such geodetic control networks can be a costly business where multiple stations should be occupied simultaneously and post-processed with scientific software. Recently, precise point positioning (PPP) provides precise positioning values that may be an alternative to precise relative processing. The current research aims to investigate that PPP has a potential as a reliable absolute positioning technique operational simplicity as well as to investigate the capability of PPP approach to be a low cost alternative to the conventional positioning methods used in position determination of core networks stations. In comparison with common relative GPS techniques, the costs are reduced; because no base stations and no simultaneous observations are necessary, no need for control network maintenance which could be the most defective factors that Egypt HARN network suffered from. To see the feasibility study of using PPP for precise determination of the CORS, 14 days of GNSS data for the 14 Kuwait integrated with 27 IGS stations were processed by Bernese software to calculate the precise coordinates of Kuwaiti CORS network in the latest terrestrial geodetic frame. Three days of these data were processed by Trimble business center software and using PPP approach to calculate the precise coordinates of Kuwait network. In the current research, a comparable investigation was carried out between the coordinates obtained from Bernese software, Trimble business center, and PPP approach. The comparison proved high level of agreement between the coordinates which confirm that PPP approach can be applied for establishment of CORS network.     

GIS-based determination of the mean long-term groundwater recharge in Lower Saxony

This paper presents the findings of a collaborative research project of the Geological Survey of Lower Saxony (NLfB) and the Programme Group Systems Analysis and Technology Evaluation (STE) of Research Centre Jülich on the GIS-based determination of the mean long-term groundwater recharge in Lower Saxony using high-resolution digital data (Dörhöfer and others 2001). The model calculations were performed on the basis of the water-balance model GROWA (Kunkel and Wendland 2002) with a spatial resolution of 100x100 m². The accuracy of the calculated groundwater recharge values for the period 1961–1990 was verified on the basis of data from gauging stations and displayed a good agreement between observed runoff values and model results.     

中国大陆森林线空间分布特征及其与多年冻土线、气候雪线的关系

在自然植被垂直带谱上一般以暗针叶林带的上限代表森林线,它的海拔高度取决于温度及其年较差。本文主要根据我国一些地区现代暗针叶林带上限的海拔高程和102个气象台站的气象资料,计算出我国的森林线的理论海拔高度,并编绘出我国的森林线高程等值线图以及多年冻土线与森林线高差等值线图和现代气候雪线与森林线高差等值线图。在此基础上研究了我国森林线的空间分布特征及其与多年冻土线、气候雪线的关系。      

Fault plane solutions of microearthquakes and small events in the Hellenic arc

The Hellenic arc is the most active seismic region of the transition zone between the African and Eurasian plates. In this rapidly deforming region, the physical state of the crust and upper mantle may vary laterally and vertically. However, a detailed 3D model of the region is lacking. The reliable determination of fault plane solutions is crucial if such a model is to be produced. On this basis, fault plane solutions have been determined from recent microearthquakes and small events to assess their reliability for use in tectonic interpretation. A search algorithm on first motion data and amplitude ratios and also a waveform-matching scheme were employed on data from our temporal network, operated on the western part of the island of Crete. There, a network of 47 three-component digital stations with an aperture of 60 km and an average station spacing of 5 km was operated in 1997. The majority of the shallow microearthquakes under Crete for which fault plane solutions were determined have a near horizontal T-axis oriented essentially E–W. Differences between well determined fault plane solutions from the search algorithm and the waveform-matching technique were significant (strike up to 45°, dip up to 10°, and slip up to 50°). Second, data of small events within the Hellenic subduction zone were obtained from recently installed broadband stations at local and regional distances and inverted for a deviatoric seismic moment tensor. Available solutions from other sources such as the Harvard group, EMSC, or SED show drastic differences in part. Owing to still limited azimuthal station coverage, the resulting fault plane solutions of small events have generally not been well constrained. The observed large variation of fault plane solutions for micoearthquakes and small events poses a caveat to tectonic interpretation in case of using data from a few stations only.     

Use of groundwater temperature data in geothermal exploration: the example of Sydney Basin,Australia

Multidimensional simulations in geothermal exploration require vast quantities of measurements, including temperature, to produce realistic estimates. In Australia, the database of temperature measurements is small, limited by sparse distribution and tainted by non-equilibrium conditions. Groundwater temperature data from the groundwater-monitoring/water-supply bore network provide a creative cost effective way to bridge the information gap. Down-hole temperature profiles are valuable when thermal equilibrium conditions are present. Equilibrium conditions are common in groundwater bores as they are installed to be long term. Effective use of groundwater temperature data for geothermal exploration requires an understanding of (1) the thermal conditions being measured, (2) the factors that affect the measurement, and (3) how the measurements can be used. Highly constrained models, rather than extrapolation maps, are the cost effective, risk-reducing solution for geothermal exploration in Australia. The Sydney Basin provides a case study of how an undervalued, ‘cold’ coal-bearing sedimentary basin became ‘hot’ through high-resolution modelling using groundwater temperature measurements. Groundwater temperature data are the new information source capable of filling the gaps left by the limited deep temperature measurements. Hydrogeological data play a critical role in geothermal exploration, as models representing a highly complex world approach reality.