Spatial Distribution of Temporal Metadata and Spatial Metadata Quality of Santa Catarina State Weather Stations for Climatology

Abstract The objective of this paper was to evaluate the temporal (start date and end date) and spatial metadata (latitude, longitude and altitude) of the Santa Catarina state weather stations, based on the recommendations of the World Meteorological Organization - WMO for climate studies. Metadata of the weather stations maintained by the Empresa de Pesquisa Agropecuária e Extensão Rural de Santa Catarina - Epagri until 06/30/2017 were evaluated. The Santa Catarina state has few weather stations with historical series above the minimum period of 30 years, indicated by WMO to carry out climatic studies. The spatial distribution of weather stations are not in accordance with the pattern of territorial representation established by WMO. Despite advances in the weather stations network management process, the state of Santa Catarina needs to comply with all recommendations of WMO, to ensure the quality of the temporal and spatial metadata of climate monitoring stations.