Sede-Boqer Meteorological Station
The Sede-Boqer meteorological observation site, established in 1977, is located in the Negev highlands, Israel, at the north-easterly corner of the Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (30.85972 N, 34.77944 E, 480 m.a.s.l). Measurements are made over a bare loess soil, having a fetch of ~500 m to the NNW, the prevailing wind direction. Since 1996 data is digitally stored and diurnal data is available.
Mean annual depth of precipitation at the site is 90 mm. The ratio of precipitation to potential evaporation (P/PET) is 0.04–0.05. Annual mean temperature is 18 °C, average daily minimum temperature ranges between 6 and 8 °C in January, and daily maximum temperature ranges between 32 and 34 °C in August. Average relative humidity at 14:00 (local time) is between 20 and 30%, with pronounced diurnal dynamics due to the sea breeze from the Mediterranean Sea.
