Map viewer of the CLICES project: information analysis tool and educational activity

CLICES project (CLImate of the last Century in Spain) has been focused on temperature and precipitation analyses in mainland Spain during 1916-2015 period. To do that, information from National Meteorological Agency archives have been combined with data rescued from Annual Books (1916-2015) and high resolution grid (10x10 km) have been calculated. A web page has been created during the CLICES project with information on its main results, including a Map viewer section to allow view and consult the distribution of weather stations over time in the mainland Spain. The Map viewer includes information related to weather stations locations for the monthly temperature and precipitation for the 1915-2015 period. In addition, the Map viewer shows auxiliary information that includes elevation (shading), communication routes, and administrative bounderies. One of the great utilities that the Map viewer is to know the history of the spatial distribution of the meteorological stations, which have been linked to the socioeconomic history of mainland Spain itself. For example, the initial stations were mostly located in the main cities (capitals of province) before 1920, and then during 30´to 60´ data were recorded in a dense network stations. Maximum spatial density was achieved around 70´s and then a global decline in the network is observed. All these aforementioned facts must be considered when spatial and temporal analyses of the main elements of climate were performed. Then Map viewer can be used as a useful tool in educational activities from a geographical point of view which allows students to explain certain natural phenomena at different spatial scales, and their relationships with different elements of space. To access the Map viewer of the CLICES project, you must visit the website www.CLICES.unizar.es. Up to date to 2020 is being under current development.