Historical Databases
Students of historical climatology face a simple reality: many of the historical sources available to us mention weather in some way, but these references are often nestled within a huge volume of information that is difficult, if not impossible, to decipher. Fortunately for scholars of climates past, in recent years well-funded initiatives have transcribed, quantified, and digitalized some of these sources. Some of the most important databases are listed below, with descriptions largely taken from the linked websites. If you have any suggestions for links to additional resources don't hesitate to contact me.
Atmospheric Circulation Reconstructions over the Earth
The international Atmospheric Circulation Reconstructions over the Earth (ACRE) initiative both undertakes and facilitates the recovery of historical instrumental surface terrestrial and marine global weather observations to underpin 4D weather reconstructions (reanalyses) spanning the last 200-250 years for climate applications and impacts needs worldwide.
Climatological Database for the World's Oceans
The freely downloadable Climatological Database for the World's Oceans (CLIWOC) database represents the culmination of a project funded by the European Union and consists of 287,114 ship logs from the Dutch, English, French and Spanish navies. The vast majority of ship logs date from between 1750 and 1850, yet four ship logbooks were incorporated that predate 1750. Like papyrus scrolls for scholars of classical Egypt, ship logbooks, abounding with reliable meteorological information, form a vast and largely untouched documentary reservoir for historical climatologists.
Deutscher Wetterdienst
The Deutscher Wetterdienst operates Germany’s densest meteorological and climatological observing network, in which data have been collected for many decades now for further processing and archiving. This is how about 100 billion climate data entries were gathered, partly in time series dating back to the 18th century. In addition, the DWD hosts several transnational and global data centres resulting from various international agreements.
Institute for Ocean Technology's (Canadian) Ice database
Four freely accessible databases:
1. Newfoundland Ice Extent. Contains reconstructed ice charts for the ice months January to April from 1810 to 1958 for ice conditions off the east coast of Newfoundland and the Grand Banks. It also contains the original ice reports from which the charts were drawn, along with data tables of the latitude and longitude of iceberg and sea ice sightings and the estimated ice edge.
2. Gulf of St. Lawrence Sea Ice Extent. This database is similar to the Newfoundland Ice Extent with information for the months November through June and is complete with tables and graphs.
3. Ship Collisions with Icebergs. This database describes collisions which have taken place in the northern hemisphere over the last couple of hundred years, principally on the Grand Banks and North Atlantic but also includes the waters of Alaska, Greenland and the Arctic.
4. Iceberg sightings. this database compiles all the recorded iceberg sightings since the late 1800s.
1. Newfoundland Ice Extent. Contains reconstructed ice charts for the ice months January to April from 1810 to 1958 for ice conditions off the east coast of Newfoundland and the Grand Banks. It also contains the original ice reports from which the charts were drawn, along with data tables of the latitude and longitude of iceberg and sea ice sightings and the estimated ice edge.
2. Gulf of St. Lawrence Sea Ice Extent. This database is similar to the Newfoundland Ice Extent with information for the months November through June and is complete with tables and graphs.
3. Ship Collisions with Icebergs. This database describes collisions which have taken place in the northern hemisphere over the last couple of hundred years, principally on the Grand Banks and North Atlantic but also includes the waters of Alaska, Greenland and the Arctic.
4. Iceberg sightings. this database compiles all the recorded iceberg sightings since the late 1800s.
National Center for Atmospheric Research Climate Data Guide
The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) describes this as the "go-to source for scientifically sound information and advice on the strengths, limitations, and applications of climate data. Experts who construct, evaluate, and compare climate data sets contribute their perspectives and advice on climate data and analysis methods for a broad community of data users." Extensive data sets mostly concern the twentieth century, but are great for nonspecialists.
Old Weather
With Old Weather, you can help scientists recover Arctic and worldwide weather observations made by United States’ ships since the mid-19th century. These transcriptions, freely available online, can then contribute to climate model projections, and will improve our knowledge of past environmental conditions. They can also be used to track past ship movements and tell the stories of people on board.
Red Española de Reconstrucción Climática a Partir de Fuentes Documentales
Red Española de Reconstrucción Climática a Partir de Fuentes Documentales (RECLIDO) features useful databases that reconstruct the climatic history of Spain from the medieval period.
The Sound Toll Registers
From the Sound Toll Registers website: "the Sound Toll Registers (STR) are one of the great serial sources of early modern history of western Europe. They are kept by the Danish National Archives (Rigsarkivet) Copenhagen. The STR are the records of the toll the king of Denmark levied on the passage of ships through the Sound, the strait between Denmark and Sweden. They have been preserved for about 300 of the 360 years from 1497 till 1857, when the Sound Toll was abolished, and include a practically uninterrupted series from 1574 to 1857. They contain information on about 1.8 million passages. For each individual passage the employees of the Toldkammer in Helsingor noticed the name of the shipmaster, his town of residence, his port of departure and – from the mid–1660s – his port of destination, the composition of the cargo and the due toll per commodity." Another multinational European project, the Registers are freely available online.
The Climate and Environmental History Collaborative Research Database
The Climate and Environmental History Collaborative Research Database (Tambora) provides a database-supported infrastructure enabling the collaborative work on the interpretation of climate information derived from historical sources. The key information to be stored within the system is the original text quotation together with a bibliographic reference, place, time and coded information on climate and environment derived from the quote. The database has taken over information formerly on HISKILD and should build more data and functionality in the near future.
