Weather 100 - Eskdalemuir

Long-term meteorological observations are part of the irreplaceable cultural and scientific heritage of mankind that serve the needs of current and future generations for long-term high quality climate records. They are unique sources of past information about atmospheric parameters, thus are references for climate variability and change assessments. To highlight this importance, WMO has a mechanism to recognize centennial observing stations, Eskdalemuir Observatory in the Scottish Borders with continuous meteorological records spanning more than 100 years between 1910 and current day being one such site. By so doing, the WMO (World Meteorological Organisation) promotes sustainable observational standards and best practices that facilitate the generation of high-quality time series data

Whilst all recent and current data is stored electronically in the UK Climate database hosted by the Met Office, there are long periods that pre date the technological revolution where the data exists solely on the paper forms on which the observations were originally recorded.

An example of one such journal is shown below

The Eskdalemuir Observatory has paper climate records going back over 100 years but there are few records digitised pre 1950 . Our objective is to get climate data digitised to give continuous 100 year record which can aid climate modelling in future and help explain events in the past.
Over the period to be digitised three different types of daily journal and registers were used and it is copies of these journals which will need to be interpreted and classified .
In the first part of the project we will be asking volunteers to collect air pressure and temperature data covering a period from 1915-1923 when the small pocket book was used to record the observations

The completed data will be assimilated to climate models, greatly assisting with cutting edge climate predictions. Historic meteorological data is also required to put severe weather events into context and with potentially in excess of 100 years of digitised data from Eskdalemuir, trends and patterns will be identifiable to feed into a variety of planning purposes aligning with the Met Office purpose to help people stay safe and thrive.

For more information on data availability from the Met Office check the following link

https://digital.nmla.metoffice.gov.uk/

There you can browse the digital archived content and view copies of past Met Office publications. The archive also includes digital copies of some of their unique and fascinating archive treasures.

Digital preservation lies at the heart of this archive, which means we are able to protect and preserve our digital content for the long-term just as we have been doing with our paper records for so many years.
All information originating from the Met Office is subject to Crown Copyright and is available under the terms of the Open Government Licence.