CLIWOC - Climatological Database for the World's Oceans 1750-1850 (release 2.1)

The principal objective of the CLIWOC project was to realise the scientific potential of logbook climatic data and to produce a database of daily weather observations for the world's oceans between 1750 and 1850. Another objective was to provide a comprehensive understanding of the nature of climatic change over the oceans for the century after 1750 when logbooks became abundant and to link with existing databases such as the I-COADS dataset (International Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set). The study period is also significant because it marks a period when climatic change cannot be seen as a consequence of world-wide industrialization and the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. One of the project's main achievements was the preparation of a database drawing on British, Dutch, French and Spanish naval logbook records for the immediate pre-instrumental period (1750-1853). This database is freely available on the KNMI website .