Early Meteorological Records from Latin-America and Caribbean during the 18th and 19th centuries, collection of data files

Early instrumental observations are an important tool to understand multidecadal climate variability or put in context specific extreme phenomena. This paper provides early instrumental data recovered in Latin-America and the Caribbean. Data have been retrieved from 20 countries (Argentina, Bahamas, Belize, Brazil, British Guiana, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, France (Martinique and Guadalupe), Guatemala, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, El Salvador and Suriname) and they cover the 18th and 19th centuries. The main meteorological variables retrieved are air temperature, atmospheric pressure and precipitation but other variables, such as humidity, wind direction, or state of the sky have been retrieved when possible. In total, more than 300 000 early instrumental observations have been rescued (96% with daily resolution). Special effort has been done to document all the available metadata (instruments, observers, methodology of observation...) in order to allow further post processing. The compilation is far from being exhaustive but the data set will contribute to a better understanding of the climate variability in the region and to enlarge the overlapping period between instrumental data and natural and documentary proxies.

早期器测观测资料是理解数十年尺度气候变率、为特定极端现象提供气候背景参照的重要工具。本研究整理了拉丁美洲与加勒比地区抢救复原的早期器测资料。本次数据集的资料源自20个国家及地区：阿根廷、巴哈马、伯利兹、巴西、英属圭亚那、智利、哥伦比亚、哥斯达黎加、古巴、厄瓜多尔、法国（马提尼克、瓜德罗普）、危地马拉、牙买加、墨西哥、尼加拉瓜、巴拿马、秘鲁、波多黎各、萨尔瓦多与苏里南，观测时段覆盖18至19世纪。本次提取的核心气象要素包括气温、气压与降水量，同时尽可能补充了湿度、风向、天空状况等其他气象要素的观测记录。总计已抢救复原超过30万条早期器测观测记录，其中96%具备日分辨率数据。研究团队已针对所有可获取的元数据（观测仪器、观测者、观测方法等）开展系统性归档整理，以支撑后续的数据后处理工作。尽管本次资料汇编尚未完全穷尽所有可用记录，但本数据集将有助于深化对该区域气候变率的认知，并延长器测资料与自然代用、文献代用资料之间的重叠观测时段。