early meteorological data in southern spain, 1780-1830 f. s. rodrigo
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EARLY METEOROLOGICAL DATA IN SOUTHERN SPAIN, 1780-1830 F. S. Rodrigo Department of Applied Physics , University of Almería La Cañada de San Urbano, s/n, 04120, Almería ( Spain ) [email protected]. 3. Rainy days in Seville , 1778-1785 ( source N). Flood , 21/12/1783. 1783. 1784. 1785. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
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EARLY METEOROLOGICAL DATA IN SOUTHERN SPAIN, 1780-1830
F. S. RodrigoDepartment of Applied Physics, University of AlmeríaLa Cañada de San Urbano, s/n, 04120, Almería (Spain)[email protected]
1. Introduction
The growing evidence of an anthropogenically induced climatic change and the need to compare presentday climate with that of past centuries, has boosted the search of early meteorological data from all kind of historical archives.The objective of this work is to present new data from Andalusia (southern Spain) corresponding to theperiod 1780-1830, previous to the establishment of an official meteorological service in Spain. Thisperiod coincides with the so-called ‘Dalton Minimum’, a period of minimum solar activity and intensevolcanic eruptions.Data sources are early newspapers and medical studies interested in the influence of environmentconditions on health and illness. Some examples are analyzed and their utility as data sources is studied.
2. Data sources
NR=number of rainy days; T = temperature (ºR, ºF, fraction of degree); p = pressure (English/Frenchinches, lines, fractions of line); Wd = wind direction (16-point compass); A = qualitative descriptionof atmospheric events (rainfall, fog, cloudiness, storms, etc.).Random error in the original documents and mistakes during the digitazing were checked and corrected.Independent documentary data sources (‘Salvá-Sinobas’ project database) were used to look for contemporary extreme events (indicated by in the graphs). (Wheeler, D., 1995. Early instrumental weather data from Cádiz: a study of late eighteenth and early nineteenth century records, Int. J. Climatol., 15: 801-810).
3. Rainy days in Seville, 1778-1785 (source N).
1778 1779 1780 1781 1782 1783 1784 17850
20
40
60
80
100
120
Annual rainy days in Seville
Mean value 1961-1990
Drought
Lakagígar, Iceland
1783 1784
4. Temperatures in Granada, June1796-May1797, January-February 1813, and July 1820 (sources M, EP, EC).
Comparison with monthly mean of daily maximum temperatures during 1961-1990.
0 10 20 30 40 50 6002468
10121416
Daily midday T (ºC), source EP
T(ºC) 1961-90
January 1813 February 1813
1 6 11 16 21 26 3110152025303540
Daily T(ºC), July 1820, source DC
7h 12h 17hTmax61-90 Tmin1961-90
0 6 12 18 2405
10152025303540
Monthly mean T (ºC), 12 h, 1796-1797, source M
T(ºC) 1961-90
5. Midday temperatures in Cádiz/San Fernando, 1789-1832 (sources W, A, D, P, R).Examples (December, March) of monthly means of midday T (data expressed in ºC as anomalies of the monthly mean of daily maximum temperatures during 1961-1990).
1796 1797
Lack of information on metadata (instruments, exposure conditions, etc)Sources provide very short series.Fragmentary and disperse information.Discrepancies between contemporary series.
It is difficult to construct homogeneized time series
6. Conclusions.
Annual cycles are reasonably well reproduced. Temperature data in the examples studied were slightly lower than the modern reference values. Data sources, in spite oftheir spatio-temporal dispersion, may offer interesting information on extreme events recorded in other independent documentary data sources.
A general preliminar view may be obtained, with conditions wetter and colder than during the reference period 1961-1990.
Frequent and intense volcanic eruptions along with the minimum solar activity may be the main forcing factors.
1780 1790 1800 1810 1820 1830 1840-7
-6
-5
-4
-3
-2
-1
0
1
2
3
4
December
W A D P R
Heat wave, 1803
Cold wave, 1829
1780 1790 1800 1810 1820 1830 1840-7
-6
-5
-4
-3
-2
-1
0
1
2
3
4March
W A D P R
Hailstorm, 1822
Snowfalls, 1803
Lakagígar, Iceland
= Volcanic eruptions:Lakagígar, Iceland, June 1783Etna, Italy, July 1787St Helens, USA, January 1800Tambora, Indonesia, April 1815Galunggung, Indonesia, October 1822
Cold wave, 1799
AcknowledgmentsThis work was financed by the Spanish Science Ministry (project CGL2007-65546-C03-01/CLI) and the Environment Ministry (project ‘Salvá-Sinobas’, reference number 200800050083542).
0 12 24 360
5
10
15
20
25
Monthly rainy days
Rainy days 1961-90
Intense and continuous rainfallsAutumn 1783
Flood, 28/12/1785
Flood, 21/12/1783
Intense and continuous rainfallsMarch 1785
1785