Why Rescue Old Data?
Our understanding of global warming and climate change is incomplete. To fully comprehend the global environmental challenges we face, we need to collect and analyze as much raw data as possible.
Many countries of the world are establishing a Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) composed of new observation sites to closely monitor weather trends over the next century. However, to collect at least 100 years worth of data before we could make accurate predictions and to understand what corrective actions we need to make. By then, it will be too late to take corrective actions to stem the trend towards extreme climate throughout the world.
Old Is Better
There is a quicker, cheaper solution: locate, organize, and rescue historic weather data. For a fraction of the cost and the time being expended on CGOS, we could rescue each piece of old environmental information, digitize it and place it on a secure medium for everyone’s use. Questions about climate change could be answered quickly; hopefully in time for mankind to take corrective measures.
The data rescued by IEDRO enables the meteorological and scientific communities to provide more accurate severe weather forecasting and to understand climate change. This knowledge offers the world community a greater ability to more accurately predict long-range weather patterns, and thus it enables meteorological professionals to:
• Prevent famine and starvation.
• Provide more accurate lifesaving flood forecasts.
• Prevent the spread of airborne and insect-borne disease.
• Construct and reinforce buildings, bridges, and public services to withstand predicted severe weather.
• Better understand the nature and extent of global warming and climate change, as well as the rate at which our climate is changing.
• Gain a clearer understanding of human history.
Data Rescue Problems and IEDROs Solution
Weather data describes the atmosphere at a particular time and place. It may include temperature, relative humidity, wind direction, wind speed, barometric pressure, visibility, precipitation, and other factors. There are two basic types of weather observations:
• Surface Observations — Readings taken by an observer from weather instruments which are about five feet off the ground. Readings may be hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly.
• Upper-Air Observations — Taken from a radio transmitter attached to weather sensors. The sensors trail a balloon as it rises from the ground up to 100,000 feet.
Problems with Historic Observations
• Observations — Records of unusual environmental disturbances were recorded in ship’s logs, personal diaries, newspaper accounts, or other temporary media before the invention of modern meteorological instruments. Many times the data was imperfect or estimated. For example, winds at sea may have been described by sea conditions or the billowing of ship’s sails, while winds on land may have been estimated by the movement of trees and other flora.
• Recording Methods — Prior to 1985, weather observations were recorded on paper and transmitted via radio, telephone, and teletype to weather forecasters. Unfortunately, many times transmission difficulties prevented the readings from reaching users. This handicapped scientists wishing to study a particular weather phenomenon, since they did not have a complete set of weather observations archived.
Strip charts were used to record observational data such as temperature, atmospheric pressure, relative humidity, precipitation, stream flow, wind direction and speed, etc.
“The further back you look, the further forward you can see.” – Winston Churchill
Like this one hydro-meteorological “strip charts” look like pen traces on a grid. The charts are mounted on cylinders that rotate at a constant speed, and a pen, attached to a mechanical device, records the changes in parameter values over time. Depending on the speed at which the cylinder turns, the charts may represent parameter changes over a 24-hour period or a 7-day week.
The Problem
From strip charts the process to extract information and digitize the values involves manually running a digitizing pen to trace the chart then hand entering the data on a form. This process takes 15 -20 minutes of effort per chart.
IEDRO’s Solution
Dr. Ed Root, one of IEDRO’s talented volunteers, is developing a computer program that will copy and digitize a scanned or photographed image of a strip chart. The digitized data will be provided in a comma delimited file, or transcribed in a table. The time required for the program to digitize a chart will be less than 5 seconds!
Stay tuned to IEDRO through our website or our free monthly newsletter. Sign up at admin@iedro.org.
To learn more about who benefits from IEDRO’s work, click here.
IEDRO’s Data Rescue Goals
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) developed a program in 2001 to save and digitize data at risk of being lost forever. NOAA’s data rescue program gathers old paper observations and hires contractors view each weather observation record and manually key in the information into a digital database.
While NOAA has successfully digitized historic weather observations taken in the U.S., weather observations from around the world have not been collected. We at IEDRO focus on locating and rescuing historic weather records that have not been captured by NOAA. This information, which provides records for about two-thirds of the planet’s surface, has not been digitized or placed in an accessible archive. These fragile paper records may no longer exist 10 years from now, and the vital information contained within them will be lost.
While most of the data located, rescued and computerized by IEDRO are historic weather observations taken by foreign meteorological services, other unofficial observations and unusual records are equally important. IEDRO’s long range goals include expanding our rescue efforts to:
• Weather data recorded on microfilm, microfiche and magnetic tape
• Marine observations (surface temperatures, tidal records and deep ocean data)
• Inland water body data
• Data from historic ship’s logbooks
• Solar observations
• Ionosphere observations
• Shoreline mapping records
• Marine ecosystems
• Cetacean data (observance of large marine mammals)
• Historic glacier photographs
• Personal diary weather observations
• Storm descriptions from historic church records
• Other private historical data donated by the public
How We Provide Rescued Data to the World Community
- IEDRO has one requirement – rescued data will be provided to the world community through a world data center for free or for a nominal reproduction charge.
- IEDRO sends a copy of the scanned images received from our data rescue projects to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) in Asheville, North Carolina. NCDC keys the alphanumeric data, scans the photographs and stores the digital files in their database. Anyone in the world can access the information stored at NCDC for research, education and operational purposes.
Who Uses IEDRO’s Historical Weather Data?
IEDRO collects historical data from as far back as the 1600’s. The data we collect holds the power to help every global citizen today. With data spanning 100 years or more, we can successfully forecast and understand ever-changing climate. The data we collect is digitized and downloaded to an open and unrestricted digital database accessible by all.
Foreign Agricultural Extension Agents to Prevent Starvation
Our data when newly available enables rural agricultural and development planners to show 1.8 billion subsistence farmers the real frequency of drought in their countries. Planting more appropriate crops means extra production for famine years.
Public Health Officials and Disease Researchers to Avert the Spread of Diseases
Saved data is correlated with historic disease epidemics and pandemics to stem current outbreaks of airborne diseases, such as Malaria, West Nile Virus, Dengue Fever and Yellow Fever. The relationship of past disease spread with the historic weather conditions enables researchers to predict disease spread (disease vectorization). Inoculation teams and mosquito spraying equipment can then be allocated to the most vulnerable areas.
Researchers to Understand Climate Change and Global Warming
Newly available data shows scientists the true extent and rate of global warming and climate change. Regardless of which side of the global warming debate scientists are on, all agree more historical weather data is needed for research, and we need it soon.
Hydrologists and Meteorologists to Predict Severe Weather Conditions
Flooding causes more deaths each year than all other natural disasters combined (e.g., lightning, earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes and tornados). Collection of historical rainfall records is critical to flood forecast computer models used by most national weather services (including the U.S.) to forecast river flooding. Accuracy of forecasting increases as the year span of the collected data increases.
IEDRO Project Countries 2008
The below table shows total observations rescued, number rescued in 2008, and primary area of benefit.
——————————————————————————–
Country
Total
2008
Primary Area of
Benefit
Chile
540,000
24,500
Global warming
Uruguay
277,000
53,000
Global warming
Dominican Rep.
20,000
0
Severe weather
Kenya
35,000
0
Starvation/disease
Malawi
35,000
4,000
Starvation/disease
Mozambique
42,000
12,000
Starvation/disease
Niger
5,000
0
Starvation/disease
Senegal
70,000
14,000
Starvation/disease
Tanzania
2,000
2,000
Starvation/disease
Zambia
30,000
4,500
Starvation/disease
Totals
1,020,000
114,000
——————————————————————————–
Why Do We Rescue Historic Weather Data
We at IEDRO desire to:
• Better understand the nature and extent of global warming and climate change, as well as the rate at which our climate is changing.
• Prevent the spread of airborne and insect-borne disease.
• Provide more accurate lifesaving flood forecasts.
• Prevent famine and starvation.
• Make buildings, bridges, and public services able to withstand severe weather.
• Gain a clearer understanding of human history.
To better understand the reasons we collect old weather data refer to the below documents.
1. 6 Reasons to Collect Historic Weather Data click here.
2. About IEDRO Brochure click here.
3. Articles Related to Why We Rescue Weather Data click here.
4. IEDRO Newsletters that discuss 6 reasons for rescuing weather data click here.
5. IEDRO Presentation with music click here.
The Costs and Benefits of Accurate Weather Predictions
What is the impact in terms of lives, live stock, structures, lifestyle, health and finances when predictions of extreme weather are not accurate versus when they are on target and adequate warnings and preventive measures are provided? click here.
