Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Description of the Cliwoc Database

  • Published:
Climatic Change Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We developed a user-friendly database with the 1750–1854 CLIWOC data, which is suitable to be integrated with the ICOADS database. The meteorological content focuses on wind direction and wind speed. The data, stored in the IMMA format, are accessible in numerical and in their original descriptive forms. Apart from alphanumerical meteorological information, the database contains nautical information relevant to historians, and provides access to a considerable number of images of logbook pages. The construction of the database involved a number of difficulties, including language, unit conversion, terminology and zero meridian problems. We believe that this publicly accessible database can give an important contribution to the understanding of low-frequency climate variability, as it extends the current climatological ocean databases by more than a century and probes deep into the pre-industrial era.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • CLIWOC Team: 2003, CLIWOC multilingual meteorological dictionary, An English-Spanish-Dutch-French dictionary of wind terms used by mariners from 1750–1850, KNMI publication 205, HISKLIM 5 (Available from the UK or Dutch partners).

  • García-Herrera, R., Wheeler, D. A., Können, G. P., Koek, F. B., Jones, P. D., and Prieto, M. R.: 2004, CLIWOC final report, UE contract EVK2-CT-2000-00090. Available from Dto. Física de la Tierra II, Facultad de Físicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria, 28040 Madrid, Spain.

  • García-Herrera, R., Können, G. P., Wheeler, D. A., Prieto, M. R., Jones, P. D., and Koek, F. B.: 2005, ‘CLIWOC: A climatological database for the world's oceans 1750–1854’, Climatic Change, this volume.

  • Jackson, A., Jonkers, A. R. T., and Walker, M.: 2000, ‘Four centuries of geomagnetic secular variation from historical records’, Philos. Trans. Roy. Soc. London, Philos. Trans. Math. Phys. Eng. Sci. 358, 957–990.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones, P. D. and Salmon, M.: 2005, ‘Preliminary reconstructions of the North Atlantic Oscillation and the Southern Oscillation index from wind strength measures taken during the CLIWOC period’, Climatic Change, this volume.

  • Koek, F. B. and Können, G. P.: 2005, ‘Determination of terms for wind force/present weather. The Dutch case’, Climatic Change, this volume.

  • Prieto, M. R., Gallego, D., García-Herrera, R., and Calvo, N.: 2005, ‘Deriving wind force from nautical reports through content analysis. The Spanish and French cases’, Climatic Change, this volume.

  • Slutz, R. J., Lubker, S. J., Hiscox, J. D., Woodruff, S. D., Jenne, R. L., Joseph, D. H., Steurer, P. M., and Elms, J. D.: 1985, ‘Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set; Release 1’. NOAA Environmental Research Laboratories, Climate Research Program, Boulder, CO, 268 pp.

  • Wallbrink, H., Koek, F. B., Können, G. P., and Brandsma, T.: 2003, ‘Sea-level pressure observations from Dutch ships 1854–1938 incorporated in COADS Release 1c climatology’, Int. J. Climatol. 23, 471–475.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wheeler, D. A. and Wilkinson, C.: 2005, ‘Understanding wind force and weather terms from ships' logbooks: The English case’, Climatic Change, this volume.

  • Wheeler, D. A.: 2005, ‘An assessment of CLIWOC data quality and reliability’, Climatic Change, this volume.

  • WMO: 1947, Comité Météorologique International, Procès-Verbaux de la Session de Paris, 1–12 Juillet 1946, WMO, Publication No. 55, Lausanne.

    Google Scholar 

  • Woodruff, S. D., Slutz, R. J., Jenne, R. L., and Steurer, P. M.: 1987, ‘A comprehensive ocean atmosphere data set’, Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc. 68, 1239–1250.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Woodruff, S. D. (ed.): 2004, Archival of data other than in IMMT format. Proposal: International Maritime Meteorological Archive (IMMA) Format. Update of JCOMM-SGMC-VIII/Doc. 17, Asheville, NC, USA 10–14 April 2000. Available from http://www.cdc.noaa.gov/coads/e-doc/imma/imma.pdf.

  • Woodruff, S. D., Diaz, H. F., Worley, S. J., Reynolds, R. W., and Lubker, S. J.: 2005, ‘Early ship observational data and ICOADS’, Climatic Change, this volume.

  • Worley, S. J., Woodruff, S. D., Reynolds, R. W., Lubker, S. J., and Lott, N.: 2005, ‘ICOADS Release 2.1 data and products’, Int. J. Climatol. 25, 823–842.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI), PO Box 201, 3730AE, De Bilt, The Netherlands

    G. P. Können & F. B. Koek

Authors
  1. G. P. Können
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. F. B. Koek
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to F. B. Koek.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Können, G.P., Koek, F.B. Description of the Cliwoc Database. Climatic Change 73, 117–130 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-005-6946-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-005-6946-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation