1854-1961 marine surface and upper air observations recovered from microfilm copies of punched cards. The data was digitized from microfilm using the FOSDIC system by NCDC in the 1960s-1970s. The dataset was last updated in 1961 and is associated with the organization SCIOPS.
Use Cases
- Analyzing long-term trends in marine surface parameters like sea temperature or air pressure over the 107-year period.
- Studying correlations between upper air observations and surface weather conditions recorded on the cards.
- Validating and extending climate reanalysis models for the 19th and early 20th centuries using recovered historical data.
Strengths
- Covers a 107-year time range from 1854 to 1961.
- Data was recovered and digitized from archival microfilm, preserving historical records.
Limitations
- The original data format was 80-character punched cards, which may impose structural constraints on the recovered records.
- Data collection methods and instruments changed significantly over the century, introducing potential inhomogeneities.
- The dataset has not been updated since 1961, making it temporally stale for contemporary analysis.
Provenance
- Source
- National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) microfilm archives.
- Collection Method
- Observations recovered from microfilm copies of punched cards using the FOSDIC (Film Optical Sensing Device for Input to Computer) system.
- Time Range
- 1854-1961
- Freshness
- null
- Geography
- Marine locations (global oceans).