A rescued dataset of sub-daily meteorological observations for Europe and the southern Mediterranean region, 1877–2012
Abstract. Sub-daily meteorological observations are needed for input to and assessment of high-resolution reanalysis products to improve understanding of weather and climate variability. While there are millions such weather observations that have been collected by various organizations, many are yet to be transcribed into a useable format. Under the auspices of the European Union funded Uncertainties in Ensembles of Regional ReAnalysis (UERRA) project, we describe the compilation and development of a digital dataset of 8.8 million meteorological observations rescued across the European and southern Mediterranean region, many of them Essential Climate Variables (ECVs) as defined by the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS). By presenting the entire chain of data preparation, from the identification of regions lacking in digitized sub-daily data and the locating of original sources, through the digitization of the observations to the quality control procedures applied, we provide a rescued dataset that is as traceable as possible for use by the research community. Data from 127 stations and of 15 climate variables in the northern Africa and European sectors have been prepared for the period 1877 to 2012. Quality control of the data using a two-step semi-automatic statistical approach identified 3.5 % of observations that required correction or removal, on par with previous data rescue efforts. In addition to providing a new sub-daily meteorological dataset for the research community, our experience in the development of this UERRA sub-daily dataset gives us an opportunity to share guidance on future data rescue projects. All data are available on PANGAEA: doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.886511.