Unlocking the gold mine - making international climate data from the National Meteorological Archive available for climate science

The National Meteorological Archive holds a significant collection of international climatological data from locations around the world. This takes the form of large bound volumes containing monthly sheets of hand written daily weather observations, the earliest of which dates from 1846. Data is present from locations around the globe including Africa, the Middle East, Europe, Antarctica, Oceania, the Caribbean, Malaysia and the Far East, the Americas

These volumes hold a vast quantity of early and hugely valuable weather observations for areas of the globe which are often data sparse in climate modelling. The National Meteorological Archive has worked with colleagues across the Met Office and across wider UK Government to implement the large scale scanning of all international climate returns held in the archive.

This paper will discuss the role of archives in unlocking access to critical historical climate data and, using the International Climate Returns as a case study, will demonstrate the key logistical and strategic planning required for a successful short duration high intensity archival imaging project. It will also cover the potential additional activities which can be associated with such a project and the potential value to which such data may be put once fully recovered via AI or human led keying techniques.