Overseas Stations from China

German Overseas stations in China

Climate Data from the Overseas Stations of the Deutsche Seewarte (Hamburg) (German Marine Observatory) in China

Deutscher Wetterdienst Contact: Last updated: Marine Climate Monitoring Dr. Birger Tinz 15th June 2015 Bernhard-Nocht-Str.76 [email protected] 20359 Hamburg Tel. +49/69/8062 6250 GERMANY

DWD_Overseas_Stations_China_2015_0615.docx

German Overseas stations in China

Table of contents

1 Summary ...... 3 2 Digitisation of the Deutsche Seewarte ...... 3 3 Digitisation of Climate Data from China ...... 4 3.1 General Information about the Stations ...... 4 3.2 Climate Data ...... 6 3.3 Processing of the data ...... 6 3.3.1 Data entry ...... 6 3.3.2 Validation of the data...... 7 4 Results ...... 8 4.1 Output files ...... 8 4.1.1 Climate values...... 8 4.1.2 Hourly values ...... 9 4.1.3 Error Analysis ...... 10 5 Literature ...... 11 6 Abbreviations ...... 12 7 Appendix ...... 12

DWD_Overseas_Stations_China_2015_0615.docx

German Overseas Stations in China

Climate Data from the Overseas Stations of the Deutsche Seewarte (German Marine Observatory) in China

1 Summary

The Marine Meteorological Office of the Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD) in Hamburg holds the archive with data from about 1,500 Overseas stations of the Deutsche Seewarte (German Marine Observatory). This also includes the original, handwritten records from 14 stations in China for the periods 1891 to 1916 and 1934 to 1939. All documents from the 14 stations have been scanned at the DWD and their data have been digitised manually and passed through a quality check. The quality-checked set of data can be found on the CD- ROM enclosed with this description.

2 Digitisation of the Deutsche Seewarte

In its archives, the Deutscher Wetterdienst stores the original documents of about 1,500 overseas stations of the Deutsche Seewarte (German Marine Observatory in Hamburg). The climate diaries with records about precipitation, temperature, weather conditions and other elements span the overall period from 1830 to 1940. The stations existed throughout many parts of the world, mainly in the former German colonies in Africa and China as well as in the tropical Pacific Ocean (or 'South Sea') (Fig. 1). The Deutsche Seewarte provided the stations with calibrated and tested measurement instruments. The meteorological measurements and observations were carried out according to standardised guidelines of the Seewarte. The monthly tables were sent back to the Deutsche Seewarte in Hamburg by ship.

Figure 1: Geographical position of the round about 1,550 overseas stations of the Deutsche Seewarte (Hamburg) the data of which are currently being digitized.

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In addition to the weather observations, the archive also contains comprehensive metadata (descriptions, sketches or pictures of the stations, information about the measurement instruments and their set-up, reasons for corrections, etc.). Historical glass-plate photographs, maps, original administration documents and the letters exchanged between the Deutsche Seewarte, the stations, the various ministries of the German Reich and the measurement instrument companies. The ultimate goal of the DWD-internal project is to fully record the whole set of climate data from the overseas stations of the Deutsche Seewarte. This also comprises scanning of the original weather diaries and the manual digitisation of the values (including data quality control). The time series are incorporated into the DWD's databases and are made available to the countries of origin as well as for intended research projects. Furthermore, all available metadata were brought together and documented. So far, 196 stations have been digitised, which makes up 12.5% of the archive (as of 08.06.2015). More information about the archive of the overseas stations of the Deutsche Seewarte can be found in the articles by Tinz and Rosenhagen (2011) and Kaspar et al. (2015) or on the DWD's website www.dwd.de.

3 Digitisation of Climate Data from China

3.1 General Information about the Stations

The archive of the overseas station of the Deutsche Seewarte contains the original handwritten records from the following 14 climate stations in China (the German names of the stations are given in parentheses):

Chongqing (Chungking), Guangzhou (Hoyün), Huangshan (Hungschan), Gaomi (Kaumi), Meizhou (Kaying), Jiaozhou (Kiautschou), Lanzhou (Lanchow), Licang (Litsun), Mecklenburghaus (Mecklenburghaus), Wuhan (Ou-Tchang), Jinan (Tsinanfu-West), Qingdao (Tsingtau), Tschalientau (Tschalientau) and Schatsykou (Schatsykou). At these stations, weather observations were carried out during the periods 1891 to 1916 and 1934 to 1939. All 14 stations are situated in the eastern half of the country, six of them in the former German colony Jiaozhou (Kiautschou), which existed from 1898 to 1914 (Fig. 2).

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Figure 2: Positions of the 14 stations of the Deutsche Seewarte in China.

Tab. 1 provides a list of the stations' position data and observation periods. Detailed information about the elements observed and the daily observation hours can be found in the Appendix to this document in Tab. A1.

Table 1: Names, internal station identifiers, coordinates and periods of reporting of the 14 stations of the Deutsche Seewarte in China. All stations carried out climate observations; this means that, in addition to precipitation, the observers also registered air pressure, air temperature and various other elements. More information can be found in Tab. A1 in the Appendix. Num- Station Station Latitude Longitude Elevation Period of ber identifier in metres observation 1. Chongqing CHN02000 29°33' N 106°30' E 243 1891-1896 (Chungking) 2. Heyuan (Hoyün) CHN04100 23°44' N 114°41' E 31 1936-1939 3. Hongshan CHN01100 36°43' N 118°06' E 145,6 1908-1914 (Hungschan) 4. Gaomi (Kaumi) CHN01200 36°23' N 119°45' E 18 1902-1905 5. Meizhou (Kaying) CHN04000 24°21' N 116°08' E 156,4 1934-1939 6. Jiaozhou CHN01300 36°18' N 120°06' E 15 1903-1905 (Kiautschou) 7. Lanzhou CHN00100 36°01' N 103°45' E 1518 1935 (Lanchow) 8. Licang (Litsun) CHN01500 36°09' N 120°25' E 50 1898-1910 9. Mecklenburghaus CHN01400 36°12' N 120°35' E 447 1906-1914 (Mecklenburghau s) 10. Wuhan CHN02100 30°34' N 114°17' E 325,7 1898-1916 (Ou-Tchang) 11. Qingdao CHN01600 36°04' N 120°17' E 14,9 1898-1914 (Tsingtau) 12. Jinan CHN01000 36°40' N 116°58' E 36 1910-1913 (Tsinanfu-West) 13. Schatsykou CHN01700 36°06' N 120°32' E 20 1898-1909 (Schatsykou) 14. Tschalientau CHN01800 35°54' N 120°52' E 70 1899-1914 (Tschalientau)

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The administrative documents, the letters and the Deutsche Ueberseeische Meteorologische Beobachtungen (German Overseas Meteorological Observations) published by the Deutsche Seewarte (1887–1922) include further information on the positions of the stations (such as 'at 10 km distance from the sea', 'at the border of the city', etc.). These papers also contain descriptions of the measuring instruments (names of companies, serial numbers, corrections, etc.) and their set-up (e.g. thermometer at 1.5 m above ground level). The names of the observers and their professions are also given.

3.2 Climate Data Climate records are available for all of the stations; in addition, hourly values exist for Quindao (Tsingtau), Licang (Litsun) and Mecklenburghaus (Mecklenburghaus). The observation hours vary depending on the station's measurement programme: Climate stations: mostly three measurements a day, at 7 pm, 2 pm and 9 pm (but with some exceptions) Hourly values: 24 readings per day from the various mechanical recorder devices At the climate stations, the elements air pressure, air temperature, air humidity, precipitation, cloud cover, wind direction and wind force were registered. Tab. 2 gives an overview of these elements and the physical units of measurement used in the original records. Not all stations reported all elements, whereas Quindao (Tsingtau) additionally provided water temperature data.

Table 2: Meteorological elements measured and observed at the overseas stations of the Deutsche Seewarte in China (with original units of measurement). 1) Water temperature data are only available for Quindao (Tsingtau). Element Climate values Hourly values Air pressure mm Hg mm Hg Air temperature °C, °F °C Vapour pressure mm Hg N/A Relative humidity % % Minimum temperature °C, °F N/A Maximum temperature °C, °F N/A Precipitation mm mm Wind direction Wind rose with Wind rose with 16 wind directions 32 wind directions Wind force Bft m/s Cloud cover Tenths (0–10) N/A Clouds Cloud type N/A Water temperature1) °C N/A Sunshine duration °N/A min

3.3 Processing of the data

3.3.1 Data entry

Data entry took place via specifically developed Excel entry masks which based on the format of the diary pages. The data were entered manually in the same order as they appear on the original documents, e.g. they are not yet converted into SI units.

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3.3.2 Validation of the data

Data validation is carried out using the DWD's validation software validat (a name composed of validation and data) (Tinz et al. 2015). The data validation process consists of a series of different validation checks (Fig. 3). After each step, a new quality byte (Q) is assigned.

Figure 3: Schematic representation of the data validation process using validat. The dataset to be checked (red) and the configuration file kondef (blue) are read by validat (blue). The various checks are executed one after the other, flagging the meteorological data with the corresponding quality bytes, which are then written to the output file together with the meteorological data.

At the start of the data validation process, each value is flagged with the quality byte A (= original value not checked). If there is no value available, the data field remains empty and the quality byte is set to X (= value missing). At the end of each check, each of the elements receives a new quality byte (e.g. B, C, D, E, F and G). If the check identifies a value as wrong, this value is flagged with the quality byte (, [, {, /, <, or -. The highest quality level a value can reach at the end of the automatic validation process is G (= spatially consistent, Tab. 3). If a value has been confirmed manually (i.e. a value which was flagged as wrong during the automatic check in validat, but then is explicitly rated as correct by the processing staff member) gets the quality byte H (= confirmed manually). In the same way, a value which has been flagged as correct can be changed manually to 'wrong', using the quality byte %.

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Table 3: Sequence of validation checks in validat with corresponding quality bytes. Validation step Value correct Value wrong Value missing X N/A Value not checked A N/A Formal check B ( Climatological check C [ Analysis consistent D { Chronological check E / Internal consistency error F < Spatially consistent G - Manually confirmed / flagged wrong H %

4 Results

4.1 Output files

4.1.1 Climate values

The climate data having passed the validat quality checks are structured as shown in Tab. 4. Each line includes the corresponding station identifier, the geographical co-ordinates, the data time and the meteorological elements, each directly followed by the quality byte.

Table 4: Structure of the quality-checked climate data (including position and length); the quality bytes (Q) follow next to the measured values. Element Abbreviation Position Length Position Length Unit of of flag of flag measurement Station HEADER 1-20 20 N/A N/A N/A Station identifier IDENT 22-29 8 N/A N/A N/A Latitude LAT 31-35 5 37 1 ° N, ° S Longitude LON 39-44 6 46 1 ° W, ° E Station height STH 48-51 4 53 1 m Date DATE 55-62 8 N/A N/A N/A Local time HH 66-67 2 N/A N/A h Minute MM 69-70 2 N/A N/A min Air pressure PPPP 74-78 5 80 1 1/10 hPa Air temperature TT 85-88 4 90 1 1/10 °C Wet-bulb temperature TF 95-98 4 100 1 1/10 °C Vapour pressure DDRUCK 105-107 3 109 1 1/10 hPa Relative humidity RH 114-116 3 118 1 % Wind direction DD 123-125 3 127 1 degrees (°) Wind force FF 132-133 2 135 1 Bft Cloud cover N 140-141 2 143 1 1/10 Maximum temperature TX24 148-151 4 153 1 1/10 °C Minimum temperature TN24 158-161 4 163 1 1/10 °C 24h precipitation RR24 168-171 4 173 1 1/10 mm 1) 12h precipitation RR12 178-181 4 183 1 1/10 mm 1) 1) 0 = no precipitation, 9999 = no measurable precipitation (0.0 mm) An example is given in Fig.4 In the output file, the quality bytes are written immediately next to the checked elements in the 'Q' columns.

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Figure 4: Extract from CHN01600_Tsingtau.asc: each line includes the following columns: HEADER = station name, IDENT = DWD-internal station identifier, LAT = latitude 1/100 degrees, LON = longitude in 1/100 degrees, STH = station height in m, DATE = datum (year, monat, day), HH = hour, MM = minute, PPPP = air pressure in 1/10 hPa, TT = air temperature in 1/10°C, TF = wet-bulb temperature in 1/10°C, DDRUCK = vapour pressure in 1/10 hPa, RH = relative air humidity in %. The 'Q' columns show the corresponding quality byte.

4.1.2 Hourly values

The validat-checked hourly values of Quindao (Tsingtau), Licang (Litsun) and Mecklenburghaus (Mecklenburghaus) are structured as shown in Tab. 5 Each line includes the corresponding station identifier, the geographical co-ordinates, the data time and the meteorological elements, each directly followed by the quality byte.

Table 5: Structure of the quality-checked hourly data in the output files (including position and length); the quality bytes (Q) follow next to the measured values. Element Abbreviation Position Length Position of Length of Unit of flag flag measurement Station HEADER 1-20 20 N/A N/A N/A Station identifier IDENT 22-29 8 N/A N/A N/A Latitude LAT 31-35 5 37 1 ° N, ° S Longitude LON 39-44 6 46 1 ° W, ° E Station height STH 48-51 4 53 1 m Date DATE 55-62 8 N/A N/A N/A Local time HH 64-65 2 N/A N/A h Minute MM 67-68 2 N/A N/A min Air pressure PPPP 73-77 5 79 1 1/10 hPa Air temperature TT 84-87 4 89 1 1/10 °C Relative humidity RH 95-97 3 99 1 % Wind direction DD 105-107 3 109 1 N/A Wind speed FF 115-117 3 119 1 m/s Precipitation RRRR 125-128 4 130 1 1/10 mm 1) Sunshine duration SD 136-137 2 139 1 min 1) 0 = no precipitation, 9999 = no measurable precipitation (0.0 mm) An example is given in Fig. 5 In the output file, the quality bytes are written immediately next to the checked elements in the 'Q' columns.

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Figure 5: Extract from CHN01600_sw_Tsingtau.asc: each line includes the following columns: HEADER = station name, IDENT = DWD-internal station identifier, LAT = latitude in 1/100 degrees, LON = longitude in 1/100 degrees, STH = station height in m, DATE = datum (year, month, day), HH = hour, MM = minute, PPPP = air pressure in 1/10 hPa, TT = air temperature in 1/10°C, RH = relative air humidity in %, DD = wind direction in degrees, FF = wind speed in m/s. The 'Q' colums show the corresponding quality byte.

4.1.3 Error Analysis

Out of the whole set of climate data from the 14 stations, 298 values were flagged as wrong. In detail, there are 5 climatological errors and a temporal outlier in air temperature data as well as 292 inconsistencies between the measured values and maximum or minimum air temperature (Tab. 6). An example is given in Fig. 6.

Table 6: Number of errors detected in the climate data (per element). This list also includes the number of reports from the period 01.01.1891, 09:00 o'clock, to 30.6.1939, 14:00 o'clock.

Element Number Formal Climato- Chrono- Internal Corrected of error logical logical consistency manually reports error error error Wind force 78059 0 0 0 0 0 Wind direction 78563 0 0 0 0 0 Vapour pressure 49188 0 0 0 0 0 Cloud cover 74840 0 0 0 0 0 Air pressure 35393 0 0 0 0 0 Relative humidity 50600 0 0 0 0 0 Precipitation 33357 0 0 0 0 0 Wet-bulb temperature 58107 0 0 0 0 0 Air temperature 89767 0 4 1 0 0 Minimum temperature 19571 239 1 0 238 0 Maximum temperature 21506 54 0 0 54 0

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Figure 6: The air temperature value of 44.0°C registered at Licang (Litsun) on 22 August 1900, 14:00 o'clock, lies outside the climatological limits of 9.0°C … 39.9°C according to ERA-Interim. At the same time, Wuhan (Ou- Tchang), which is situated further to the south-west, reported 32.0°C.

Data validation of the hourly values revealed 33 errors in wind speed data (11 of these are of climatological origin), while the chronological check brought out 22 errors in air pressure, air temperature and relative humidity data (Tab. 7).

Table 7: Number of errors detected in the hourly data (per element). This list also includes the number of reports from the period 01.02.1899, 00:00 o'clock, to 01.06.1914, 00:00 o'clock. Element Number Formal Climato- Chrono- Internal Corrected of error logical logical consistency manually reports error error error Wind force 125541 26 11 15 0 0 Wind direction 125523 0 0 0 0 0 Air pressure 59782 2 0 2 0 0 Relative humidity 61323 1 0 1 0 0 Precipitation 2136 0 0 0 0 0 Sunshine duration 49049 0 0 0 0 0 Air temperature 73313 4 0 4 0 0

5 Literature

The Deutsche Seewarte has published the weather observations from nine stations, together with the corresponding station and instrument descriptions (Tab. 8).

Table 8: Chinese stations the meteorological data of which have been published in: Deutsche Seewarte (German Marine Observatory) (1887–1922): "Deutsche Ueberseeische Meteorologische Beobachtungen" (D. Ue. Met. B.). Number Name Volume Time period 1. Heyuan (Hungschan) XVIII-XXI,XXIII 1908-1914 2. Gaomi (Kaumi) XIV-XVI 1902-1905

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Number Name Volume Time period 3. Jiaozhou (Kiautschou) XIV-XVI 1903-1905 4. Licang (Litsun) XIV-XX,XXIII 1898-1911 5. (Mecklenburghaus) XV-XXI,XXIII 1906-1914 6. Jinan (Tsinanfu) XX,XXI,XXIII 1910-1914 7. Schatsykou (Schatsykou) XIV-XIX 1899-1909 8. Tschalientau XIV-XXI,XXIII 1904-1914 9. Qingdao (Tsingtau) IV,X,XXII,X-XXI,XXIII 1898-1914

Deutsche Seewarte (Hrsg) 1887-1922: Deutsche überseeische meteorologische Beobachtungen. Heft I-XXIII (23 Bd., http://docs.lib.noaa.gov/rescue/data_rescue_german.html)

Kaspar, F., Tinz, B., Mächel, H., Gates, L. 2015: Data rescue of national and international meteorological observations at Deutscher Wetterdienst. Adv. Sci. Res. 12, 57-61, doi:10.5194/asr-12-57-2015, Find out about Data rescue: (Data rescue of national and international meteorological observations at Deutschen Wetterdienst)

Tinz, B., Rosenhagen, G. 2011: Archiv der Überseestationen der Deutschen Seewarte. (Archive of the overseas stations of the Deutsche Seewarte). Promet 37, 53-61 (in German) Find out about the magazine: (Promet magazine) as from 01.10.2018

Tinz, B., Leiding, T., Sedlatschek, R., Otten-Balaccanu, H., Gates, L., Gloeden, W., Rosenhagen, G., Röhrbein, D. 2015: Quality control of marine meteorological data with validat. Internal DWD document, 28 pp. 6 Abbreviations

Table 9: The following abbreviations are used in this documentation:

Abbreviation Explanation ▪ DWD Deutscher Wetterdienst (German National Meteorological Service) ▪ QB/Q Qualitätsbyte ▪ SI Système international d´unités ▪ WMO World Meteorological Organization ▪ N/A Not Available

7 Appendix

Table 10: Overview of Appendices (see CD). Number Description File Name [A1] Climate data from all 14 stations CHNIIIII_STATIONSNAME.asc [A2] Hourly values from 3 stations CHNIIIII_HH_STATIONSNAME.asc [A3] Documentation validat DWD_documentation_validat_v1_0_20141206.docx [A4] Climate data from the overseas DWD_Overseas_Stations_China_2015_0615.docx stations of the Deutsche Seewarte

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In the file names, 'Stationname' will be replaced by the relevant station name.

❖ Chongqing (Chungking), ❖ Guangzhou (Hoyün), ❖ Huangshan (Hungschan), ❖ Gaomi (Kaumi), ❖ Meizhou (Kaying), ❖ Jiaozhou (Kiautschou), ❖ Lanzhou (Lanchow), ❖ Licang (Litsun), ❖ Mecklenburghaus (Mecklenburghaus), ❖ Wuhan (Ou-Tchang), ❖ Qingdao (Tsingtau), ❖ Tschalientau (Tschalientau), ❖ Jinan (Tsinanfu-West) und ❖ Schatsykou (Schatsykou

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Table A1: Station identifier and geographical coordinates of the 14 stations of the Deutsche Seewarte in China: all stations carried out climate observations; this means that, in addition to precipitation, the observers also registered air pressure, air temperature and various other elements. The following abbreviations are used: PP = air pressure in hPa, TT = air temperature in °C, TF = wet-bulb temperature in °C, DS = vapour pressure in mm, RF = relative air humidity in %, TX = maximum temperature in °C, TN = minimum temperature in °C, RR = precipitation total in mm, DD = wind direction, FF = wind speed in Bft, N = cloud cover in 1/10, form = cloud type, S = sunshine recorder, B = barograph, T = thermograph, H = hygrograph, P =pluviograph, A = anemograph.