International Workshop on Rescue and Digitization of Climate Records in the Mediterranean Basin 28-30 Nove

3. Data Rescue (DARE) Project The Data Rescue (DARE) project is aimed at assisting countries in the management, preservation and use of climatic data over their own territories. DARE commits to microfilm and microfiche, and eventually to digital media through CLICOM and other means, the original written manuscript records which may date back more than 100 years and in many cases are in danger of deteriorating and of being lost. The DARE project in Africa, funded primarily by Belgium, dates back to 1979 and the Belgium-supported phase was terminated in mid 1997. It has resulted in more than five million documents from more than 30 countries being saved on microfilm. In 1995 a DARE project began in the Caribbean with funding support from Canada. New DARE strategy In the mid-1990�s, technological advancements made it possible to optically scan climate data as a new method of creating digital climate archives. This technology permits the data not only to be preserved, but also to be in a form for exchange via computer media. However, it is now recognized that these data must be moved into digital databases for use in analyses and climate change studies. Optically scanning images certainly preserves the data and is a major improvement over hard copy media, but placing the data in full digital usable form will make it accessible to many more. An International Data Rescue meeting (September 2001, Geneva) re-defined Data Rescue as : An ongoing process of preserving all data at risk of being lost due to deterioration of the medium, and the digitization of current and past data into computer compatible form for easy access. This definition implies that: 1. Data should be stored as image files onto media that can be regularly renewed to prevent the deterioration of the medium (cartridges, CDs, DVDs etc.) 2. Data should be key-entered in a form that can be used for analyses. New data rescue projects are being implemented in many countries (Vietnam, Rwanda, Jamaica, Honduras)

4. A DARE questionnaire has been prepared and sent to all GCOS focal point of the eastern Mediterranean countries in order to learn their status.

8. Climate records to be recovered -Turkey

9. Climate records to be recovered �Georgia

10. Climate records to be recovered �Israel

11. Climate records to be recovered �Libya

12. The measurement of temperature for Istanbul were firstly published in 1842 in the newspaper � Ceride-i Havadis�. This measurements were performed by the foreign volunteers (Oguz, A., 2007). Official observation was started in 1868 in the Observatoire Imperial Meteorologique de Constantinapole. French Records from 1868-1897 were including monthly pressure, Tmax, Tmin, precipitation and daily max prec., wind speed and direction, RH%, N.of rainy, snowy, foggy, lightning day Ottoman records (3 climate books) from 1896-1901, 1901-1907,1907-1914 (daily record) They are including wind speed and direction, Precipitation, Humidity, Temperature and Pressure daily data German records during the 1st World War collected at �Zum Klima der Turkei� (1915-1918) Records from Kandilli Observatory (1926-1936) Turkish State Meteorological Service from 1937- Historical records from Ottoman Empires

14. Istanbul Temperature in 1841 by Ceride-i Havadis

21. How do we reconstruct climate? Tree Rings Glacial Ice Cores Ocean Sediments - The ratio of oxygen 16 to oxygen 18 preserved in the steady rain of dead organisms. Radiocarbon dates of organic material Pollen samples found in packrat middens and lake bed samples. Variations in desert varnish coatings found on rocks in the arid southwest Variations found in peatbog deposits Sedimentary rock records.

22. Tree Rings How does a tree produce annual rings? There are two main types of ring producing trees. The primary cellular component of tree rings is the tracheid. Tracheids are long tubular cells that make up the xylem. Tracheids formed in the beginning of the growing season are thick walled and low in density. These cells constitute what is called the earlywood. As the end of the growing season nears, climate conditions become less conducive and growth slows. Tracheids become darker and more thin-walled, forming the latewood. Finally, when the growth season ends, there is a marked boundary at the edge of the ring

23.  Dendrochronology is tree-ring dating. Simply stated, trees grow two ring per calendrial year. For the entire period of a tree's life, a year-by-year record or ring pattern is formed that in some way reflects the climatic conditions in which the tree grew. These patterns can be compared and matched ring for ring with trees growing in the same geographical zone and under similar climatic conditions. Following these tree-ring patterns--the sum of which we refer to as chronologies--from living trees back through time, we can thus compare wood from old or ancient structures to our known chronologies, match the ring patterns (cross-dating), and determine precisely the age of the wood used by the ancient builder.

28. Speleothem (Cave Deposit) Data Speleothems are mineral deposits formed from groundwater within underground caverns. Stalagmites, stalactites, and other forms may be annually banded or contain compounds which can be radiometrically dated. Thickness of depositional layers or isotopic records can be used as climate proxies. A multi-disciplinary research project (ENVNET) is investigating environmental change in Northeast Turkey. Details are representing at

32. After the reconstruction of past climate data, it will be possible to run RClimDex software to produce climate indices and to detect climate change from historic time to the present. One study has undertaken for the Middle East and published at: http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2005/2005JD006181.shtml

36. Turkish Digitized Data All the daily and monthly climate data (260 stations) have been digitized from 1926 to today. They are quality controlled from 1975- All Upper air data (7 stations) have been digitized from 1985- All AWOS minutely data (210 stations) are been stored automatically from 2002- All Rainfall Intensity data (250 station) have been stored from 1993- Satellite and Radar data have been stored from 2003- NWP data have been stored from 2006 Forecast bulletin have been stored from 2001 (still needs to scan from 1968)

37. DARE Activities in Rainfall Record

38. Screen output

39. Intensive Rainfall Records

43. Conclusion In order to detect historical climate values and their DARE activities, a questionnaire has been prepared and sent to eastern Mediterranean countries. Although five countries replied this request (Turkey, Georgia, Jordan, U.A.E., Israel), it is clear that there are many historical sources need to recover and digitize. Also many countries have expressed their intention to rescue of their data but they mentioned some constraints and they need help from WMO and other international organizations. Turkey, Georgia, Jordan, U.A.E. and Israel have historical climate values from 1842, 1844, 1925, 1936 and 1846 respectively and some of the values are still waiting for digitization.

44. Conclusion cont. Long term climate records (instrumental and proxy) are very important values for climate analysis, climate change detection, mitigation and adaptation studies. There are explored and unexplored historical records in eastren Mediterranean countries. But only a few people are aware of them. Authorities must be aware and consider of them in order to rescue and serve them to the public benefit. 50 years Ottoman Empires climate records ( 1868-1918) need to be translated and digitized. It must be start a project to digitize historical values. European 6th framework project (MACE) included this task as WP 4.5. This project passed all evaluation but not approved yet as financially Paleo sources also can give very important information about ancient climate and possibilty to compare with present. Prof Kuniholm, P., et all spend 30 years in Turkey and they have produced very valuable Anatolia Dendrochronology Database which is worth of appreciation. Turkey has more than hundreds of Speleothem caves which need to be study After the reconstruction of past climate data, it will be possible to run RClimDex software to generate climate indices and to detect climate change from historic time to the present.