Fang, Fuze (2026): Meteorological observations in Canton (Guangzhou), China 1828-1839 [dataset]. PANGAEA, https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.992893
Always quote citation above when using data! You can download the citation in several formats below.
Published: 2026-03-12 • DOI registered: 2026-03-12
Abstract:
Meteorological data were compiled from the Meteorological Diary section of The Canton Register, an English-language newspaper published in Canton (Guangzhou), China (Original issues of The Canton Register are digitally available via the Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/canton-register-vol1). The dataset consists of daily instrumental observations spanning from October 1828 to December 1839. Each record includes calendar information (Date, Year, Month, Day), nocturnal and noon air temperature measurements reported in both degrees Fahrenheit (Night_Temp °F, Noon_Temp °F) and their converted equivalents in degrees Celsius (Night_Temp °C, Noon_Temp °C), barometric pressure, wind direction, and wind power.
Observations were generally conducted twice per day, corresponding to night-time and noon readings, although the precise observation times were not consistently specified in the original source. Measurements were obtained using contemporary thermometers and mercury barometers. According to contemporaneous correspondence cited by William C. Redfield, the meteorological column was initially contributed by Henry Wright, a former East India Company purser who later became a partner in Jardine Matheson. The instruments were installed on an exterior veranda of a foreign factory building in the Thirteen Factories district, approximately 9 m above ground level, with thermometers suspended about 1.5 m above the veranda floor and shielded from direct solar radiation.
All values were transcribed verbatim from the original printed sources. Temperature readings were originally reported in degrees Fahrenheit and subsequently converted to degrees Celsius using a standard linear transformation. Barometric pressure values, recorded as raw barometer readings in inches of mercury, were converted to a precision of 1/20th of an inch of mercury. No temporal interpolation was applied, and the data preserve the original daily observational resolution of the source.
Related to:
Letter from John Slade, June 1, 1839, In: W. C. Redfield Correspondence, 1822-1857. GEN MSS 1078, Box 2, Yale University Library, 221-223, https://digital.library.yale.edu/catalog/32333151
Coverage:
Latitude: 23.109820 * Longitude: 113.251190
Date/Time Start: 1828-10-01T00:00:00 * Date/Time End: 1839-08-31T00:00:00
Event(s):
Parameter(s):
| # | Name | Short Name | Unit | Principal Investigator | Method/Device | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DATE/TIME | Date/Time | Fang, Fuze | Digitized | Geocode | |
| 2 | Original value | Orig val | Fang, Fuze | Digitized | Temperature, air, nighttime mean in °F | |
| 3 | Temperature, air, nighttime mean | TTT nighttime m | °C | Fang, Fuze | Digitized | |
| 4 | Original value | Orig val | Fang, Fuze | Digitized | Temperature, air, noon in °F | |
| 5 | Temperature, air, noon | TTT noon | °C | Fang, Fuze | Digitized | |
| 6 | Pressure, atmospheric | PPPP other | arbitrary units | Fang, Fuze | Digitized | The barometer readings follow the common 19th-century barometer notation, where the smallest division corresponds to 1/20th of an inch of mercury. |
| 7 | Wind direction description | Wind dir descr | Fang, Fuze | Digitized | symbols indicating variability (e.g., parentheses or a for and/to) | |
| 8 | Wind force description | Wind force descr | Fang, Fuze | Digitized |
License:
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC-BY-4.0)
Status:
Curation Level: Enhanced curation (CurationLevelC)
Size:
27887 data points
Download Data
View dataset as HTML (shows only first 2000 rows)