Yingkou Centennial
Observing Station—History and Its Observation Data
Xu, Y. Q. Yang, X. B.* Wang, H. Y. Zhang, Z. C. Yan, T. T. Wang, H.
Yingkou
Meteorological Bureau, Liaoning province, Yingkou 115000, China
Abstract: Yingkou Meteorological
Station was recognized as one of the first-batch centennial observing stations
at the 69th Session of the Executive Council of the World
Meteorological Organization (WMO). The Yingkou Centennial Meteorological Exhibition Hall was launched in 2020. The
museum collected a series of history recordeds about the station, includes the
meteorological activities in different periods, as earlier as Qing Dynasty, a
hundred of years ago. The dataset on Images of Yingkou Long-term
Meteorological Station Museum is the collection of the 37 images recording the
history of the station. The images are archived in .jpg and .png data formats
with the data size of 161.95 MB.
Keywords: Centennial
Observing Station; Yingkou Weather Station; Exhibition Hall; history; museum; WMO
Dataset Availability Statement:
The dataset supporting this paper was
published and is accessible through the Digital
Journal of Global Change Data Repository at: https://doi.org/10.3974/geodb.2020.04.18.V1.
1 Introduction
At
the 69th session of the Executive Council of the World
Meteorological Organization, Yingkou Weather Station was recorgnized as one of 60
world??s first-batch centennial observing stations[1].
It is an important carrier of the connotation and culture of Yingkou city.
2 Metadata of the Dataset
The metadata of the
??Images of Yingkou Long-term
Meteorological Station Museum??[2] is summarized in Table 1.
It includes the dataset full name, short name, authors, year of the dataset,
data format, data size, data files, data publisher, and data sharing policy,
etc.
3 Centennial History of Yingkou Weather Station
3.1 The Earliest Meteorological Observation in
Yingkou
Yingkou,
a coastal city surrounded by river and sea, is the earliest modern
meteorological observation city in Northeast China. Its meteorological
observation history can be traced back to the beginning of its port opening. In
1858, the Qing Dynasty was forced to sign the unequal Tianjin Treaty with
Britain, which stipulated that ten more areas such as Newchwang and Dengzhou
should be opened as treaty ports. At that time, Mr. Meadows, the first British
consul, came to Newchwang. When he saw that the river was seriously blocked, he
thought it was not suitable for ships to go through, so he decided to change
the treaty port from Newchwang to Yingkou, which was called Mogouying, and set
up a consulate for the reason that ??Newchwang is far away from seaport and
berthing is inconvenient??. In May 1861, Yingkou opened its port to the outside
world instead of Newchwang, becoming the first foreign treaty port in Northeast
China. Because of the Sino-British Tianjin Treaty could not be amended, Newchwang
mentioned in foreign affairs was actually referred to as Yingkou.
The Yingkou port opened the gate of Yingkou
to the world, and then the meteorological observation of Yingkou began
accordingly. In 1861, Mr. Meadows, who was the first British Consul in Newchwang
(Yingkou), installed the Fahrenheit thermometer on the outer wall of the
consulate to observe the temperature, and recorded the highest and lowest temperature
of each month from 1861 to 1865 in the summary of his trade report to British
government.
Table
1 Metadata summary of the ??Images of Yingkou
Long-term Meteorological Station Museum??
Items
|
Description
|
Dataset full name
|
Images of Yingkou
Long-term Meteorological Station Museum
|
Dataset short
name
|
ImagesYingkouMeteoStationMuseum
|
Authors
|
Wu, Y., Yingkou Meteorological Bureau, Liaoning province, 404991630@qq.com
|
|
Liu, S., Yingkou
Daily, Liaoning province, stai@163.com
|
Geographical region
|
Yingkou, Liaoning
province
|
Data format
|
.jpg, .png
|
Data size
|
162 MB
|
Data files
|
1 folder, 37 historical photos
|
Data publisher
|
Global Change Research Data Publishing & Repository,
http://www.geodoi.ac.cn
|
Address
|
No. 11A, Datun
Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, China
|
Data
sharing policy
|
Data from the Global Change Research Data Publishing
&Repository includes metadata, datasets (in the Digital Journal of Global
Change Data Repository), and publications (in the Journal of Global
Change Data & Discovery). Data sharing policy includes:
(1) Data are openly available and can be free downloaded via
the Internet; (2) End users are encouraged to use Data subject
to citation; (3) Users, who are by definition also value-added service providers,
are welcome to redistribute Data subject to written permission
from the GCdataPR Editorial Office and the issuance of a Data redistribution
license; and (4) If Data are used to compile new datasets, the
??ten per cent principal?? should be followed such that Data records
utilized should not surpass 10% of the new dataset contents, while sources
should be clearly noted in suitable places in the new dataset[3]
|
Communication and searchable system
|
DOI, DCI, CSCD, WDS/ISC, GEOSS, China GEOSS, Crossref
|
In 1871, Dr. James Watson, the Medical Officer of Shanhai New
Customs (Yingkou Customs) quoted Mr Meadows??s report and added to his own
temperature observations data in his first medical report ??The medical report of
Newchwang port, for the half-year ending on 31 March 1871?? to the Chief Revenue
Secretary. This report by Dr. James Watson confirmed once again that Mr. Meadows
had been observing temperatures since 1861. Therefore, it can be inferred that,
as early as 1861, the first meteorological observation project appeared in
Yingkou, which was about temperature change observation. The history of
meteorological observation in Yingkou can be traced back to nearly 160 years
ago. Meadows??s observation also made Yingkou become the city with the earliest
meteorological observation record in Northeast China.
3.2 The Establishment
and Development of Yingkou Customs Weather-observing Station
In
1864, the government of Qing Dynasty set up ??Shanhai
New Customs?? (Figure 1) in Yingkou, which was subordinated to the General Taxation
Office and also known as ??Foreign Pass?? and ??East Customs??. The British Jas Mackey
acted as the first Acting Tax Supervisor of the Customs. At the same time, in
the west of Yingkou, there was another Customs directly managed by the Qing
Dynasty, called ??West Customs??.
Due to the strong dependence of sailing on
the weather, Mr. Hurd (British), the Chief Commissioner of the Qing Dynasty
Customs, issued the No. 28 Circular in 1869 (Figure 2), required to establish
the weather-observing stations over the coastal regions in China, in order to
obtain meteorological data for ensuring the safety of shipping[4]. Since
1870, customs stations at all ports and major lighthouses have been established
one by one, and meteorological observation has been included in one of the
customs?? five basic maritime services. The establishment of the customs
observation network system is of great value to understanding, forecasting and
studying the weather and climate in China and East Asia, and plays a very
important role in ensuring the shipping safety.
|
|
Figure
1 Shanhai
New Customs
|
Figure
2 No. 28 Customs Circular
|
In February 1880, Newchwang (Yingkou) built a
customs weather-observing station in the customs yard (Figure 3) near the
Liaohe river. The existing monthly record of meteorological observation, which is
kept in the Archives of China Meteorological Administration, began in March
1890 and ended in May 1932. In October 1882, in order to ensure and serve
coastal meteorological work more effectively, Hurd (British), the Chief
Commissioner of the Qing Dynasty Customs, ordered all customs weather-observing
stations to transmit meteorological observations to the Zikawei
Observatory in Shanghai. Since then, Newchwang (Yingkou) Customs Weather-observing
Station and the Zikawei Observatory established a cooperative relationship,
providing meteorological data for its weather forecast. The frequency of
Customs meteorological observations was also increased to eight times, six
times or at least four times a day.
Due to the occupation of Japanese, the meteorological observation of
Yingkou Customs ended in May 1932. On June 27, 1932, Yingkou Customs was taken
over by the Japanese puppet authorities. On September 25, the general Taxation
Department closed all the customs in the three northeastern provinces, and
Yingkou Customs that under the jurisdiction of the Customs of the Republic of
China was officially closed[5].
3.3 The Yingkou Weather Station Set up by the
Japanese
Figure
3 Shanhai
Pass meteorological observation field and signal tower
|
In 1904, the Japanese-Russian
war broke out. For the needs of the war, the Japanese government approved the
Central Meteorological Observatory to establish weather observing stations in Northeast
China and the DPRK[6]. On August 5, 1904, the sixth interim weather
station was set up in Qingniwa, Dalian, and the seventh interim weather station
was set up in Yingkou (Figure 4). In the following year, the liaison office was
set up in Lvshun, and the eighth interim weather station was set up in Mukden, all of which provided meteorological information
for the Japanese army.
The meteorological observation office in Japan was managed by the
Ministry of Education, but on the establishment document of the seventh interim
weather station, in addition to the signature of the Minister of Education
Jiubaotianrang, there was also with the signature of the Minister of War, Sineizhengyi,
which fully proved that the weather station was set up to serve the war. In
September 1904, the seventh interim weather station began to make meteorological
observations, and official records began in October. From then on until May
1932, there were two meteorological observation stations of the Customs and
Japan in Yingkou.
According to historical records, the seventh interim weather station
in Yingkou was first established at the Sanyi Temple, Yuanshen Temple street,
Yingkou, on September 30, 1904. It was moved to Niujiatun on November 1, 1907,
and then moved from Niujiatun to Yidingmu (Figure 5) in Xinshi street, Qingliu town,
in October 25, 1909, where the old site of the Yingkou Weather Station is now
located.
In October 1905, the Japanese set up the
Kanto General Governor??s Office in Liaoyang. In May
1906, the Kanto General Governor??s office was moved from Liaoyang to Lvshun. In
August 1906, it was renamed as the Kanto Governor??s
office, as the colonial institution of Japanese military and political rule
in Northeast China. On September 1, 1906, the wartime interim weather station
and station branch of the Japan Central Meteorological Station were transferred
to the Kanto Prefecture, and the seventh interim weather station was renamed as
Yingkou Observatory. In 1908, the Japanese government implemented the Kanto Imperial Palace Weather Station system by Royal
Decree No. 273, and the Dalian Observatory was renamed as
the Kanto Imperial Palace Weather Station (Figure 6), and the Yingkou and
Mukden Observatory as the weather station branch. On April 12, 1919, the Kanto
Imperial Palace was renamed as the Kanto Hall. Yingkou Weather Station branch was
renamed as the Yingkou Weather Station branch of the Kanto Hall. On December
26, 1934, it was renamed as the Yingkou Branch of Kanto Observatory.
Figure
4 Establishment
documents of the Seventh Interim Weather Station (part)
Figure
5 The old appearance of the Yingkou Branch of the Kanto Imperial
Palace Weather Station (the west side of Yingkou People??s Park now)
On December 1, 1937, the Japanese government
implemented the so-called ??abrogation of extraterritoriality??, transferring the
observation stations of Xinjing (Changchun), Siping street (Siping), Mukden
(Shenyang), Yingkou, etc., to the ??Central Observatory?? of the Puppet
Manchukuo, but in fact they were still controlled by the Japanese[6].
In 1945, with the surrender of Japan in the World War II, meteorological
observation at the Yingkou Branch of Kanto Observatory came to an end.
After the victory of the war, the Central Weather
Bureau in Northeast China received and resumed meteorological observation stations,
which were Yingkou, Qingyuan, Jilin, Chengde, etc. However due to the
limitation of the political situation, the relevant information of Yingkou
Weather Station could not be verified. Therefore the observation
records from 1945 to 1949 were extremely limited.
3.4 The Meteorological Observation of the Nan Manchu Railway in Yingkou
With the military
aggression in Northeast China, Japanese also acted the economics together. In 1906,
Japanese colonists established the Nan Manchu Railway Co., Ltd. (Manchu Railway
for short) in Dalian. Since 1913, ??Manchu Railway?? has successively set up
meteorological observation stations in subordinate offices and agricultural
trial farms along the railway to make meteorological observation in agriculture
and horticulture or to carry out meteorological observation services for coal
mine, iron and steel industry[6]. The ??Manchu
Railway?? agriculture site was shown in Figure 7.
Figure
6 Dalian Kanto Imperial Palace Weather Station
Figure
7 ??Manchu
Railway?? agriculture site
|
In April 1913, the Xiongyuecheng nursery of Manchu Railway set up in
1909 was renamed as ??Xiongyuecheng Branch of Industrial Test Site of Nan Manchu
Railway Co., Ltd.??, and a weather-observing station was set up. On January 1,
1914, the weather began to be observed and official meteorological records were
kept. The station at the Xiongyuecheng Branch of Industrial Test Site was the
earliest weather station for agro-meteorological observation set up by the Nan
Manchu Railway Co., Ltd. in Northeast China. In
addition to providing meteorological services for agricultural and
horticultural activities, it also provided meteorological observation data for
the Japanese aviation operations. The configuration of the aviation meteorological
office implemented by the Flight Operations Group was shown in Figure 8. On
January 15, 1918, according to the regulations of the Nan Manchu Railway, ??Xiongyuecheng
Branch of Industrial Test Site?? was renamed as ??Xiongyuecheng Branch of Agricultural
Test Site?? (Figure 9 the office of Xiongyuecheng Branch), which was managed by
the ??Manchukuo??
central Meteorological Observatory in 1936. After the unconditional surrender
of Japan in 1945, meteorological observation was halted.
After a lapse of more than 100 years, the old site is still in good
condition. Today, the XiongYue National Basic Meteorological Observing Station
has become one of the members of ??China??s Centennial Observing Station??.
Yingkou is the only city in China that has two centennial observing stations,
which have been preserved well. The strong historical background of 100 years
makes Yingkou meteorological occupy a very important position in the modern
meteorological history of China.
3.5 Development of Yingkou Weather Station After the Founding of the PRC
The
founding of the People??s Republic of China opened a new era in the development
of meteorological services in Yingkou. On February 26, 1948, Yingkou was
liberated. On February 27, 1949, the Northeast Meteorological Observatory of
the Northeast People??s Government sent staff to Yingkou to prepare for the
construction of Yingkou Weather Station at the former site. On April 1, 1949,
Yingkou resumed the meteorological observation which had been suspended for 5
years.
When Yingkou Weather Station was set up, the
instruments and equipment were very simple. The observed weather elements
included cloud, visibility, weather phenomena, pressure, temperature, humidity,
wind direction and speed, precipitation, sunshine, evaporation, surface temperature
and grass temperature. With the development of observation, many other elements
such as snow depth, frozen soil, snow density (snow pressure) and electric line
ice accumulation have been successively recorded.
At the early stage of the establishment of Yingkou
Weather Station, meteorological observation was mainly made by manual
observation, manual compilation and report, and observation equipment was very
simple. With the progress of science and technology and the development of
meteorological modernization, manual observation has gradually changed to
automatic observation. In October 1999, Yingkou Weather Station took the lead
in the construction of surface meteorological wire-telemetry TYPE II automatic
station in the whole province, achieving a significant turning point from manual
observation to automatic observation. In May 2013, the new automatic station
was completed and put into use, starting the operation mode of ??one main
station and one standby station?? of two automatic weather stations. With the continuous
advancement of meteorological modernization, Yingkou Weather Station, as a
pioneer of modern meteorological observation in Northeast China, has developed
into an all-weather, automatic, multi-element and three-dimensional comprehensive
meteorological observation station.
From the past simple observation to today??s
modernized and standardized observation field, Yingkou Weather Station moved three
times and now it is located in the Planned area of West Battery Park, No.
119 West Bohai Avenue, West Downtown of Yingkou (Figure 10-11). From the suburbs of the city to the busy downtown, Yingkou
Weather Station has witnessed the growth of Yingkou city. On August 14, 2017, the
Yingkou municipal government decided to take the current site of the
meteorological station as a permanent fixed station for long-term protection,
which reflects the importance of environmental protection for meteorological
observation.
Figure 8 Flight combat group to implement
aviation meteorological authority configuration
|
|
Figure 9 The
observatory office of Xiongyuecheng Branch of Industrial Test Site
|
Figure 10 View of the Yingkou
National Basic Meteorological Observing Station
|
4 Re-construction of the Yingkou Weather Station in its
Original Location
Figure 11 Relocation schematic diagram of Yingkou
Weather Station
|
On 17 May 2017, at the 69th
Session of the Executive Council of WMO, the Yingkou Weather Station was recognized
by WMO as one of the first-batch centennial observing stations
due to its over 100 years??
continuous observation, over 100 years?? long-sequence climatic data and over
100 years?? environment protection for meteorological observation, there are 60 stations around the world received this honor, and
three of them were selected in Mainland China, with the only old site left by Yingkou
Weather Station.
On 17 November
2017, the Yingkou municipal government approved the site of Yingkou Weather
Station as the fifth-batch of municipal cultural relic protection units in
Yingkou, and extended the protruding parts of the surrounding outer walls
within 5 m as the protection scope.
Yingkou Weather Station was built in 1909,
112 years for now. The existing site was not known until in May 2017 when Yingkou
Weather Stations was identified as a World Centennial Observing Station and
reported in the news. One local history-lover posted an article in WeChat after
he read the news, and he also provided the exact location and photos of the
building. Upon discovering it, the meteorological department immediately
applied for protection of the site.
The old building was in a state of disrepair
and lack of regular maintenance, and the observation tower on the roof was
demolished after the earthquake in 1975. For the above situation, with the
strong support of China Meteorological Administration, Liaoning Meteorological
Bureau, Yingkou Municipal Party Committee and Yingkou Municipal Government,
Yingkou Meteorological Bureau began to repair the old site in August 2018, with
the principle of ??repairing and restoring as the original appearance??. A
typical station with the most historical and cultural characteristics among the
centurial meteorological stations reflecting the combination with modern and
current, culture and cultural relics, history and development, was built
consequently. Through the renovation of the old site,
the historical features of the old building are restored, the problem of the
building falling into disrepair is solved, the service life of the building is
prolonged, and the old building come into availability in
modern society.
In addition, a new meteorological and cultural
square was built within the site to afforest the surrounding environment of the
site??s cultural relic protection
area. The square is consist of meteorological observation field, contour
landscape, hundred years of rainfall, hundred years of temperature and other
meteorological themed sculptures. It has become a multi-functional cultural
area integrating education, science, popularization and leisure as well as a
characteristic cultural tourism landscape in the eastern part of Yingkou city.
The old site of Yingkou Weather Station (Figure
12) has witnessed the 100-year history of the meteorological development of
Yingkou, and is an important part of the historical culture of Yingkou. In
order to preserve the cultural heritage and play its historical role, Yingkou Centennial
Meteorological Exhibition Hall (Figure 13) was re-built in the place at the old
building by Yingkou Meteorological Bureau, aiming at showing the commercial culture
and meteorological history development of Yingkou port, and giving full play to
its carrying function of architectural history and culture as well as regional
culture enhancement function.
|
|
Figure
12 The former site of
Yingkou Branch of
Kanto Imperial Palace Weather Station
(Taken in 2017)
|
Figure
13 The restored appearance
of the Yingkou Weather Station
|
5 Yingkou Centennial Meteorological Exhibition Hall
The Yingkou Centennial
Meteorological Exhibition Hall is the first meteorological Exhibition Hall in
the world with the theme of the centennial meteorological station certified by
the WMO, which carries the historical memory of Yingkou and the cultural
connotation of meteorological development. Yingkou Centennial Meteorological Exhibition
Hall is themed by ??A hundred years of history, great changes in meteorological
services??, and covers an area of 315.8 m2. There are three exhibition
sections, including the hundred years of meteorological development exhibition
area, modern and current meteorological instruments exhibition area and
multimedia interactive exhibition area, which give
full play to the historical and cultural value of meteorology and the function
of science popularization and education. The exhibition section of Yingkou
centennial meteorological history includes three parts: Wind and rain in the
century, progress of meteorological services in new China and the
glory of our times. (Figure 14 shows part of the exhibition area). The
whole Exhibition Hall displays commercial and trade culture of Yingkou,
centennial meteorological culture and modern meteorological science and
technology culture by diversified forms, including historical pictures,
exhibits, historical materials, scene restoration, multimedia demonstration,
and sensory interaction.
As a special exhibition area, modern and current meteorological
instruments exhibition is a unique display area in the Exhibition Hall. There
are 51 exhibits, including instruments of temperature, humidity, wind, air
pressure, precipitation, sunshine and other observation
elements. There are 15 major exhibits consist of Japanese instruments from
1920s to 1940s, and meteorological instruments from the United States, Britain
and other countries. The observation instruments of temperature, humidity, air
pressure, wind direction and wind speed before the founding of the People??s Republic of China have also been
collected and displayed in the exhibition area.
The site of Yingkou Centennial Observing Station is not only the legacy
of urban history and culture, but also the continuation of urban historical
context. Its profound historical and cultural connotation not only provides
precious evidence for the study of meteorological cultural history, but also
has extremely important value for the study of history,
carrying forward the spirit of patriotism and global climate change. In the
process of cultural relics protection, Yingkou Meteorological Bureau took the
opportunity of being recognized as the world centennial observing station, combined
modern elements with the old building site to build the Yingkou Centennial Meteorological
Exhibition Hall, and made it become a carrier of domestic meteorological
culture communication and a platform for international meteorological resources
exchange, with great significance for preserving the city??s historical and cultural memory,
enhancing the city??s
cultural connotation and transmitting the historical information of the development
of the times.
Figure
14 Part of the
exhibition areas
6 The Historical Data of Centennial Weather Records in
Yingkou
Yingkou meteorological observation history
includes the meteorological activities of different people or institutions in
different time periods, such as the behavior of first British Consul after the
opening of Yingkou port, the weather observation activities of the customs subordinated
to the Qing Dynasty, the customs under the Government of the Republic China as
well as the meteorological activities of Japanese invaders. The historical
connotation is not only the witness of modern China being bullied by various
aggressors, but also the witness of science and technology affected by the
development of western countries, which is of great historical
research value.
In 1861, After
the opening of Yingkou, the first British Consul named Thomas
Taylor Meadows carried out temperature observation and gave a table reflecting
the extreme highest and lowest temperatures of
each month from 1861 to 1865 in the summary of his trade report to the British
government (Figure 15)[7]. Meadows believed that extreme temperatures
are more of a concern for some people than average
temperatures. For example, a traveler arriving in a new city could be fully
prepared for local extremes. He pointed out that the chart also lacked a useful
factor: the heat of the summer sun. He used Fahrenheit thermometers that hang on
the consulate??s outer wall because the sun
could not shine on them.
In 1871, Medical officer James Watson of Yingkou
Customs quoted Mr Meadows??s report in his first medical report: ??The Medical
Report of Newchwang port, for the half-year ending on 31 March 1871?? (Figure 16)
to the Chief Revenue Secretary Hurd[8]. He agreed with the intention
of recording extreme temperatures, pointing out that average temperatures were
indeed misleading as a reference point. In the medical report he added his own
observations of the coldest temperatures in the last three months of 1870 and
the first three months of 1871,
using thermometers made by the same manufacturer as Mr Meadows?? and taking the
same observation methods. James Watson??s report also was another attestation of
the Meadows??s temperature observations, and they have left Yingkou??s earliest
meteorological data together, dating back 160 years.
Figure 15 The British Consulate-General??s Trade
Report in Yingkou, 1865—observation
data from Meadows
|
Since then, Meadows??s trade reports for
other years had not been collected, but after many searches, we have collected
a total of 54 customs medical reports from 1870 to 1910. The customs medical
report was a local medical and health report written by the customs medical
officers of all trading ports in the late Qing Dynasty. It contained
information such as the prevalence of diseases, births and deaths of residents,
climatic conditions, meteorological observation data, etc. It was collected and
published by the Chinese Customs as a semi-annual magazine. Among the 54
customs medical reports collected, there were 24 medical reports in Newchwang
(Yingkou) area, among which 17 medical reports were found by further searching
for the chapters containing meteorological information. These meteorological
data have typical characteristics of times and geography, and the preservation
of these data is of great reference value to the study of climatic
characteristics, economic development, social and cultural aspects at that
time.
Figure 16
The Medical Report of Newchwang port, for the
half-year ending on 31 March 1871—observation
data from Meadows and Watson
Figure 17 Daily climate data of Yingkou for a
hundred years
|
In the process of collecting meteorological data, we found the China
Meteorological Administration archives contain the complete historical data of
temperature, pressure, and precipitation of Newchwang (Yingkou) Customs from
March 1890 to May 1932 and part of the Yingkou Weather Station observations
from October 1904 to April 1942. In order to keep and continue the
centennial climate data, which carries one hundred years of history in Yingkou,
Yingkou Meteorological Bureau supplemented and sorted out meteorological data
collected from the Archives of the China Meteorological Administration and
other sources. In November 2019, it completed the printing of a complete book
(Figure 17) titled ??Daily climate data of Yingkou for a hundred years??[9],
including observations of Newchwang (Yingkou) Customs from 1890 to 1932 and
observations of Yingkou Weather Station from 1904 to 2018, covering a period of
129 years.
Before 1902, Newchwang (Yingkou) Customs Weather-observing Station carried
out observations from March to November every year, including air pressure,
temperature, wind direction, wind speed and other weather phenomena. After
1902, a year-round observation began, including air pressure, temperature, wind
direction, wind speed, precipitation, visibility, weather phenomena, sea waves,
water level height and occurrence time of high water level. In addition to the
daily meteorological observation, the Newchwang (Yingkou) Customs Weather-observing
Station is also responsible for the compilation and issuance of meteorological
reports and the release of gale information warning tasks. The observation data
of Newchwang (Yingkou) Customs Weather-observing Station are original records,
with different languages and different units of measurement. In order to ensure
the standardization and consistency of the data, all the details have been
translated and converted by the editorial office staff.
When the seventh interim weather station of Yingkou was set up, it mainly
observed air pressure, temperature, humidity, water vapor tension, wind
direction, wind speed, precipitation, cloud amount, cloud shape, weather
phenomena, earthquake and so on. After that, the observation of evaporation, snow
depth, sunshine, surface temperature, grass temperature and other factors was
gradually increased. After the observation station was moved to Yidingmu,
Qingliu town, Xinshi street, the observation time was the standard time in the
120??E time zone with 22:00 being the daily boundary. Since January 1937, the observing time
system of Kanto Observation Station was changed from the 120??E time zone to the 135 ??E time zone. Although
the observation data of Yingkou Weather Station are more nearly enough through
the collection of various channels, the daily data from April to November 1937,
May 1941, and from May 1942 to April 1949 were missing, and there was no similar
observation to replace them as the result of war or other events. Therefore,
the above data were treated as missing measurement. In order to make the data
complete and continuous as possible, the editorial office staff carefully
reviewed the relevant regulations, and after repeated comparison and
rationality analysis, the missing daily data from January to September 1904,
January to December 1910, and April to December 1923 were finally replaced by
the observed data from Newchwang (Yingkou) Customs Weather-observing Station, which
was 5 km away from Yingkou Weather Station.
7 Application of Observation Data from Yingkou Weather
Station
From the beginning
to the present, meteorology has been inextricably linked with humanity,
society, economy and military affairs. In 1869, Hurd issued the Order ??No. 28
Customs Circular??, which indicated the important influence of weather on ship
navigation, and the establishment of the customs observation network system was
of great value to the climate research and the guarantee of shipping safety.
In 1871, Mr. James
Watson also described the necessity
for his meteorological observations in his medical report. He believed that
climate records would be helpful to correctly describe the effects of climate
on the health of Europeans. For instance, with the summer months?? southwest
wind, the night was cool and comfortable, and it could largely explain why disease
and physical ability in this period could recover sooner, while in the extremely
dry winter a healthy person tended to become nervous, allergic and unable to
concentrate.
If heavy rain or snow occurred at this time,
this uncomfortable feeling would be greatly
alleviated.
By analyzing local climate characteristics and seasonal changes, Watson
studied the relationship between
weather and health or disease. By comparing with the climate of European
countries, he objectively evaluated the physical effects of living here, and
put forward some suggestions for Europeans by observing the lifestyle of local
people in response to the climate.
In the past, meteorological data may only be used in a single way,
but now, with advanced meteorological observation means, numerous projects,
dense network of stations and wide application, meteorological observation
provides a large number of basic data for weather forecasting, major weather
services and weather modification, and plays a huge role in meteorological
disaster prevention and mitigation.
8 Summary
As the valuable record of global climate and ecology,
as well as a continuous inheritor of human history, humanity and science, the centennial
observing station is regarded as
an unrepeatable and irreplaceable climate heritage. Spanning one hundred years
of history, Yingkou Weather Station witnessed the development of meteorological
observation and progress in modern times, created a civilization achievement of
science and culture. With more than a century of observation data, it faithfully
recorded the climate change in Yingkou area and accumulated precious climatic
data in more than 100 years, which demonstrates its brilliant historical role
and more important contemporary value in the local economic and social development[10].
Yingkou
Centennial Observing Stations
has undergone the baptism of wind and rain for more than 100 years. It will
continue to write a glory chapter in meteorological observation, give full play
to the values of scientific popularization and cultural inheritance, continue
to make good services to ensure local economic and social development and the
well-being of the people, and make greater contributions to the global observation
system of the WMO[11].
References
[1]
WMO
69th Executive Council meeting [Z]. https://public.wmo.int/en/events/constituent-bodies/executive-
council-sixty-ninth-session-ec-69.
[2]
Wu,
Y., Liu, S. Images of Yingkou Long-term Meteorological Station Museum [J/DB/OL].
Digital Journal of Global Change Data
Repository, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.3974/geodb.2020.04.18.V1.
[3]
GCdataPR
Editorial Office. GCdataPR data sharing policy [OL]. https://doi.org/10.3974/dp.policy.2014.05
(Updated 2017).
[4]
The
Commissioners of Customs (Qing dynasty). Circular No. 28 of 1869.
[5]
Wu,
Z. X. China Modern Meteorological Observatory [M]. Beijing: China Meteorological
Press, 2007.
[6]
Yamamoto,
H. Imperial Japan Meteorological Observation [M]. Japan: Agriculture and
Forestry Statistics Publishing Co. LTD, 2014.
[7]
The
British Consulate-General??s Trade Report in Yingkou. 1865.
[8] Customs Gazette, No.X April–June
1871, Medical Report for the Half-Year Ended 31st March 1971.
Shanghai Printed at the Customs Press, 1883.
[9]
Yingkou meteorological Bureau. Daily Climate Data of Yingkou for
a Hundred Years [Z]. 2019.
[10] Liu, Y. M.
Centennial Observing Stations in China (1) [M]. Beijing: China Meteorological
Press, 2019.
[11]
Zhang,
W. J. Congratulations on the opening of the world??s first Centennial
meteorological museum in Yingkou [J/DB/OL]. Digital
Journal of Global Change Data Repository, 2020. https://doi.org/10.3974/geodb.
2020.04.11.V1.