The test of time
Historic science can be just as meticulous as its modern counterpart.
“WE TEND TO think science was inexact 175 years ago. In meteorology, that’s not always the case,” says Mac Benoy, the Australian Meteorological Association’s citizen science project manager. “Some of the first formal weather observations in British colonies were carried out by the Royal Engineers who were central to the functioning of many British outposts. For example, the Adelaide Survey Department, under the guidance of Royal Engineer Colonel Edward Charles Frome, began formal recordings in 1839 – most likely acting on a memorandum from the UK Colonial Secretary. The responsibility for Adelaide’s daily weather observations was then passed on to Arthur Henry Freeling from 1849. Trained as surveyors, Frome and Freeling understood the need for accuracy, with trained observers using standard instruments and taking exact readings at specified times. This explains why these old weather records are often so consistent and meticulous.” Dr Linden Ashcroft adds that while observations in these old records are useful, it’s important to note they weren’t taken using the standard method now used by the Bureau of Meteorology. “So we have to be careful before doing detailed scientific analysis,” she says. “For example, the thermometers and barometers used were often big, elaborate instruments prone to accuracy issues over time as the wood they were made from expanded. The World Meteorological Organization has very clear guidelines now on how and where weather stations should be set up, but these guidelines didn’t exist in the 1800s. This can also have a big impact on the accuracy of historical weather data, but we can account for all of those factors when we’re analysing it in the present day.”