To date few studies have reconstructed weather from personal diaries (also known as private diaries). In this paper, we consider different methods of indexing daily weather information, specifically precipitation, from eighteenth and nineteenth-century personal diaries. We examine whether there is a significant correlation between indexed weather information and local instrumental records for the period, thereby assessing the potential of discursive materials in reconstructing precipitation series. We demonstrate the potential for the use of diaries that record weather incidentally rather than as the primary purpose, and the value and utility of diaries covering short periods when used alongside nearby contemporary diaries. We show that using multiple overlapping personal diaries can help to produce a more objective record of the weather, overcoming some of the challenges of working with qualitative data. This paper demonstrates indices derived from such qualitative sources can create valuable records of precipitation. There is the potential to repeat the methodology described here using earlier material or material from further away from extant instrumental records, thereby addressing spatial and temporal gaps in current knowledge globally.

中文翻译：

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评估18世纪和19世纪定性个人日记在降水重建中的效用

迄今为止，很少有研究从个人日记（也称为私人日记）重建天气。在本文中，我们考虑了索引18和19世纪个人日记的每日天气信息（特别是降水）的不同方法。我们检查索引的天气信息与该期间的本地仪器记录之间是否存在显着相关性，从而评估话语材料在重建降水序列中的潜力。我们展示了使用偶然记录天气而不是作为主要目的的日记的潜力，以及与附近的当代日记一起使用时，涵盖短时间的日记的价值和实用性。我们证明，使用多个重叠的个人日记可以帮助您更客观地记录天气情况，克服了使用定性数据的一些挑战。本文证明了从这种定性来源得出的指数可以创造有价值的降水记录。有可能重复使用此处描述的方法，使用较早的资料或远离现有仪器记录的资料，从而解决全球当前知识的时空空白。