The lack of data coverage in the Southern Hemisphere remains a major limitation for understanding global climate. This is where models and observations have the greatest disagreement Hence, Southern South America is a key region to address the lack of austral climate observations, as many early instrumental records are known of, but have not been accessed yet. Some of these records are at high risk of loss, mostly because of lacking resources, but also due to administrative neglection, inhibitive access rights, inadequate storing conditions, and many are stored at very remote locations.
The DARE project aims to rescue (image, digitize, and quality control) early climate observations that are under risk of loss in southern South America. Specifically, the project has identified documents with daily and subdaily hydrometeorological observations recorded by a range of sources, including (i) national weather and waterway agencies, (ii) Jesuit and Salesian observatories and missions, and (iii) stationary and moving vessels (Fig. 1). Some of the found series cover a couple of years only, while others span very long periods from the early 19th century to the turn of the 21st century.
