Total Cloud Cover Variability over the Last 150 Years in Padua, Italy

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Abstract
Understanding long-term cloud cover variability is essential for assessing past climate dynamics and human influences on atmospheric conditions. In Padua, instrumental weather records (temperature, precipitation, pressure) and descriptive sky observations date back to 1725, but quantitative cloud cover data, expressed as tenths of the sky covered by clouds, began in 1872 at the Astronomical Observatory. From 1920 to 1989, observations continued under the authority of the Meteorological Observatory of the Water Magistrate, and from 1951 to 1990, additional records by the Italian Air Force expressed in eighths of sky are available. These visual datasets—based on multiple daily observations—are complemented by satellite records (from 1983) and reanalysis such as ERA5 (from 1940) and NOAA 20CRv3 (from 1872 to 2015). The aim of this study is to reconstruct a homogenized, long-term total cloud cover (TCC) time series for Padua from 1872 to 2024, integrating all available observational sources. By comparing overlapping periods across different subseries and nearby ground-based stations, the analysis not only investigates consistency and potential discontinuities across datasets but also quantifies the reliability and limitations of historical visual observations. This work provides one of the few centennial-scale reconstructions of cloud cover in Europe, offering a valuable contribution to historical climatology and climate change studies.

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