Paper short abstract:

João Carlos de Brito Capelo published, in the middle of 19th century, a set of climatological charts from the Gulf of Guinea. These charts were an important contribution of a Portuguese scientist to the knowledge of worldwide climatological data.

Paper long abstract:

By the middle of the 19th century, Mattew Fountain Maury, the Father of Modern Oceanography and Naval Meteorology, proposed the creation of an international network to collect meteorological data.

Portugal participated in the first International Meteorological Conference which took place in Brussels, in 1853. Portuguese ships started to collect data, in accordance with the standards defined in Brussels Conference. They collected meteorological information in the Atlantic and Indian oceans normally sailed by these ships, in their voyages to overseas territories.

In Portugal, the research in meteorology and climatology was centered in the "Observatório Meteorológico D. Luís" at "Escola Politécnica". João Carlos de Brito Capelo integrated the "Observatório" team since 1855. He played an important role in the developement geophysical sciences in Portugal.

In the charts of winds and currents from the Gulf of Guinea we can see the climatological data for different months of the year.