Windy Meadows Tree Ring Chronology for Climate Reconstruction

Tree ring width measurements from a Ponderosa Pine site in Washington provide a climate proxy record spanning 437 years, from 412 to 25 years before present. The dataset is archived by NOAA's World Data Service for Paleoclimatology as part of the International Tree-Ring Data Bank. This specific chronology was published in 1975.

Use Cases

• Calibrating tree ring width measurements against instrumental climate records to reconstruct past temperature or precipitation.
• Analyzing growth anomaly years within the chronology to identify extreme climate events like droughts.
• Comparing this Ponderosa Pine chronology with other regional tree ring datasets to assess spatial climate patterns.
• Using the dated annual ring sequence to validate or extend other paleoclimate proxy records for the Pacific Northwest.

Strengths

• Chronology covers a substantial 437-year time period for climate analysis.
• Data is part of the authoritative International Tree-Ring Data Bank (ITRDB) collection curated by NOAA.

Limitations

• The dataset's last update was in 1975, indicating older collection and analysis methods.
• Specific sample depth, measurement statistics, and site details are not provided in the basic metadata.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) World Data Service for Paleoclimatology.

Collection Method

Tree ring cores collected and measured to create a standardized chronology.

Time Range

412 to 25 years before present (BP).

Freshness

null

Geography

Windy Meadows site, Washington, United States.