Ditch Canyon Tree Ring Chronology For Climate Reconstruction

Tree ring width measurements from a single ponderosa pine site in New Mexico provide a climate proxy record spanning 318 years. The data covers the period from 290 to -28 calendar years before present, archived by NOAA's World Data Service for Paleoclimatology. This study was published in 1978.

Use Cases

• Reconstruct annual precipitation or drought indices for New Mexico using the tree ring width time-series.
• Calibrate regional climate models by comparing the 318-year ring width chronology with known historical climate events.
• Analyze growth anomalies in the ponderosa pine (PIPO) series to identify volcanic or climatic disturbance events.
• Cross-date the Ditch Canyon B site chronology with other ITRDB NM512 records to validate regional climate signals.

Strengths

• Time-series spans 318 calendar years, providing a multi-century climate record.
• Data is part of the authoritative International Tree-Ring Data Bank (ITRDB) collection.

Limitations

• Data is from a single tree species at one site (Ditch Canyon B), limiting spatial representativeness.
• The record ends in 1978, lacking recent decades for modern climate comparison.
• Raw ring width measurements are provided without derived climate indices, requiring expert processing.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Tree ring cores collected and measured using standard dendrochronological techniques.

Time Range

290 to -28 calendar years BP (Before Present).

Freshness

Last updated in 1978; this is a static archival record.

Geography

Ditch Canyon site, New Mexico, United States.