NOAA/WDS Paleoclimatology archives a tree-ring chronology from Ponderosa Pine (PIPO) at Ditch Canyon, New Mexico. The data covers a 416-year period from 395 to -21 calendar years before present. It is maintained by the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.
Use Cases
- Reconstruct past precipitation or drought indices for the southwestern US using the annual tree-ring width series.
- Calibrate climate models by comparing the tree-ring chronology with instrumental climate records.
- Analyze the frequency of extreme climatic events, such as multi-year droughts, from the long-term ring-width record.
- Study the growth response of Ponderosa Pine to climate variables over a 416-year span.
Strengths
- Covers a 416-year time period (395 to -21 BP)
- Sourced from the authoritative NOAA NCEI World Data Service for Paleoclimatology
Limitations
- Temporal coverage ends 21 years before present, limiting direct overlap with modern instrumental records
- Data is geographically limited to a single site (Ditch Canyon, New Mexico)
Provenance
- Source
- NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) World Data Service (WDS) for Paleoclimatology
- Collection Method
- Tree ring analysis (dendrochronology)
- Time Range
- 395 to -21 calendar years before present (BP)
- Freshness
- null
- Geography
- Ditch Canyon, New Mexico, United States