Tree Ring Chronology from Palisades Kepler State Park in Iowa

Tree ring width measurements from Palisades Kepler State Park, Iowa, provide a climate proxy record spanning 213 years, from 180 to -33 calendar years before present. This dataset is archived by NOAA's World Data Service for Paleoclimatology and was published in 1983. It represents a specific site chronology within the International Tree-Ring Data Bank.

Use Cases

• Reconstruct past temperature or precipitation anomalies by analyzing the tree-ring width chronology.
• Calibrate the site's growth-climate response by comparing the ring-width series with local historical climate data.
• Identify extreme growth years (narrow or wide rings) as potential markers for past droughts or favorable growing seasons.
• Cross-date and validate other regional tree-ring chronologies using the established time series from this site.

Strengths

• Time series covers a 213-year period (180 to -33 BP).
• Data is curated and archived by NOAA's authoritative World Data Service for Paleoclimatology.
• Part of the standardized International Tree-Ring Data Bank (ITRDB) collection.

Limitations

• Temporal coverage ends at -33 BP (33 years before 1950), limiting direct overlap with the modern instrumental period.
• Data is from a single site (Palisades Kepler State Park), which may not represent broader regional climate signals.
• Last metadata update was in 1983, indicating the core data has not been revised with modern analysis techniques.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Tree ring sampling and measurement (dendrochronology).

Time Range

180 to -33 calendar years before present (BP).

Freshness

null

Geography

Palisades Kepler State Park, Iowa, United States.