Swiss Tree Ring Chronology For Paleoclimate Reconstruction

187 annual tree ring measurements from the Mittleri Hellelawald site in Switzerland provide a climate proxy record. The NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) archives this data, which covers the period from 157 to -30 calendar years before present. It was last updated in the repository in 1980.

Use Cases

• Reconstruct past temperature and precipitation anomalies using the annual tree ring width series.
• Calibrate radiocarbon dating or other chronological models by aligning the tree ring chronology with known events.
• Analyze climate sensitivity and growth responses by correlating ring-width data with instrumental climate records.
• Study long-term ecological trends and forest dynamics in Alpine regions from the multi-century growth record.

Strengths

• 187-year continuous annual chronology from 157 to -30 BP.
• Geographically specific data point for Switzerland, Western Europe.
• Archived by the authoritative NOAA NCEI World Data Service for Paleoclimatology.

Limitations

• Single site record, limiting spatial representativeness for broader regional analysis.
• Data is temporally stale, with no repository updates since 1980.
• Lack of accessible column metadata limits understanding of specific measured parameters beyond ring width.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Tree ring analysis (dendrochronology).

Time Range

157 to -30 calendar years before present (BP).

Freshness

Last updated in repository: 1980-01-01.

Geography

Switzerland, Western Europe.