NOAA's World Data Service for Paleoclimatology archives this tree-ring dataset from the Riederalp VS Binna site in Switzerland. The data provides a chronology covering the period from 97 to -23 calendar years before present (BP). It was contributed by Schweingruber and last updated in the NOAA NCEI system in 1973.
Use Cases
- Calibrating climate models by comparing tree-ring width measurements against known historical climate events.
- Reconstructing past temperature or precipitation anomalies for the Swiss Alps using the annual tree-ring chronology.
- Analyzing growth patterns and extreme events recorded in the ring-width series for ecological studies.
- Cross-dating this chronology (ITRDB SWIT138) with other regional tree-ring records to validate climate signals.
Strengths
- Data spans 120 years (from 97 to -23 BP), providing a multi-decadal climate record.
- Part of the authoritative International Tree-Ring Data Bank (ITRDB) collection curated by NOAA NCEI.
Limitations
- Temporal coverage is relatively short (120 years) compared to millennial-length tree-ring chronologies.
- Data is geographically limited to a single site (Riederalp VS Binna) in Switzerland.
- The last metadata update was in 1973, indicating potential staleness in documentation or data access methods.
Provenance
- Source
- NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), World Data Service for Paleoclimatology.
- Collection Method
- Tree-ring analysis (dendrochronology) from the Schweingruber collection.
- Time Range
- 97 to -23 calendar years before present (BP).
- Freshness
- null
- Geography
- Riederalp VS Binna, Switzerland, Western Europe.