Upper Gunnison Tree Ring Chronology For Climate Reconstruction

NOAA/WDS Paleoclimatology archives a tree ring chronology dataset from the Upper Gunnison area in Colorado. The data provides a time series covering 642 calendar years, from 628 to -14 years before present. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) maintains this archived study.

Use Cases

• Reconstruct past temperature or precipitation anomalies using the tree ring width chronology.
• Calibrate climate proxy models by analyzing the 642-year time series of tree ring parameters.
• Study regional climate events in Colorado by examining growth patterns in the PSME (Pinus strobiformis) species record.
• Validate broader climate reconstructions by comparing this local chronology with other ITRDB (International Tree-Ring Data Bank) series.

Strengths

• Time series covers a substantial 642-year period for climate analysis.
• Data is archived and curated by the authoritative NOAA NCEI World Data Service for Paleoclimatology.

Limitations

• Temporal coverage ends at -14 BP (14 years before 1950), making the most recent data approximately 1964, which is stale for modern climate analysis.
• Sample size, geographic representativeness, and specific measurement parameters are unknown from the description.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Tree ring data collection, likely from Pinus strobiformis (PSME) samples.

Time Range

628 to -14 calendar years before present (BP).

Freshness

null

Geography

Upper Gunnison area, Colorado, United States of America.