Data and Tools for ARTS at the World Data Center for Paleoclimatology

1
Data and Tools for ARTS at the World Data Center
for Paleoclimatology

• C. Mark Eakin
• World Data Center for Paleoclimatology
• NOAA National Geophysical Data Center
• Boulder, Colorado

2
NOAA Paleoclimatology Program
and World Data Center
for Paleoclimatology
WDC for Paleoclimatology Mission To provide
long-term climate and other environmental data
needed to understand and predict climate
variability and change
The farther backward you can look,
the farther forward you are likely to see

-- Winston Churchill
3
What is ARTS?

• ARTS is an official project of the IGBP/PAGES
• International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme
• Past Global Changes Programme

• The ARTS initiative promotes the synthesis of
• paleoclimatic data with instrumental and
  modeling
  
• perspectives to address uncertainties in our
  understanding
  
• of tropical climate variability and its
  impacts.

• ARTS requires a wide array of annually
  resolved/datable
  
• paleoclimatic data from the tropics and
  tropically driven
  
• locations.

4
Windows into Past Centuries

• ARTS synthesis project "Climate of the Nineteenth
  Century, (CNC) would coordinate analysis of
  climate of the past several centuries.
  
• Other ARTS work would reconstruct climate from
  earlier times such as the mid-holocene or past
  glacial or interglacial periods.

• An important target to reconstruct indices of
  large-scale climate systems from pre-instrumental
  periods.

5
Windows into Past Centuries
Background colors indicate mean instrumental SST
field. Records at pink dots span the interval
1895-1990 white dots indicate shorter records.
SST trends are calculated over the 1895-1990
period and are indicated parenthetically in C
per 100 years.
(after Bradley et al. in prep.,
PAGES Synthesis Volume).
6
Windows into Past Centuries

• The graph shows a summary of annual resolution
  coral d18O isotope records, normalized to the
  1923-1980 period (thick line denotes 7-year
  smooth ).
• The data show general trends consistent with
  globally warmer/wetter conditions.

(after Bradley et al. in prep.,
PAGES Synthesis Volume).
7
Windows into Past Centuries
SSTs reconstructed from coral d18O data at 13
sites.

• (a) Leading spatial pattern observed in coral
  data (ENSO-like mode, in dimensionless units)
  shading indicates 90 significance.
  
• (b) The time series of that pattern (degrees C).
  
  
• (c and d) series of second pattern similar to
  global warming signal.
  

After Evans et al. (2000) Paleoceanography, 15
8
Data-Model Comparisons

• Comparison of energy balance model with
  instrumental data shows good fit over most of
  1000 years
  
• Particular discrepancies seen in 19th, early 20th
  centuries

After Crowley (2000), Science 289
9
Data-Model Comparisons
After Crowley et al. in prep.
10
Data-Model Comparisons

• Composite climate data with the addition of coral
  records is a good fit with Jones instrumental
  reconstruction

After Crowley et al. in prep.
11
Data-Model Comparisons

• Composite climate data capture major ENSO and
  volcanic events

After Crowley et al. in prep.
12
Data-Model Comparisons

• Composite climate data improves fit to energy
  balance models over instrumental reconstructions
  alone

After Crowley et al. in prep.
13
Windows into Past Millennia

• Climate researchers need high-resolution records
  from targeted Holocene, last-glacial and last
  interglacial intervals to understand how the
  climate system responded to boundary conditions
  substantially different from those prevailing
  today.

14
Data are used (and contributed by) scientists
around the world
15
Mirror Sites Data Access and Regional Involvement
16
WDC-Paleo Data Holdings

• Paleoclimatic Data US Global
• Tree Ring 1029
  1854
  
• Pollen 474 1424
• Plant Macrofossils 37
  79
  
• Corals 1 64
• Ice Cores 23
• Borehole Data 133
  616
  
• Fauna 219 220
• Insecta 7
• Paleolimnology 9
  15
  
• Paleoceanography 19
  1119
  
• Other Paleo Data 5
• Total 1921 5424

Coral Data
17
WDC-Paleo Data Holdings

• Paleoclimatic Data US Global
• Tree Ring 1029
  1854
  
• Pollen 474 1424
• Plant Macrofossils 37
  79
  
• Corals 1 62
• Ice Cores 23
• Borehole Data 133
  616
  
• Fauna 219 220
• Insecta 7
• Paleolimnology 9
  15
  
• Paleoceanography 19
  1119
  
• Other Paleo Data 5
• Total 1921 5424

Tree-Ring Data
18
WDC-Paleo Data Holdings

• Paleoclimatic Data US Global
• Tree Ring 1029
  1854
  
• Pollen 474 1424
• Plant Macrofossils 37
  79
  
• Corals 1 62
• Ice Cores 23
• Borehole Data 133
  616
  
• Fauna 219 220
• Insecta 7
• Paleolimnology 9
  15
  
• Paleoceanography 19
  1119
  
• Other Paleo Data 5
• Total 1921 5424

Ice Core Data
19
WDC-Paleo Data Holdings

• Paleoclimatic Data US Global
• Tree Ring 1029
  1854
  
• Pollen 474 1424
• Plant Macrofossils 37
  79
  
• Corals 1 62
• Ice Cores 23
• Borehole Data 133
  616
  
• Fauna 219 220
• Insect 7
• Paleolimnology 9
  15
  
• Paleoceanography 19
  1119
  
• Other Paleo Data 5
• Total 1921 5424

For annual tropical records, only corals, tree rings, 2 marine sediments, few ice cores
20
Accessing the Data

• Easy access to paleodata is now possible with the
  new WebMapper tool on our Web site.

21
Accessing ARTS Data
Starting from a global view, the user can select
a region to explore
22
Accessing ARTS Data
Using the legend, you can select the proxies you
want to display
23
Accessing ARTS Data
Using the legend, you can select the proxies you
want to display
24
Accessing ARTS Data
The user can select a site within the region
25
Accessing ARTS Data
Metadata and publications are provided for the
site
26
Accessing ARTS Data
The user may view a plot of the data
or choose to display the data and download them
27
Accessing ARTS Data
The user may choose additional sites
and compare between them.
28
Data Access Tools GIS
http//map1.ngdc.noaa.gov/
29
Data Access Tools GIS
http//map1.ngdc.noaa.gov/
30
Why do we need your data?
Climate research efforts rely on the availability
of high resolution paleo records to understand
past climate variability. In particular, ARTS n
eeds your input as tropical records are scarce.
31
Contributing Data

• This research made possible through generous
  contribution of data by many paleoclimatologists
  to the World Data Center for Paleoclimatology.

• You can help in this and other efforts to
  consolidate our understanding of past climates.
  
  
• Contribute your data to the WDC-Paleo at
  www.ngdc.noaa.gov/paleo
  

32
Contributing Data
Contributing coral data now easier with the new
online contribution form
33
Data Contributions are Needed
We have nice tools to display the data,
And systems to access and distribute them.
There is one thing we really need
You!
Please,
PLEASE,
PLEASE,
Contribute your data to the World Data Center for
Paleoclimatology
www.ngdc.noaa.gov/paleo
34
CD-ROM Contents
The CD-ROM has this presentation
and a full demo version of the new Multiproxy Web
Mapper with our current annual, tropical data hol
dings.
WebMapper and the latest data can be found at w
ww.ngdc.noaa.gov/paleo
35
Thanks, and enjoy the meeting.
ARTS 2001, Noumea, New Caledonia
www.ngdc.noaa.gov/paleo