Persistence of pressure patterns over North America and the North Pacific since AD 1500
Public Deposited- Creator
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Wise, Erika K.
- Affiliation: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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Dannenberg, Matthew P.
- Affiliation: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Abstract
- Changes in moisture delivery to western North America are largely controlled by interrelated, synoptic-scale atmospheric pressure patterns. Long-term records of upper-atmosphere pressure and related circulation patterns are needed to assess potential drivers of past severe droughts and evaluate how future climate changes may impact hydroclimatic systems. Here we develop a tree-ring-based climate field reconstruction of cool-season 500 hPa geopotential height on a 2° × 2° grid over North America and the North Pacific to AD 1500 and examine the frequency and persistence of preinstrumental atmospheric pressure patterns using Self-Organizing Maps. Our results show extended time periods dominated by a set of persistent upper-air pressure patterns, providing insight into the atmospheric conditions leading to periods of sustained drought and pluvial periods in the preinstrumental past. A striking shift from meridional to zonal flow occurred at the end of the Little Ice Age and was sustained for several decades.
- Date of publication
- 2014
- DOI
- Identifier
- Publisher DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms5912
- Onescience id: 49600e84c3d3f0365944bcedb770e1214a6f1eb9
- Resource type
- Article
- Rights statement
- In Copyright
- Journal title
- Nature Communications
- Journal volume
- 5
- Page start
- 4912
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2041-1723
Relations
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