MOTIF Diagnostic For Magnitude Of Tropical Cooling At Last Glacial Maximum

Data description

The LGM Tropical Terrestrial Data Synthesis was used as a diagnostic by Pinot et al. (1999) and in the IPCC (2001). An updated version of this diagram was presented by Harrison (2000). In this diagram, the uppermost histogram shows the frequency of reconstructed temperature changes, based on terrestrial data, at the elevation of the individual sites colour-coded by region (Central and South America, circum-Indian, Western Pacific). The histogram at the right shows the frequency of reconstructed sea-surface temperature changes, based on alkenone data from the TEMPUS data set (Rosell-Melé et al., 1998), colour-coded by ocean basin (Pacific, Atlantic, Indian). To use this graphic for diagnostic purposes, the simulated change in temperature over land and ocean should be plotted. This could be the zonal mean, or regional averages for the land areas/ocean basins distinguished for the observations. The line drawn on the graph represents the zonal mean sea-surface temperature calculated from the CLIMAP (1981) gridded data set, for comparison.

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Data download

If you wish to use this diagram for diagnostic purposes, you should cite Harrison (2000) as the source. Technical queries about the data sets should be addressed to Sandy Harrison or Mark Creighton. The Tropical Climates Dataset initiative received funding support from IGBP-GAIM, the U.S. National Science Foundation, the European Community, and the Swedish Natural Science Research Council (NFR).

References

1. CLIMAP Project Members. (1981). Seasonal reconstructions of the earth's surface at the Last Glacial Maximum Geological Society of America Map and Chart Series, MC-36, New York.
   
   
2. Harrison, S. P., (2000) Palaeoenvironmental data sets and model evaluation in PMIP, in Paleoclimate Modelling Intercomparison Project (PMIP). Braconnot, P., (ed.). Paleoclimate Modelling Intercomparison Project (PMIP). Proceedings of the third PMIP workshop. WCRP-111; WMO/TD-No. 1007, pp. 9-25. La Huardière, Canada, 4-8 October 1999.
   
   
3. IPCC (2001). Climate Change 2001: The Scientific Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. First ed. IPCC Report (JT Houghton, Y Ding, DJ Griggs, M Noguer, PJ van der Linden, X Dai, K Maskell and CA Johnson, eds.) Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, USA.
   
   
4. Pinot, S., Ramstein, G., Harrison, S. P., Prentice, I. C., Guiot, J., Stute, M., Joussaume, S., and PMIP participating groups. (1999). Tropical paleoclimates at the Last Glacial Maximum: comparison of Paleoclimate Modeling Intercomparison Project (PMIP) simulations and paleodata. Climate Dynamics 15, 857-874.
   
   
5. Rosell-Melé, A., Weinelt, M., Sarnthein, M., Koc, N., and Jansen, E. (1998). Variability of the Arctic front during the last climatic cycle: application of a novel molecular proxy. Terra Nova 10(2), 86-89.