On the quality of climate proxies derived from newspaper reports ? a case study

D. Gallego (1) , R. García-Herrera (2) , R. Prieto (3) , C. Peña-Ortiz (1)

1 Dpto. de Sistemas Físicos
2 Departamento de Fisica de la Tierra, Astronomía y Astrofísica [Madrid]
3 CONICET-IANIGLA - Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales [Mendoza]

In this paper, the quality of a reconstruction of daily snow frequency in the central Andes is evaluated by studying the atmospheric patterns related to anomalies in the reconstructed series. The origin of precipitation anomalies in this part of the world is relatively well known and is has been related to the El Niño/Southern Oscillation cycle through the Pacific South American pattern, which implies changes in the subtropical jet across the Pacific, the blocking activity in the Southeastern Pacific and the ice formation around the Antarctic Peninsula. We found that the reconstructed series of snow frequency reproduces every expected anomaly pattern related to precipitation in the central Andes during the period 1958?1996. The methodology developed can help to validate reconstructed series in absence of instrumental data to perform a direct calibration. In addition, it provides a physical link between the variability of a climate proxy and the underlying atmospheric dynamics.

Domaines: Interfaces continentales, environnement; Sciences de la Terre

D. Gallego, R. García-Herrera, R. Prieto, C. Peña-Ortiz. On the quality of climate proxies derived from newspaper reports ? a case study. Climate of the Past Discussions, 2007, 3 (4), pp.977-997. ⟨hal-00298195⟩