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PRISM 8°x10° Northern Hemisphere Paleoclimate Reconstruction: Digital Data

Metadata also available as - [Outline] - [Parseable text] - [DIF]

Frequently anticipated questions:

What does this data set describe?

Title:
PRISM 8°x10° Northern Hemisphere Paleoclimate Reconstruction: Digital Data
Abstract:
The PRISM 8°x10° data set represents several years of investigation by PRISM (Pliocene Research, Interpretation, and Synoptic Mapping) Project members. One of the goals of PRISM is to produce time-slice reconstructions of intervals of warmer than modern climate within the Pliocene Epoch. The first of these was chosen to be at 3.0 Ma (time scale of Berggren et al., 1985) and is published in Global and Planetary Change (Dowsett et al., 1994). This document contains the actual data sets and a brief explanation of how they were constructed. For paleoenvironmental interpretations and discussion of each data set, see Dowsett et al., in press. The data sets includes sea level, land ice distribution, vegetation or land cover, sea surface temperature and sea-ice cover matrices.
This reconstruction of Middle Pliocene climate is organized as a series of datasets representing different environmental attributes. The data sets are designed for use with the GISS Model II atmospheric general circulation model (GCM) using an 8°x10° resolution (Hansen et al., 1983). The first step in documenting the Pliocene climate involves assigning an appropriate fraction of land versus ocean to each grid box. Following grid cell by grid cell, land versus ocean allocations, winter and summer sea ice coverage of ocean areas are assigned and then winter and summer sea surface temperatures are assigned to open ocean areas. Average land ice cover is recorded for land areas and then land areas not covered by ice are assigned proportions of six vegetation or land cover categories modified from Hansen et al. (1983).
  1. How should this data set be cited?

    Barron, John A. , Cronin, Thomas M. , Dowsett, Harry J. , Fleming, R. Farley , Thomas R. Holtz, Jr., Ishman, Scott E. , Poore, Richard Z. , Thompson, Robert S. , and Willard, Debra A. , 1994, PRISM 8°x10° Northern Hemisphere Paleoclimate Reconstruction: Digital Data: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 94-281, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA.

    Online Links:

  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?

    West_Bounding_Coordinate: -180.0
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: 180.0
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 90.0
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: -90.0

  3. What does it look like?

  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?

    Calendar_Date: 1994
    Currentness_Reference: publication date

  5. What is the general form of this data set?

  6. How does the data set represent geographic features?

    1. How are geographic features stored in the data set?

      This is a Raster data set. It contains the following raster data types:

      • Dimensions 24 x 36, type Grid Cell

    2. What coordinate system is used to represent geographic features?

      Horizontal positions are specified in geographic coordinates, that is, latitude and longitude. Latitudes are given to the nearest 8. Longitudes are given to the nearest 10. Latitude and longitude values are specified in Decimal degrees.

  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?

    Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:
    This reconstruction of middle-Pliocene climate is organized as a series of grids representing different environmental attributes. The grids are designed for use with the GISS Model II atmospheric general circulation model (GCM) using an 8°x10° resolution (Hansen et al., 1983). Following grid cell by grid cell, land versus ocean allocations, winter and summer sea ice coverage of ocean areas are assigned and then winter and summer sea surface temperatures are assigned to open ocean areas. Average land ice cover is recorded for land areas and then land areas not covered by ice are assigned proportions of six vegetation or land cover categories modified from Hansen et al. (1983).
    Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation:
    Dowsett, H., Thompson, R., Barron, J., Cronin, T., Fleming, F., Ishman, S., Poore, R., Willard, D., and Holtz, T. Jr., Joint investigations of the Middle Pliocene climate I: PRISM paleoenvironmental reconstructions: Global and Planetary Change, v. 9, p. 169-175.

Who produced the data set?

  1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)

  2. Who also contributed to the data set?

  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?

    Harry J. Dowsett
    Mail Stop 970 National Center
    U.S. Geological Survey
    12201 Sunrise Valley Drive
    Reston, VA 20192
    USA

    (703) 648-5282 (voice)
    (703) 648-5420 (FAX)
    hdowsett@usgs.gov

Why was the data set created?

PRISM is a multidisciplinary effort to document climate variability during the Pliocene from about 2 to 4 Ma and to map on a global scale environmental conditions during Pliocene warm intervals representing conditions significantly warmer than modern climates. This work represents a preliminary result of this effort.

How was the data set created?

  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?

    Global and Planetary Change 9 (1994) 169-195 (source 1 of 1)
    Dowsett, Harry, Thompson, Robert, Barron, John, Cronin, Thomas, Fleming, Farley, Ishman, Scott, Poore, Richard, Willard, Debra, and Jr., Thomas Holtz , 1994, Joint investigations of the Middle Pliocene climate I: PRISM paleoenvironmental reconstructions: Global and Planetary Change 9, Elsevier Science B.V., Netherlands.

    Other_Citation_Details: pages 169-195
    Type_of_Source_Media: paper
    Source_Contribution:
    This scientific journal article describes in detail the origin of the information contained in the present data set, along with details about data quality and precision, and references to published literature.

  2. How were the data generated, processed, and modified?

    Date: 1994 (process 1 of 1)
    Create an integrated synoptic reconstruction of Pliocene Northern Hemisphere climatic conditions, chosen to coincide with the warm interval centered on 3.0 Ma (time scale of Berggren et al., 1985), documented primarily in mid to high latitude marine and terrestrial deposits of the North Atlantic region, but also observed in marine records from the North Pacific. The various paleoclimate parameters were converted into a digital data set which was used in an initial general circulation model experiment by Chandler et al. (1994).

    Person who carried out this activity:

    Harry J. Dowsett
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Mail Stop 970 National Center
    12201 Sunrise Valley Drive
    Reston, VA 20192
    USA

    (703) 648-5282 (voice)
    (703) 648-5420 (FAX)
    hdowsett@usgs.gov

    Data sources used in this process:
    • Naval Oceanography Command Detachment, 1985. Sea Ice Climate Atlas, vol. 1, Antarctica. NAVAIR 50-1C-540.
    • U.S. Navy Hydrographic Office, 1958. Oceanographic Atlas of the Polar Seas, Part II: Arctic.

    Data sources produced in this process:

    • Global and Planetary Change 9 (1994) 169-195

  3. What similar or related data should the user be aware of?

How reliable are the data; what problems remain in the data set?

  1. How well have the observations been checked?

  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?

  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?

  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?

    There are not enough Southern Hemisphere data at this time to provide middle Pliocene sea-surface temperature (SST) or vegetation estimates. However, the state of the cryosphere (particularly in the Southern Hemisphere) during the middle part of the Pliocene is of first order importance for understanding the changes depicted in the Northern Hemisphere. The volume of ice contained on Antarctica has major implications for global sea level. In addition the distribution of Antarctic ice (land and sea) governs albedo, and sea ice plays an important part in the production of bottom water. Therefore Pliocene seasonal reconstructions of sea ice and mean land ice configurations are included for both hemispheres.

  5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?

    This reconstruction represents a compilation of the authors' observations and other published data. The quality of environmental estimates, age control, and geographic coverage vary greatly from different sources and between data types.

How can someone get a copy of the data set?

Are there legal restrictions on access or use of the data?

Access_Constraints: none
Use_Constraints: none

  1. Who distributes the data set? (Distributor 1 of 1)

    Peter N. Schweitzer
    Mail Stop 918 National Center
    U.S. Geological Survey
    12201 Sunrise Valley Drive
    Reston, VA 20192
    USA

    (703) 648-6533 (voice)
    (703) 648-6560 (FAX)
    pschweitzer@usgs.gov

  2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set?

    USGS Open-File Report 94-281

  3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?

    This report is preliminary and has not been reviewed for conformity with U.S. Geological Survey editorial standards (or with the North American Stratigraphic Code). Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

  4. How can I download or order the data?

Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:
Last modified: 12-May-1995
Metadata author:
Peter N. Schweitzer
Mail Stop 918 National Center
U.S. Geological Survey
12201 Sunrise Valley Drive
Reston, VA 20192
USA

(703) 648-6533 (voice)
(703) 648-6560 (FAX)
pschweitzer@usgs.gov

Metadata standard:
Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)

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