Present and Past Variability in Monsoon Climate Over the Himalayas Reconstructed from Tree Rings

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Abstract ATM-9630144 Cook, Edward R, Columbia University Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory Title: Present and Past Variability in Monsoon Climate Over the Himalayas from Tree Rings This award supports a research project designed to reconstruct climate of the past few centuries over Nepal from a network of climatically sensitive, absolutely dated, annual tree-ring chronologies. The principal tree-ring variable for this purpose is ring width. However, some of the wood collections will also be processed for tree-ring density to extract as much useful climate information as possible from the tree-rings. The principal emphasis will be on reconstructing various features of the Southwest Monsoon as it affects the Himalayas. Past temperatures, which tend to be tightly linked to variations in the ring density, will also be reconstructed. Therefore, a variety of climatic reconstructions will result from this research. All of the pre-1960 Nepalese climate records will be digitized and analyzed to better understand the spatial patterns of climate in Nepal, their relationships with longer records in India, and for calibrating the tree-ring reconstructions of past climate. 50-100 tree-ring chronologies will be developed in Nepal over the life of this project. Most of these chronologies will exceed 200 years in length, with some extending back 300-400 years. In addition, attempts will be made to gain access to Bhutan, northern Pakistan, Kashmir, and Sikkim to extend the geographic coverage of this effort.