Kyoto, Japan 1,200 Year Cherry Tree Flowering Dates and March Temperature Reconstructions Aono, Y.; Saito, S.; Kazui, K. Aono, Y. Saito, S. Kazui, K. earth science/paleoclimate/historical (Kyoto>LATITUDE 35>LONGITUDE 135.7863) We investigated documents and diaries from the ninth to the fourteenth centuries to supplement the phenological data series of the flowering of Japanese cherry (Prunus jamasakura) in Kyoto, Japan, to improve and fill gaps in temperature estimates based on previously reported phenological data. We then reconstructed a nearly continuous series of March mean temperatures based on 224 years of cherry flowering data, including 51 years of previously unused data, to clarify springtime climate changes. We also attempted to estimate cherry full-flowering dates from phenological records of other deciduous species, adding further data for 6 years in the tenth and eleventh centuries by using the flowering phenology of Japanese wisteria (Wisteria floribunda). The reconstructed tenth century March mean temperatures were around 7C, indicating warmer conditions than at present. Temperatures then fell until the 1180s, recovered gradually until the 1310s, and then declined again in the mid-fourteenth century. STUDY NOTES: Kyoto cherry blossom phenology data and March temperature reconstructions for the past 1,200 years. Latest updated versions (Aono 2012) are available on Yasuyuki Aono's website: http://atmenv.envi.osakafu-u.ac.jp/aono/kyophenotemp4/ NCDC-Paleoclimatology https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/data-access/paleoclimatology-data - Bauer Bruce Investigator : Aono, Y. Investigator : Saito, S. Investigator : Kazui, K. 2019-03-23 ONLINE Files online, ASCII https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/26430 https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/historical/phenology/japan/ https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/historical/phenology/japan/ English https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/26430 https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/historical/phenology/japan/ Yasuyuki Aono, Shizuka Saito2010Clarifying springtime temperature reconstructions of the medieval period by gap-filling the cherry blossom phenological data series at Kyoto, JapanInternational Journal of Biometeorology542211-21910.1007/s00484-009-0272-xhttps://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00484-009-0272-x Yasuyuki Aono and Keiko Kazui2008Phenological data series of cherry tree flowering in Kyoto, Japan, and its application to reconstruction of springtime temperatures since the 9th centuryInternational Journal of Climatology287905-91410.1002/joc.1594https://rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/joc.1594 START YEAR: 801 AD * END YEAR: 2010 AD 135.7863 35 135.7863 35