North-Central China 530 Year Summer Temperature and Precipitation Reconstructions Yi, L.; Yu, H.; Ge, J.; Lai, Z.; Xu, X.; Qin, L.; Peng, S. Yi, L. Yu, H. Ge, J. Lai, Z. Xu, X. Qin, L. Peng, S. Air Temperature Reconstruction Precipitation Reconstruction drought earth science/paleoclimate/climate reconstructions (temperature,multiple proxies,95% confidence interval upper bound,dimensionless,Jun-Aug,climate reconstructions,null,null,N,null) earth science/paleoclimate/climate reconstructions (precipitation,multiple proxies,95% confidence interval upper bound,dimensionless,Jun-Aug,climate reconstructions,null,null,N,null) earth science/paleoclimate/climate reconstructions (temperature,multiple proxies,95% confidence interval lower bound,dimensionless,Jun-Aug,climate reconstructions,null,null,N,null) earth science/paleoclimate/climate reconstructions (precipitation,multiple proxies,null,dimensionless,Jun-Aug,climate reconstructions,null,null,N,null) earth science/paleoclimate/climate reconstructions (precipitation,multiple proxies,95% confidence interval lower bound,dimensionless,Jun-Aug,climate reconstructions,null,null,N,null) earth science/paleoclimate/climate reconstructions (temperature,multiple proxies,null,dimensionless,Jun-Aug,climate reconstructions,null,null,N,null) earth science/paleoclimate/climate reconstructions (age,null,null,year Common Era,null,climate reconstructions,null,null,N,null) earth science/paleoclimate/reconstructions earth science/paleoclimate/reconstructions (North-Central China>LATITUDE 37>LONGITUDE 111.5) The understanding of the ongoing climate change needs high-resolution records of the past, which are difficult to obtain in north-central China. Historical documents are unique materials for high-resolution (up to season) climate change reconstruction. Here, we report an attempt of quantitative climate reconstruction covering the main part of north-central China, by combining historical drought/flood index and tree-ring data. The rigorous verification tests confirm the fidelity of transfer functions used in the reconstructions. The precipitation and temperature anomalies/intervals were then defined based on the reconstructions. Finally, the intensity of several big droughts recorded in historical documents was re-examined and the dominant and recessive patterns of heat/water changes within the study area were identified. We concluded that (1) the droughts, occurred during the years of 1484 AD, 1585-1587 AD, 1689-1691 AD, 1784-1786 AD and 1876-1878 AD, were the results of rainless and torrid combination; (2) the droughts, occurred during the years of 1560-1561 AD, 1599-1601 AD, 1609 AD, 1615-1617 AD, 1638-1641 AD and 1899-1901 AD, were first caused by rainless summer, and then controlled by low precipitation and/or high temperature; (3) the droughts, occurred during the years of 1527-1529 AD, 1720-1722 AD, 1813-1814 AD, 1856-1857 AD and 1926-1930 AD, were first caused by torrid summer, and then controlled by both low precipitation and high temperature; (4) the dominant climate pattern within the study area consisted of warm-dry and cold-wet alternations, and the recessive pattern consisted of cold-dry and warm-wet alternations. We also showed that the drought/flood index is a valuable climate proxy in quantitative reconstructions, especially in places where tree-ring data is not available. STUDY NOTES: Summer (June-July-August) temperature and precipitation reconstructions for north-central China over the last 530 years, based on historical document drought/flood indices and tree ring data. PI: June-July-August precipitation index within the area of (33°-41°N, 108°-115°E) TI: June-July-August temperature index within the area of (33°-41°N, 108°-115°E) NCDC-Paleoclimatology https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/data-access/paleoclimatology-data - Bauer Bruce Investigator : Yi, L. Investigator : Yu, H. Investigator : Ge, J. Investigator : Lai, Z. Investigator : Xu, X. Investigator : Qin, L. Investigator : Peng, S. 2011-04-10 ONLINE Files online, ASCII https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/10769 https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/contributions_by_author/yi2011/north-china-temp-precip2011.txt https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/contributions_by_author/yi2011/north-china-temp-precip2011.xls https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/contributions_by_author/yi2011/north-china-temp-precip2011.txt https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/contributions_by_author/yi2011/north-china-temp-precip2011.xls English https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/10769 https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/contributions_by_author/yi2011/north-china-temp-precip2011.txt https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/contributions_by_author/yi2011/north-china-temp-precip2011.xls Yi, L., H. Yu, J. Ge, Z. Lai, X. Xu, L. Qin, and S. Peng. 2011. Reconstructions of annual summer precipitation and temperature in north-central China since 1470 AD based on drought/flood index and tree-ring records. Climatic Change, DOI: 10.1007/s10584-011-0052-6 START YEAR: 1470 AD * END YEAR: 2002 AD 108 33 115 41