You are here

Harvard Forest Data Archive

HF192

Annual Maps of Mean Winter Temperature for Eastern North America 1951-2009

Related Publications

Data

  • hf192-01: annual raster maps of mean winter (December-March) temperature for years 1951-2009

Overview

  • Lead: Matt Fitzpatrick, Aaron Ellison, Evan Preisser
  • Investigators: Joseph Elkinton, Adam Porter
  • Contact: Information Manager
  • Start date: 1951
  • End date: 2009
  • Status: complete
  • Location: Eastern North America
  • Latitude: +33.6 to +48.3 degrees
  • Longitude: -93.7 to -59.7 degrees
  • Elevation: 0 to 2037 meter
  • Datum: WGS84
  • Taxa: Adelges tsugae (hemlock woolly adelgid)
  • Release date: 2023
  • Language: English
  • EML file: knb-lter-hfr.192.8
  • DOI: digital object identifier
  • EDI: data package
  • DataONE: data package
  • Related links:
  • Study type: modeling
  • Research topic: ecological informatics and modelling; invasive plants, pests and pathogens; regional studies
  • LTER core area: disturbance patterns, population studies
  • Keywords: air temperature, climate, hemlock, hemlock woolly adelgid, region
  • Abstract:

    We developed annual raster maps depicting spatiotemporal variation in mean winter temperature for the purposes of modeling the spread of the hemlock woolly adelgid. The maps are based on the PRISM and WorldClim datasets as described in methods.

  • Methods:

    The following description of methods is quoted from: FFitzpatrick, M. C., Preisser, E. L., Porter, A., Elkinton, J. S., Ellison, A. M. 2012. Modeling range dynamics in heterogeneous landscapes: invasion of the hemlock woolly adelgid in eastern North America. Ecological Applications 22: 472-486.

    We constructed annual maps of observed mean winter (December-March) temperature for each year between 1951 (December) and 2008 (up to March of 2009) from the PRISM climate group. PRISM data only are available for the lower 48 United States and not portions of Canada within the study region. Global, spatially explicit estimates of temperature exist at 1km resolution, but these characterize climate averaged over the years 1950-2000 (WorldClim database) rather than annual means. To create annual estimates of mean winter temperature for areas in Canada not covered by the PRISM data, we used the following procedure. First, we used PRISM data and spatially coincident WorldClim data in year t to calculate the winter temperature anomaly between temperatures observed in year t and mean temperatures observed during the period 1950-2000. This produced a map of the difference between winter temperatures in year t and the long-term average for winter temperature. Next, we averaged all cells in the map to calculate the mean winter temperature anomaly for year t. Finally, we subtracted this mean temperature anomaly from the average winter temperature from WorldClim and within the portion of the study area in Canada for which we did not have an annual record of winter temperature. The result was a mean winter temperature map for each year, with annual winter temperatures in Canada that varied from average temperatures to the same magnitude as observed in the PRISM data covering the United States.

  • Organization: Harvard Forest. 324 North Main Street, Petersham, MA 01366, USA. Phone (978) 724-3302. Fax (978) 724-3595.

  • Project: The Harvard Forest Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program examines ecological dynamics in the New England region resulting from natural disturbances, environmental change, and human impacts. (ROR).

  • Funding: National Science Foundation LTER grants: DEB-8811764, DEB-9411975, DEB-0080592, DEB-0620443, DEB-1237491, DEB-1832210.

  • Use: This dataset is released to the public under Creative Commons CC0 1.0 (No Rights Reserved). Please keep the dataset creators informed of any plans to use the dataset. Consultation with the original investigators is strongly encouraged. Publications and data products that make use of the dataset should include proper acknowledgement.

  • License: Creative Commons Zero v1.0 Universal (CC0-1.0)

  • Citation: Fitzpatrick M, Ellison A, Preisser E. 2023. Annual Maps of Mean Winter Temperature for Eastern North America 1951-2009. Harvard Forest Data Archive: HF192 (v.8). Environmental Data Initiative: https://doi.org/10.6073/pasta/65b652ec78786936f8f9d0961cbb107c.

Detailed Metadata

hf192-01: annual raster maps of mean winter (December-March) temperature for years 1951-2009

  • Compression: zip
  • Format: Erdas imagine
  • Type: raster GIS