ESTIMATING NORTH PACIFIC SUMMER SEA-LEVEL PRESSURE BACK TO 1600 USING PROXY CLIMATE RECORDS FROM CHINA AND NORTH AMERICA

Sea-level pressure variations over the North Pacific Ocean influence the surface climate conditions of China and western North America. Documentary records of precipitation in China data back to the mid-15th century, and a well-replicated network of tree-ring chronologies from western North America dates to the early 17th century. These proxy climate records are used separately and together to estimate sea-level pressure variations over the North Pacific back to 1600 A.D. The models are calibrated over the period 1899 to 1950 and verified over the independent period, 1951 to 1963. The best estimates, derived from predictors in China and western North America, calibrate 44.7% of summer sea-level pressure variance. The study demonstrates the potential of combining different proxy data sources to derive estimates of past climate.