Using Reanalysis to Provide Circulation Context for Ice Cores Recovered from Mt. Hunter Plateau in Denali National Park

Abstract:

Researchers from the University of Maine, University of New Hampshire, and Dartmouth College supported by NSF recently recovered two ice cores from the Mt. Hunter Plateau in the Alaska Range of Denali National Park. Ongoing analyses of snow accumulation, snowmelt, stable isotopes, and chemistry within the core are providing proxy information for ~1000 years of regional climate variability. Broader context to link circulation across the North Pacific and western North America can be obtained by using climate reanalysis. In this vein, we are using monthly, daily, and sub-daily meteorological fields from the NCEP Climate Forecasting System Reanalysis (CFSR) to characterize large-scale circulation associated with notable events in the ice core record onward from 1979. One goal is to assess the relationship between annual snow accumulation spikes and storm frequency and magnitude. A second goal is to relate these observations to events during the Little Ice Age and Medieval Warm Period. Work is in progress, and results will be presented at the fall meeting.