Articles | Volume 15, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-1809-2019
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-1809-2019
Research article
 | 
11 Oct 2019
Research article |  | 11 Oct 2019

A comparison of drought information in early North American colonial documentary records and a high-resolution tree-ring-based reconstruction

Sam White

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Short summary
Early colonial documentary records offer valuable climatic and historical information, but their reliability and suitability for climate reconstruction and environmental history remain uncertain. This study systematically compares drought information from records of colonial expeditions in North America 1510–1610 CE with high-resolution PDSI reconstructions of the North American Drought Atlas. It finds substantial agreement, and it suggests potential uses for such records and reconstructions.