Spatial Representativeness of Climatic Data from Baffin Island, N.W.T., with Implications for Muskoxen and Caribou Distribution
Climatic records from often widely scattered arctic stations are commonly used to draw conclusions about such matters as wildlife habitat and distribution, yet little is known about the validity of extrapolating from such limited data. Statistical tests of meteorological network representativeness c...
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The Arctic Institute of North America
1989
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ftunivcalgaryojs:oai:journalhosting.ucalgary.ca:article/64693 2023-05-15T14:19:13+02:00 Spatial Representativeness of Climatic Data from Baffin Island, N.W.T., with Implications for Muskoxen and Caribou Distribution Jacobs, John D. 1989-01-01 application/pdf https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/64693 eng eng The Arctic Institute of North America https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/64693/48607 https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/64693 ARCTIC; Vol. 42 No. 1 (1989): March: 1–84; 50-56 1923-1245 0004-0843 Animal distribution Atmospheric temperature Bioclimatology Caribou Muskoxen Precipitation (Meteorology) Weather stations Wildlife habitat Baffin Island Nunavut info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion research-article 1989 ftunivcalgaryojs 2022-03-22T21:21:53Z Climatic records from often widely scattered arctic stations are commonly used to draw conclusions about such matters as wildlife habitat and distribution, yet little is known about the validity of extrapolating from such limited data. Statistical tests of meteorological network representativeness can be applied where station numbers and record length permit. Such an analysis was carried out on 29 years of temperature and precipitation data from five stations in central Baffin Island and Foxe Basin. It was found that seasonal temperatures and degree-days correlate highly across the region, indicating that interpolation and extrapolation can be carried out with confidence. Such was not the case for rainfall, snowfall, and depth of snow cover, all of which showed large extrapolation errors over modest (mesoscale) distances. This is attributed to the intrinsic variability of precipitation in the region and, in the case of snowfall and snowdepth, the inadequacy of the measurement method. The result have been applied in an evaluation of suggestions concerning climatic constraints on the distribution and numbers of muskoxen and caribou, with the conclusion that the data do not support a causal relationship based on climate.Key words: climate, spatial representativeness, Baffin Island, muskoxen, caribou Mots clés: climat, représentativité spatiale, terre de Baffin, boeuf musqué, caribou Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic Baffin Island Baffin caribou Foxe Basin Nunavut Terre de Baffin University of Calgary Journal Hosting Arctic Baffin Island Foxe Basin ENVELOPE(-77.918,-77.918,65.931,65.931) Nunavut ARCTIC 42 1 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Calgary Journal Hosting |
op_collection_id |
ftunivcalgaryojs |
language |
English |
topic |
Animal distribution Atmospheric temperature Bioclimatology Caribou Muskoxen Precipitation (Meteorology) Weather stations Wildlife habitat Baffin Island Nunavut |
spellingShingle |
Animal distribution Atmospheric temperature Bioclimatology Caribou Muskoxen Precipitation (Meteorology) Weather stations Wildlife habitat Baffin Island Nunavut Jacobs, John D. Spatial Representativeness of Climatic Data from Baffin Island, N.W.T., with Implications for Muskoxen and Caribou Distribution |
topic_facet |
Animal distribution Atmospheric temperature Bioclimatology Caribou Muskoxen Precipitation (Meteorology) Weather stations Wildlife habitat Baffin Island Nunavut |
description |
Climatic records from often widely scattered arctic stations are commonly used to draw conclusions about such matters as wildlife habitat and distribution, yet little is known about the validity of extrapolating from such limited data. Statistical tests of meteorological network representativeness can be applied where station numbers and record length permit. Such an analysis was carried out on 29 years of temperature and precipitation data from five stations in central Baffin Island and Foxe Basin. It was found that seasonal temperatures and degree-days correlate highly across the region, indicating that interpolation and extrapolation can be carried out with confidence. Such was not the case for rainfall, snowfall, and depth of snow cover, all of which showed large extrapolation errors over modest (mesoscale) distances. This is attributed to the intrinsic variability of precipitation in the region and, in the case of snowfall and snowdepth, the inadequacy of the measurement method. The result have been applied in an evaluation of suggestions concerning climatic constraints on the distribution and numbers of muskoxen and caribou, with the conclusion that the data do not support a causal relationship based on climate.Key words: climate, spatial representativeness, Baffin Island, muskoxen, caribou Mots clés: climat, représentativité spatiale, terre de Baffin, boeuf musqué, caribou |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Jacobs, John D. |
author_facet |
Jacobs, John D. |
author_sort |
Jacobs, John D. |
title |
Spatial Representativeness of Climatic Data from Baffin Island, N.W.T., with Implications for Muskoxen and Caribou Distribution |
title_short |
Spatial Representativeness of Climatic Data from Baffin Island, N.W.T., with Implications for Muskoxen and Caribou Distribution |
title_full |
Spatial Representativeness of Climatic Data from Baffin Island, N.W.T., with Implications for Muskoxen and Caribou Distribution |
title_fullStr |
Spatial Representativeness of Climatic Data from Baffin Island, N.W.T., with Implications for Muskoxen and Caribou Distribution |
title_full_unstemmed |
Spatial Representativeness of Climatic Data from Baffin Island, N.W.T., with Implications for Muskoxen and Caribou Distribution |
title_sort |
spatial representativeness of climatic data from baffin island, n.w.t., with implications for muskoxen and caribou distribution |
publisher |
The Arctic Institute of North America |
publishDate |
1989 |
url |
https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/64693 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-77.918,-77.918,65.931,65.931) |
geographic |
Arctic Baffin Island Foxe Basin Nunavut |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Baffin Island Foxe Basin Nunavut |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Baffin Island Baffin caribou Foxe Basin Nunavut Terre de Baffin |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Baffin Island Baffin caribou Foxe Basin Nunavut Terre de Baffin |
op_source |
ARCTIC; Vol. 42 No. 1 (1989): March: 1–84; 50-56 1923-1245 0004-0843 |
op_relation |
https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/64693/48607 https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/64693 |
container_title |
ARCTIC |
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42 |
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1 |
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1766290821394464768 |