A method for generating coherent spatially explicit maps of seasonal palaeoclimates from site-based reconstructions

Reconstruction of climate anomalies in southern Europe for the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, ca 21,000 years ago), made by combining pollen based reconstructions (from Bartlein et al. 2011) and averaged outputs of LGM simulations from the 3rd round of the Palaeoclimate Model Intercomparison Project (PMIP, Braconnot et al. 2011), under a variational data assimilation technique. Reconstructions made using this technique are designed to be used for data-model comparison, specifically against the results of PMIP4. The dataset consists of 6 variables: moisture index (the ratio precipitation and equilibrium evapotranspiration), mean annual precipitation (mm), mean annual temperature (degrees C), mean temperature of the coldest month (degrees C), mean temperature of the warmest month (degrees C), growing degree days above 5 degrees C (day degrees C). The standard deviation of these variables is also given.