cc: palmer@lincoln.ac.nz, p.jones@uea.ac.uk date: Tue, 23 Jul 1996 15:42:54 +1200 (NZST) from: j.salinger@niwa.cri.nz (Jim Salinger) subject: Collaboration on N Z Tree Ring work to: druidrd@lamont.ldgo.columbia.edu, ricardo@ldgo.columbia.edu, drdendro@ldgo.columbia.edu Dear Rosanne Jonathon has shared your message of collaboration. We would be delighted to collaborate with you, Ricardo and Ed on tree-ring work in this part of the world. As you will be aware from e-mails between yourselves, Phil Jones and us, we have been pushing forward in producing new chronologies and clean climatological time series. We think the co-operative and collaborative way is an excellent wayto make progress. By this, we mean true collaboration, where information is shared, data processing together, and joint publications making the approach a partnership. By this means, we can add all our own specialised input into the process, and produce a better result! We would welcome collaboration as outlined above - would you please confirm whether you would be comfortable with working in this way. Now - over the past few years Jonathon, his Ph D student and myself have produced a series of new chronologies which we have matched with climate data. We have been quite selective in the sites for either extension of old chronologies, or new ones, simply because of the climatic complexity of the country. We have gone for sites which maximise the climatic gradients - whether these are westerly/easterly differences for pressure gradients, or temperature signals. You will have some appreciation of this from your Stewart Island work, and Ricardo will recognise this from his familiarity with Argentina. I have also been quite selective in the appropriate climate data for use with these series. These have been screened and homogenised. This year I will be working on collection of older MSLP data from the area (including most of the South Pacific) and homogenising it. Some of the NZ MSLP data pre 1930 is very poor, and requires refining dramatically. We would favour an approach where Jonathon can give the input on tree-ring data and I can give the input and provide the climate data, and we all be involved with the results, as appropriate. Jonathon and I are both aware of the bugs in the data, and the complexities of the New Zealand situation. A copy of the appropriate parts of your NSF proposal would be most useful, which we could give you constructive comments, if necessary, to strengthen it. We would be more than happy to be named collaborators on the proposal. Please let us know whether this is acceptable with you. Warm wishes and please say hello to Ed. Jim Salinger PS Jonathon will also be sending you a response. ******************************************************************* Dr Jim Salinger Tel: (+64 9) 375 2090 (office reception) NIWA, Tel: (+64 9) 375 2053 (direct dial) 269 Khyber Pass Road Fax: (+64 9) 375 2051 Newmarket, Auckland E-mail: j.salinger@niwa.cri.nz Postal Address: P. O. Box 109 - 695 Newmarket Auckland, New Zealand ******************************************************************* There are three ways to get something done: do it yourself, hire someone, or forbid your kids to do it.