Home
The goal of this project was to establish a set of definitive, objectively based climate divisions for Alaska. See our paper in Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology for full details.
AK climate divisions now operational at NCEI! See an article about our divisions in the Fairbanks Newsminer
Check out NCDC's FAQ page on the Alaska climate divisions for useful information data
See our latest work on Extremes
Project at a Glance:
Need to establish climate divisions for Alaska:
Climate Divisions needed for seasonal climate prediction and monitoring
Divisions have been used in the lower 48 for decades
Will allow for improved understanding of Alaska regional climate
Methodology:
Use meteorological station data as a guide
Apply cluster analysis to identify groups of stations that have similar climate variability
Evaluate divisional boundaries using gridded data
Key Findings:
13 climate divisions identified through cluster analysis
Divisional boundaries found to be consistent based on extensive correlation analysis
The 13 Climate Divisions:
Climate zones have been established in Alaska since the 1920s. Developing climate divisions using statistical objective methods was not possible until recently due to short and inconsistent meteorological station records.
Cluster Analysis based on station temperature observations 1977-2009 was employed to determine the general layout of the divisions. 13 climate divisions were identified.
Climate divisions in Alaska were found to be heavily influenced by topography and proximity to coasts.
Contact: Peter Bieniek
Email: pbieniek@alaska.edu