Documentary sources to investigate multidecadal variability of droughts

Domínguez‐Castro, Fernando; García‐Herrera, Ricardo

doi:10.18172/cig.2936

Cited by 8 publications

(7 citation statements)

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“…Rogations are also well-known in former Spanish colonies in Central and South America (e.g. Domínguez-Castro and García-Herrera, 2016;Domínguez-Castro et al, 2018;Guevara-Murua et al, 2018); in Mexico starting in the 1590s (Garza and Barriendos, 1998;Garza Merodio, 2002); in Equador, Peru and Argentina since the 16th century (Huertas Vallejos and Ortlieb, 1992;Prieto et al, 2000;García Herrera, 2001, 2009;Gascón and Caviedes, 2013); in Colombia between the 16th and 20th centuries (Jurado Jurado, 2004;Ulloa, 2014); and in Brazil from the 18th century to the current day (Heathcote, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Documentary data and the study of the past droughts: an overview of the state of the art worldwide

Brázdil

Kiss

Luterbacher

et al. 2018

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Abstract. The use of documentary evidence to investigate past climatic trends and events has become a recognised approach in recent decades. This contribution presents the state of the art in its application to droughts. The range of documentary evidence is very wide, including: general annals, chronicles, and memoirs, diaries kept by missionaries, travellers and those specifically interested in the weather, the records kept by administrators tasked with keeping accounts and other financial and economic records, legal-administrative evidence, religious sources, letters, marketplace and shopkeepers' songs, newspapers and journals, pictographic evidence, chronograms, epigraphic evidence, early instrumental observations, society commentaries, compilations and books, and historical-climatological databases. These come from many parts of the world. This variety of documentary information is evaluated with respect to the reconstruction of hydroclimatic conditions (precipitation, drought frequency and drought indices). Documentary-based drought reconstructions are then addressed in terms of long-term spatio-temporal fluctuations, major drought events, relationships with external forcing and large-scale climate drivers, socio-economic impacts and human responses. Documentary-based drought series are also discussed from the viewpoint of spatio-temporal variability for certain continents, and their employment together with hydroclimate reconstructions from other proxies (in particular tree-rings) is discussed. Finally, conclusions are drawn and challenges for the future use of documentary evidence in the study of droughts are presented.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Documentary data and the study of the past droughts: an overview of the state of the art worldwide

Brázdil

Kiss

Luterbacher

et al. 2018

Preprint

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“…Chapter Acts recorded decisions made during the weekly assemblies of local authorities in Spain from the Middle Ages onward (Domínguez‐Castro and García Herrera, ). They contain information about all the topics discussed in the assemblies (administrative policy, economy, urbanism, justice, demography, war, local taxes, and public health) (Belmonte et al ., ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wet and dry extremes in Quito (Ecuador) since the 17th century

Domínguez‐Castro

García‐Herrera

Vicente‐Serrano

2017

Intl Journal of Climatology

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Wet and dry extremes in Quito (Ecuador) over the last 400 years are studied using two sources of information: the longest available instrumental rainfall series in northern South America (1891–2015) and the rogation ceremonies recorded in the Chapter Acts of Quito (1600–1822). The rogation ceremonies present a seasonal distribution that is related to the crops and to the typical distribution of rainfall over the year. August was the month with most pro serenitate rogations because farmers needed dry conditions for harvest, whereas excess rainfall at this time would lead to rotting and loss of the harvest. The pro pluvia rogations were markedly more frequent during January and February when farmers needed rain for sowing. This relationship between climate and farming activities makes Quito's rogations a good proxy for drought and extreme wet conditions during January–February–March (JFM) and wet conditions during June–July–August (JJA). Standardized precipitation index (SPI) was computed for the instrumental period. The 3‐month SPI showed a significant linear trend over the last 125 years (−0.4 per decade, p = 0.009). The five wettest periods were 1651–1657, 1663–1669, 1913–1919, 1950–1956, and 1981–1985. Droughts have intensified in frequency and length since the middle of the 20th century. The most important drought periods were 1692–1701, 1718–1723, 1976–1980, 1990–1993, and 2001–2006. The severest drought during the last 400 years occurred in 1692–1701 when a great famine devastated Quito and affected most of the central Andes.

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“…Martín-Vide and Barriendos Vallvé (1995) and Barriendos (1997) developed the Drought Rogation Index, taking into account five levels of drought intensity/duration according to the hierarchic system of rogation ceremonies performed in Barcelona (Spain). Rogation ceremonies as dry/wet proxies have been analysed in many papers covering Spain and Portugal (see Domínguez-Castro et al, 2008Fragoso et al, 2018;Tejedor et al, 2018, and references therein), Italy (Piervitali and Colacino, 2001) and France (Garnier, 2014). Rogations are also well known in former Spanish colonies in Central and South America (e.g.…”

Section: Religious Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Documentary data and the study of past droughts: a global state of the art

et al. 2018

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Abstract. The use of documentary evidence to investigate past climatic trends and events has become a recognised approach in recent decades. This contribution presents the state of the art in its application to droughts. The range of documentary evidence is very wide, including general annals, chronicles, memoirs and diaries kept by missionaries, travellers and those specifically interested in the weather; records kept by administrators tasked with keeping accounts and other financial and economic records; legal-administrative evidence; religious sources; letters; songs; newspapers and journals; pictographic evidence; chronograms; epigraphic evidence; early instrumental observations; society commentaries; and compilations and books. These are available from many parts of the world. This variety of documentary information is evaluated with respect to the reconstruction of hydroclimatic conditions (precipitation, drought frequency and drought indices). Documentary-based drought reconstructions are then addressed in terms of long-term spatio-temporal fluctuations, major drought events, relationships with external forcing and large-scale climate drivers, socio-economic impacts and human responses. Documentary-based drought series are also considered from the viewpoint of spatio-temporal variability for certain continents, and their employment together with hydroclimate reconstructions from other proxies (in particular tree rings) is discussed. Finally, conclusions are drawn, and challenges for the future use of documentary evidence in the study of droughts are presented.

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Documentary sources to investigate multidecadal variability of droughts

Abstract: ABSTRACT.

Cited by 8 publications

References 48 publications

Documentary data and the study of the past droughts: an overview of the state of the art worldwide

Documentary data and the study of the past droughts: an overview of the state of the art worldwide

Wet and dry extremes in Quito (Ecuador) since the 17th century

Documentary data and the study of past droughts: a global state of the art

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