Award Number:
PR/J Number: R843010R108
PROJECT ABSTRACT
Colorado Plateau Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit
(Cooperative Agreement # H1200-09-0005)
Park: Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona
Project Title: Establishment of Southwest Winter & Monsoonal Climate Change Baseline
Values for Petrified Forest National Park
Funding Amount: $19,716
CPCESU Partner Institution: Arizona State University
Principal Investigator: Dr. Randall Cerveny, President’s Professor, School of Geographical
Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-5302, 480-965-7533 (office), 480-9658313 (fax), cerveny@asu.edu
Co-Investigator: Dr. Nancy Selover, Research Professor, Arizona State Climatologist, School of
Geographical Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-5302, 480-965-0580
(office), 480-965-8313 (fax), selover@asu.edu
Researcher: Jonny Malloy, graduate student, School of Geographical Sciences, Arizona State
University, Tempe, AZ 85287-5302, 480-965-7533 (office), 480-965-8313 (fax),
jmalloy1@asu.edu
NPS ATR/Key Official: Judy Bischoff, CPCESU Research Coordinator, NAU P.O. Box 5765,
Flagstaff, AZ 86011, 928-523-6638 (office), 928-523-2014 (fax), judy_bischoff@nps.gov
NPS Project Manager/Subject Matter Expert: Jason Theuer, Archeologist, 1 Park Road,
Petrified Forest, AZ 86028, 928-524-6228 (office), 928-524-3567 (fax), Jason_Theuer@nps.gov
Start Date: 09/01/2010
End Date: 03/31/2012
Abstract:
Establishing and understanding the internal variability of regions’ climates is critical to
properly evaluating climate change within them. “Microclimates” create significant local
differences in the effects of climate change. Petrified Forest National Park is a natural laboratory
for climate change research, containing a broad spectrum of landforms that interact with weather.
1
12,000 years of human history are preserved within the Park, including nine sites and
districts that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and others which have
significance and are considered sacred by many Native Americans. Preservation them depends
on understanding the microclimates that are causing the weathering and erosion that have been
documented at sites across the park.
It is impossible for the two existing weather stations currently located at opposite ends of
the park to represent the variation in climate within it. Five small, non-invasive, lowmaintenance monitoring stations (HOBOs) will be set at five archeological sites in different
environments across the park. They will record air temperature, humidity, and precipitation at
consistent intervals and provide the first systematic record of internal climate variability at
PEFO.
Not just cultural resources, but also visitor safety and the management of natural
resources will benefit from the data generated by this project. Interpreting the data for the public
will enhance visitor awareness of outdoor recreation safety and result in fewer incidents
involving injury and death to members of the public. Also, the Park is in the process of nearly
doubling in size and the adjacent, newly acquired lands will require plans for their management.
Keywords: Cultural Resources (modeling, management, historic sites), Geology (misc:
weathering & erosion), Global Change/Climatology (evaluation of LOCAL change, effects on
cultural resources).
2