A signal-to-noise index to quantify the potential for peak detection in sediment-charcoal records

Ryan F. Kelly; Philip E. Higuera; Carolyn M. Barrett; Feng Sheng Hu

doi:10.1016/j.yqres.2010.07.011

A signal-to-noise index to quantify the potential for peak detection in sediment-charcoal records

Ryan F. Kelly, Philip E. Higuera, Carolyn M. Barrett, Feng Sheng Hu

W. A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

172 Scopus citations

Abstract

Charcoal peaks in lake-sediment records are commonly used to reconstruct fire histories spanning thousands of years, but quantitative methods for evaluating the suitability of records for peak detection are largely lacking. We present a signal-to-noise index (SNI) that quantifies the separation of charcoal peaks (signal) from other variability in a record (noise). We validate the SNI with simulated and empirical charcoal records and show that an SNI > 3 consistently identifies records appropriate for peak detection. The SNI thus offers a means to evaluate the suitability of sediment-charcoal records for reconstructing local fires. MATLAB and R functions for calculating SNI are provided.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	11-17
Number of pages	7
Journal	Quaternary Research (United States)
Volume	75
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yqres.2010.07.011
State	Published - Jan 2011

Keywords

Charcoal analysis
Fire history
Lake sediment
Paleoecology
Signal-to-noise index (SNI)

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10.1016/j.yqres.2010.07.011

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title = "A signal-to-noise index to quantify the potential for peak detection in sediment-charcoal records",

abstract = "Charcoal peaks in lake-sediment records are commonly used to reconstruct fire histories spanning thousands of years, but quantitative methods for evaluating the suitability of records for peak detection are largely lacking. We present a signal-to-noise index (SNI) that quantifies the separation of charcoal peaks (signal) from other variability in a record (noise). We validate the SNI with simulated and empirical charcoal records and show that an SNI > 3 consistently identifies records appropriate for peak detection. The SNI thus offers a means to evaluate the suitability of sediment-charcoal records for reconstructing local fires. MATLAB and R functions for calculating SNI are provided.",

keywords = "Charcoal analysis, Fire history, Lake sediment, Paleoecology, Signal-to-noise index (SNI)",

author = "Kelly, {Ryan F.} and Higuera, {Philip E.} and Barrett, {Carolyn M.} and Hu, {Feng Sheng}",

note = "Funding Information: This analysis was supported by an NSF GK-12 Fellowship to RFK and NSF grant ARC 0612366 to FSH. The authors gratefully acknowledge advice from Michael Dietze, and thoughtful comments from Ben Clegg, Melissa Chipman, Hillary Lauren, Suzanne Nagi, and Michael Urban. Appendix A ",

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doi = "10.1016/j.yqres.2010.07.011",

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AU - Kelly, Ryan F.

AU - Higuera, Philip E.

AU - Barrett, Carolyn M.

AU - Hu, Feng Sheng

N1 - Funding Information: This analysis was supported by an NSF GK-12 Fellowship to RFK and NSF grant ARC 0612366 to FSH. The authors gratefully acknowledge advice from Michael Dietze, and thoughtful comments from Ben Clegg, Melissa Chipman, Hillary Lauren, Suzanne Nagi, and Michael Urban. Appendix A

PY - 2011/1

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N2 - Charcoal peaks in lake-sediment records are commonly used to reconstruct fire histories spanning thousands of years, but quantitative methods for evaluating the suitability of records for peak detection are largely lacking. We present a signal-to-noise index (SNI) that quantifies the separation of charcoal peaks (signal) from other variability in a record (noise). We validate the SNI with simulated and empirical charcoal records and show that an SNI > 3 consistently identifies records appropriate for peak detection. The SNI thus offers a means to evaluate the suitability of sediment-charcoal records for reconstructing local fires. MATLAB and R functions for calculating SNI are provided.

AB - Charcoal peaks in lake-sediment records are commonly used to reconstruct fire histories spanning thousands of years, but quantitative methods for evaluating the suitability of records for peak detection are largely lacking. We present a signal-to-noise index (SNI) that quantifies the separation of charcoal peaks (signal) from other variability in a record (noise). We validate the SNI with simulated and empirical charcoal records and show that an SNI > 3 consistently identifies records appropriate for peak detection. The SNI thus offers a means to evaluate the suitability of sediment-charcoal records for reconstructing local fires. MATLAB and R functions for calculating SNI are provided.

KW - Charcoal analysis

KW - Fire history

KW - Lake sediment

KW - Paleoecology

KW - Signal-to-noise index (SNI)

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A signal-to-noise index to quantify the potential for peak detection in sediment-charcoal records

Abstract

Keywords

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