The Importance of Spatial Data to Open - Access National Archaeological Databases and the Development of Paleodemography Research

With generous support from the National Science Foundation, we have spent the past four years developing an archaeological radiocarbon database for the United States. Here, we highlight the importance of spatial data for open-access, national-scale archaeological databases and the development of paleodemography research. We propose a new method for analyzing radiocarbon time series in the context of paleoclimate models. This method forces us to confront one of the central challenges to realizing the full potential of national-scale databases: the quality of the spatial data accompanying radiocarbon dates. We seek to open a national discussion on the use of spatial data in open-source archaeological databases

Göbekli Tepe: A Brief Description of the Environmental Development in the Surroundings of the UNESCO World Heritage Site

This contribution provides a first characterization of the environmental development for the surroundings of the UNESCO World Heritage site of Göbekli Tepe. We base our analyses on a literature review that covers the environmental components of prevailing bedrock and soils, model- and proxy-based climatic development, and vegetation. The spatio-temporal scales that are covered are mainly the Eastern Mediterranean region and the Late Quaternary—whereby special attention is given to available data from the close vicinity of Göbekli Tepe. Information on Late Quaternary geomorphodynamics is largely absent for the environs of Göbekli Tepe, we therefore included remote sensing data, different terrain modeling approaches and field-based geomorphological mapping to gain insights into past process dynamics. The findings indicate that the environmental conditions at Göbekli Tepe during its time of occupation differed significantly from today, showing denser vegetation and a wide spread sediment cover. Different hypotheses are developed that aim to guide future research on environmental changes and their variations during the Late Pleistocene and Holocene. These activities are crucial for a more profound understanding of the environment of the site, its potential perception by humans and therefore for the development of narratives on their landscape creation motive

Future Scenario of Global Climate Map change according to the Köppen -Geiger Climate Classification

Earth’s climate changes rapidly due to the increases in human demands and rapid economic growth. These changes will affect the entire biosphere, mostly in negative ways. Predicting future changes will put us in a better position to minimize their catastrophic effects and to understand how humans can cope with the new changes beforehand. In this research, previous global climate data set observations from 1961-1990 have been used to predict the future climate change scenario for 2010-2039. The data were processed with Idrisi Andes software and the final Köppen-Geiger map was created with ArcGIS software. Based on Köppen climate classification, it was found that areas of Equator, Arid Steppes, and Snow will decrease by 3.9 %, 2.96%, and 0.09%, respectively. While the areas of Warm Temperature and Dessert will increase by 4.5% and 0.75%, respectively. The results of this study provide useful information on future climate Köppen-Geiger maps and areas that will most likely be affected by climate change in the following decade

Detailed Köppen-Geiger climate regions of TurkeyTürkiye’nin detaylandırılmış Köppen-Geiger iklim bölgeleri

Turkey is situated in the temperate zone as the macro climate zone. The fact that it remains under the influence of different air masses in every season due to its mathematical position causes differences are experienced in terms of the climate types. Besides its mathematical position, its special position also causes this influence grows stronger and the differences become clear much more. The fact that it is surrounded with seas from three sides, there are high mountain ranges in its northern and southern, its altitude increases from the west to the east, the roughness is high due to the tectonic effects and river erosion cause different climate types are dominant. The distribution of the dispersion areas of these climate types can be made by means of various climate classifications. Köppen-Geiger climate classification is a classification which is used at most in the world and which is used in the comparison of the past environmental conditions and the current environmental conditions and in the comparison of the future climate differences with our present day. Even if the dispersion areas of the climate types are shown according to Köppen-Geiger climate classification by different researchers at global scale, these classifications cannot reflect the diversity in Turkey in the exact manner due to the lack of data and scale problem. In this study, the monthly average temperature and monthly average total precipitation data of 249 meteorological station associated to the General Directorate of Meteorology and the global monthly average temperature and monthly average total precipitation data of the model printouts having 30-minute (approximately 1 km) resolution were used for the purpose of revealing the climate types which are dominant in Turkey according to Köppen-Geiger climate classification. Two different Köppen-Geiger climate types distribution maps were created depending on these two different data set. According to Köppen-Geiger climate classification, it was revealed that there are 13 different Köppen-Geiger climate zones in Turkey. According to this classification, the Mediterranean coasts were revealed to be in the "temperate-dry-hot summer climate- Csa" class, Konya Region and the southern of the Southeast Anatolia was revealed to be of the "dry-hot and cold steppe climate - Bsh-k" type and ET, that's tundra areas were designated in the Northeast Anatolia and Ararat Mountain. Köppen-Geiger climate zones of Turkey which were produced at low resolution in the previous studies were detailed much more in this study.Extended English summary is in the end of Full Text PDF (TURKISH) file. ÖzetTürkiye, makro iklim bölgesi olarak ılıman kuşakta yer almaktadır. Matematik konumu nedeniyle her mevsimde farklı hava kütlelerinin etkisi altında kalması iklim tipleri bakımından farklılıkların yaşanmasına neden olmaktadır. Matematik konumu yanında özel konumu da bu etkinin kuvvetlenmesine ve farklıkların daha da belirginleşmesine neden olur. Üç tarafının denizlerde çevrili olması, kuzey ve güneyinde yüksek dağ sıralarının bulunması, yükseltisinin batıdan doğuya doğru artması, tektonik etkiler ve akarsu aşındırması nedeniyle engebenin fazla olması kısa mesafelerde farklı iklim tiplerinin hüküm sürmesine neden olmaktadır. Bu iklim tiplerinin yayılış alanlarının dağılışı, çeşitli iklim sınıflandırmaları ile yapılabilmektedir. Köppen-Geiger iklim tasnifi, dünyada en fazla kullanılan, geçmiş ortam şartları ile günümüz ortam şartlarının karşılaştırılmasında ve gelecekteki iklim farklılıklarının günümüzle karşılaştırılmasında kullanılan bir sınıflandırmadır. Küresel ölçekte farklı araştırmacılar tarafından Köppen-Geiger iklim sınıflandırmasına göre iklim tiplerinin yayılış alanları gösterilse bile bu sınıflandırmalar veri yetersizliği ve ölçek problemi nedeniyle Türkiye’deki çeşitliliği tam yansıtamamaktadır. Bu çalışmada Köppen-Geiger iklim sınıflandırmasına göre Türkiye’de hüküm süren ikim tiplerini ortaya koymak amacıyla Meteoroloji Genel Müdürlüğü’ne ait 249 meteoroloji istasyonuna ait aylık ortalama sıcaklık ve aylık ortalama toplam yağış verileri ile 30 dakikalık (yaklaşık 1 km) çözünürlüğe sahip model çıktılarına ait küresel aylık ortalama sıcaklık ve aylık ortalama toplam yağış verileri kullanılmıştır. Bu iki farklı veri setine bağlı iki farklı Köppen-Geiger iklim tipleri dağılışı haritası oluşturulmuştur.  Köppen-Geiger iklim sınıflandırmasına göre Türkiye’de 13 farklı Köppen-Geiger iklim bölgesi olduğu ortaya konulmuştur. Bu sınıflandırmaya göre Akdeniz kıyıları “ılıman-kurak-sıcak yaza sahip iklim - Csa” sınıfında çıkarken, Konya Bölümü ve Güneydoğu Anadolu’nun güneyi “kurak-sıcak ve soğuk step iklim- Bsh-k” tipinde, Kuzeydoğu Anadolu’da ve Ağrı Dağı’nda ise ET yani tundra alanlar belirlenmiştir. Daha önceki çalışmalarda düşük çözünürlükte üretilen Türkiye Köppen-Geiger iklim bölgeleri bu çalışmada daha da ayrıntı kazanmıştır

Geological controls on the evolution of Asian climate with specific reference to topography, ice sheets and CO2

The hydrological regime in East and South Asia is dominated by the monsoons, whilst central Asia is characterized as arid. Defining the timing of the onset of aridity and the intensification of the monsoons in Asia, has generated significant debate over the years. The uplift of the Tibetan Plateau, the retreat of the Paratethys Sea, the atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2 decrease, and the associated global cooling after the Eocene/Oligocene transition are all considered to be major drivers of Asian aridity and monsoonal intensification. Here, a series of sensitivity simulations of a fully coupled ocean–atmosphere climate model (HadCM3) are carried out to investigate the effect of the atmospheric CO 2 variability, the uplifts of the Tibetan Plateau, Mongolian Plateau and Tian Shan orogen, and the Greenland and Antarctic ice-sheets formation, on Central Asian aridity, the East Asian Monsoon circulation and monsoon driven precipitation. Results show that increasing of the CO 2 conditions for the East Asian and South Asian Monsoons and a steeper transition from non- monsoonal to monsoonal conditions in South Asia, while Arid East Central Asia becomes wetter during the non-monsoonal months. Results also show that even though ice-sheet coverage and CO 2 causes wetter changes play a role on the Asian climate and its sub-systems, the latitudinal position and elevation of the Tibetan Plateau are the primary drivers for the Asian climate evolution. Absence of high-elevation in Asia shows increased surface temperatures, and decreased moisture availability and precipitation over Asia. Additionally, with the Tibetan Plateau at lower elevations, the westerlies flow zonally limiting the precipitation over East Asia to the summer months. Above an elevation threshold of 3000 m, simulations show a shift to a modern-like East Asian Monsoon circulation and Arid Central Asia conditions suggesting that the shift towards modern-like conditions over Asia is controlled by the high- elevation Central Asia

CHANGES OF CLIMATE ZONES AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS FOR BIODIVERSITY

Climate change is driving biodiversity redistribution on Earth, undermining the effectiveness of protected areas (PAs) in conserving global biodiversity. Managing the consequences of biodiversity redistribution and promoting effective conservation necessitates a better understanding of climate shift patterns and species’ ability to track changing climates. Recent studies assessing the effects of climate change on biodiversity have increasingly used velocity metrics to represent climate shifts over space and time. Velocity based on a single climate variable or climate space identified using statistically combined multivariate indices may not be related to biomes or ecosystems and lacks the potential to conduct risk evaluation for biodiversity. The widely used Köppen–Geiger classification scheme provides an effective way to characterize bioclimatic conditions by incorporating multiple climatic indicators and biological information, thus can be a new direction for developing velocity metrics and supporting the development of species distribution models (SDMs). To identify research gaps, this dissertation research first reviews recent detection and assessment studies on past and future projected climate zone changes. Previous studies have shown that accelerated global warming since the 1980s has resulted in changes in climate zones that have been observed over 5% of the global land area. Tropical and arid climate zones are expected to expand into mid and high latitudes, while polar climates are shifting poleward and upward, leading to significant area shrinkage. Given the need for improved historical and future global climate maps with long-term temporal coverage and accurate depiction of fine-grained bioclimatic conditions in climate change studies, the study creates a set of 1 km Köppen-Geiger climate classification maps (KGClim) for six historical periods in 1979–2013 and four future periods in 2020–2099 under RCP2.6, 4.5, 6.0, and 8.5. The new maps offer higher classification accuracy than existing datasets and demonstrate the ability to capture recent and future projected changes in distribution of climate zones. Using the new KGClim dataset, this dissertation calculates the velocity of climate zone shifts to assess exposure risks of global PAs and examines the spatial patterns of near-, mid- and long-term climate shifts projected based on different emission pathways. Based on the findings, under RCP8.5, 38% of global protected land could undergo climate zone shifts at accelerating rates for the remainder of this century. Furthermore, global protected lands are experiencing novel (8% of global protected land) and disappearing (7%) climates, shifts of climates outside current PA networks (8%), and transition to human-dominated land use (6%). The fine-scale velocity metrics reveal spatiotemporal patterns of climate shifts and biodiversity redistribution, which can inform adaptive conservation planning to address the ongoing biodiversity crisis and achieve future conservation goals

Early Late Pleistocene environments in Northeast Africa and their relevance for Anatomically Modern Human dispersal

The history of humanity and the occupation of humans of the entire earth is a major scientific topic in various research disciplines, but also a subject of broad interest for the society. Thereby, research on the migration of Anatomically Modern Humans (AMH) has arisen in various specialised sub-disciplines of natural sciences (e.g. physical geography, geology, palaeoclimatology, etc.), but also in social sciences (e.g. archaeology, anthropology, ethnology, etc.). The complexity of the subjects involved has both opportunities and challenges, but only the integration of natural and social sciences comprises the ability to answer questions about the natural and cultural context for the spread of our species. One of the important research questions that still exist is the dispersal of AMH in Northeast Africa into the southern Levant and Southwest Asia. On the one hand, this region provides the only full terrestrial migration route Out of Africa that exists since the first appearance of AMH. On the other hand, it is part of the Saharo-Arabian Desert belt, where human occupation was mostly limited due to hyper-arid climate conditions. Therefore, the identification of palaeoenvironmental changes throughout the Late Pleistocene are crucial, as they provide the possibility for humans to occupy and disperse in this region when climate conditions were more favourable. One important aspect of this study is the discussion of all results not only from a geoscientific perspective, but also within the ambiguity of other research disciplines involved. It is identified, that perspectives about spatial and temporal scale strongly differ between archaeology and geoscience and need to be overcome. Only an integrative approach accomplish for a better understanding of past human-environment interactions with their relevance for AMH dispersal, as it is a prime example where scale issues are very relevant. A proposed schema for a more precise consideration for spatial scales is given, based on the classification of different relief types, which sizes are integrated into research topics in archaeology. Even though, the spatial scale of daily activities, mobility pattern and large scale dispersal of humans are far from being define, the schema helps within interdisciplinary research as common language and to bridge different perspective about what are large and small scales. The main importance of scale related issues is also reflected by the investigated study areas. The integration of field-based research at Gebel Duwi in the Eastern Desert and the analyses of a GIS-based reconstruction of the environment in Egypt aim together to give new insights into possible windows of opportunities for AMH dispersal in Northeast Africa. The synthesis of a PalaeoMap for Egypt during the Last Interglacial identifies several regional differences based on the analyses of climate data, ecozones, relief types, drainage systems, and surface geology with focus on raw material bearing formations. There exist no environmental limitations for human occupation over almost all regions in Egypt during the Last Interglacial in general. Regional ecozones are mapped with the semi-quantitative integration of modern analogues with annual precipitation and Köppen-Geiger climate during the Last Interglacial. They point to a high regional variability in Egypt. In addition, abiotic parameter like geology and topography fabricate a more sophisticated characterisation of possible difference landscapes in Egypt where humans were influenced. The Western Desert has a more limited access to flint and chert bearing strata as important raw material for hunter-gatherers in comparison to the Eastern Desert and the Sinai Peninsula. The data compilation highlights, that the understanding of environmental factors influencing human behaviour is better achieved with a cumulative approach of parameters, although it has more uncertainties in comparison to highlight one detailed investigated parameter. It avoids an one-way interpretation, where only one parameter, even though more detailed, is seen as the main trigger for human dispersal. The investigations from the area at Gebel Duwi provide new results for palaeoenvironmental changes and wetter climate during the Last Interglacial and Holocene. The sediment stratigraphy of Sodmein Playa indicates enhanced climate conditions at around 9 and 7.5 ka, which correlates with human occupation at Sodmein Cave during wetter climate phases of the Holocene. The dating of speleothem deposits at Saquia Cave show the presence of more humid climate conditions during MIS 5 and provide an important new climate archive in the Eastern Desert, but also for the Saharo-Arabian-Desert in general. All phases can be linked to the so far known times of human occupation at the nearby Sodmein Cave during this time. The fact that speleothem growth phases occur over all substages of MIS 5, not only during times of high insolation and a congruent northward migration of the monsoon, but also during phases of low insolation, indicates the significance of a regional climate archive. It provides a more detailed insight into wetter climate phases, as they can be derived from large scale proxy records as for example marine records or climate modelling. Several possible sources of enhanced rainfall in the Eastern Desert are discussed, where the proximity to the Red Sea and orographic rainfall in the Red Sea Mountains lead to regional differences and might trigger a more humid corridor in the Eastern Desert in comparison to other regions in Egypt. The observations noted by field investigations for the correlation between the importance of regions with wadis draining flint and chert bearing geological strata is mapped with the given data at larger scale. It exemplifies the up- and downscaling of parameters in scale. The importance of the Eastern Desert as possible migration corridor is derived from the integration of the results from the PalaeoMap, field results, and integration of the over regional context. Here, the understanding of this region is still insufficient, but the synthesis of all results highlights this region as one of the key area for human migration Out of Africa

CRC806-Database: A semantic e-Science infrastructure for an interdisciplinary research centre

Well designed information infrastructure improves the conduct of research, and can connect researchers and projects across disciplines to facilitate collaboration. The topic of this thesis is the design and development of an information infrastructure for a large interdisciplinary research project, the DFG-funded Collaborative Research Centre 806 (CRC 806). Under the name CRC806-Database the presented infrastructure was developed in the frame of the subproject "Z2: Data Management and Data Services", a so-called INF project, which is responsible for the research data management within a DFG funded CRC. During the design, development and implementation of the CRC806-Database, the complex requirements for sound data management in the context of a large interdisciplinary research project were considered theoretically, as well as practically during the implementation. The presented infrastructure design is mainly based on the requirements for research data management in CRC's, that is mainly the secure storage of primary research data for at least ten years, as well as on the further recommendations, that are about support and improvement of research and facilitation of Web-based collaboration, for information infrastructure by the DFG. The CRC806-Database semantic e-Science infrastructure consists of three main components, i.) the CRC806-RDM component that implements the research data management, including a data catalog and a publication database, ii.) the CRC806-SDI component that provides a Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) for Web-based management of spatial data, and additionally, iii.) the CRC806-KB component that implements a collaborative virtual research environment and knowledgebase. From a technical perspective, the infrastructure is based on the application of existing Open Source Software (OSS) solutions, that were customized to adapt to the specific requirements were necessary. The main OSS products that were applied for the development of the CRC806-Database are; Typo3, CKAN, GeoNode and Semantic MediaWiki. As integrative technical and theoretical basis of the infrastructure, the concept of Semantic e-Science was implemented. The term e-Science refers to a scientific paradigm that describes computationally intensive science carried out in networked environments. The prefix "Semantic" extends this concept with the application of Semantic Web technologies. A further applied conceptual basis for the development of CRC806-Database, is known under the name "Open Science", that includes the concepts of "Open Access", "Open Data" and "Open Methodology". These concepts have been implemented for the CRC806-Database semantic e-Science infrastructure, as described in the course of this thesis