I-BIND: International Blue Intensity Network Development working group

Blue Intensity (BI) is coming of age in dendrochronology, although some methodological challenges are still left to be solved. In the last 20 years, 59 papers have been published focussing mainly on climatological based studies, although BI has also been shown to be useful both for historical dating and dendroecological studies. This short paper briefly reviews the BI method development of the last two decades and introduces a new collaborative initiative called I-BIND (International Blue Intensity Network Development Working Group), which is supported by the Association of Tree-Ring Research. The main aims of I-BIND are to promote continued methodological development, communicate best practice via workshops, encourage the development of BI data networks to enhance both dendroclimatology and dendro-historical dating, and to create a rich environment in which innovative and novel initiatives can be explored and discussed.