We present new global maps of the Koppen-Geiger climate classification at an unprecedented 1-km resolution for the present-day (1980–2016) and for projected future conditions (2071–2100) under climate change. The present-day map is derived from an ensemble of four high-resolution, topographically-corrected climatic maps. The future map is derived from an ensemble of 32 climate model projections (scenario RCP8.5), by superimposing the projected climate change anomaly on the baseline high-resolution climatic maps. For both time periods we calculate confidence levels from the ensemble spread, providing valuable indications of the reliability of the classifications. The new maps exhibit a higher classification accuracy and substantially more detail than previous maps, particularly in regions with sharp spatial or elevation gradients. We anticipate the new maps will be useful for numerous applications, including species and vegetation distribution modeling. The new maps including the associated confidence maps are freely available via www.gloh2o.org/koppen
 . Machine-accessible metadata file describing the reported data (ISA-Tab format)

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Present and future Köppen-Geiger climate classification maps at 1-km resolution

A database is described that has been designed to fulfill the need for daily climate data over global land areas. The dataset, known as Global Historical Climatology Network (GHCN)-Daily, was developed for a wide variety of potential applications, including climate analysis and monitoring studies that require data at a daily time resolution (e.g., assessments of the frequency of heavy rainfall, heat wave duration, etc.). The dataset contains records from over 80 000 stations in 180 countries and territories, and its processing system produces the official archive for U.S. daily data. Variables commonly include maximum and minimum temperature, total daily precipitation, snowfall, and snow depth; however, about two-thirds of the stations report precipitation only. Quality assurance checks are routinely applied to the full dataset, but the data are not homogenized to account for artifacts associated with the various eras in reporting practice at any particular station (i.e., for changes in systematic...

An Overview of the Global Historical Climatology Network-Daily Database

In 1989, the need for reliable gridded land surface precipitation data sets, in view of the large uncertainties in the assessment of the global energy and water cycle, has led to the establishment of the Global Precipitation Climatology Centre (GPCC) at Deutscher Wetterdienst on invitation of the WMO. The GPCC has calculated a precipitation climatology for the global land areas for the target period 1951–2000 by objective analysis of climatological normals of about 67,200 rain gauge stations from its data base. GPCC's new precipitation climatology is compared to several other station-based precipitation climatologies as well as to precipitation climatologies derived from the GPCP V2.2 data set and from ECMWF's model reanalyses ERA-40 and ERA-Interim. Finally, how GPCC's best estimate for terrestrial mean precipitation derived from the precipitation climatology of 786 mm per year (equivalent to a water transport of 117,000 km3) is fitting into the global water cycle context is discussed.

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GPCC's new land surface precipitation climatology based on quality-controlled in situ data and its role in quantifying the global water cycle

We present TerraClimate, a dataset of high-spatial resolution (1/24°, ~4-km) monthly climate and climatic water balance for global terrestrial surfaces from 1958-2015. TerraClimate uses climatically aided interpolation, combining high-spatial resolution climatological normals from the WorldClim dataset, with coarser resolution time varying (i.e., monthly) data from other sources to produce a monthly dataset of precipitation, maximum and minimum temperature, wind speed, vapor pressure, and solar radiation. TerraClimate additionally produces monthly surface water balance datasets using a water balance model that incorporates reference evapotranspiration, precipitation, temperature, and interpolated plant extractable soil water capacity. These data provide important inputs for ecological and hydrological studies at global scales that require high spatial resolution and time varying climate and climatic water balance data. We validated spatiotemporal aspects of TerraClimate using annual temperature, precipitation, and calculated reference evapotranspiration from station data, as well as annual runoff from streamflow gauges. TerraClimate datasets showed noted improvement in overall mean absolute error and increased spatial realism relative to coarser resolution gridded datasets.

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TerraClimate, a high-resolution global dataset of monthly climate and climatic water balance from 1958-2015.

[1] In this study, we present the collation and analysis of the gridded land-based dataset of indices of temperature and precipitation extremes: HadEX2. Indices were calculated based on station data using a consistent approach recommended by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Expert Team on Climate Change Detection and Indices, resulting in the production of 17 temperature and 12 precipitation indices derived from daily maximum and minimum temperature and precipitation observations. High-quality in situ observations from over 7000 temperature and 11,000 precipitation meteorological stations across the globe were obtained to calculate the indices over the period of record available for each station. Monthly and annual indices were then interpolated onto a 3.75° × 2.5° longitude-latitude grid over the period 1901–2010. Linear trends in the gridded fields were computed and tested for statistical significance. Overall there was very good agreement with the previous HadEX dataset during the overlapping data period. Results showed widespread significant changes in temperature extremes consistent with warming, especially for those indices derived from daily minimum temperature over the whole 110 years of record but with stronger trends in more recent decades. Seasonal results showed significant warming in all seasons but more so in the colder months. Precipitation indices also showed widespread and significant trends, but the changes were much more spatially heterogeneous compared with temperature changes. However, results indicated more areas with significant increasing trends in extreme precipitation amounts, intensity, and frequency than areas with decreasing trends.

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/jgrd.50150

Updated analyses of temperature and precipitation extreme indices since the beginning of the twentieth century: The HadEX2 dataset

This paper describes a comprehensive set of fully automated quality assurance (QA) procedures for observations of daily surface temperature, precipitation, snowfall, and snow depth. The QA procedures are being applied operationally to the Global Historical Climatology Network (GHCN)-Daily dataset. Since these data are used for analyzing and monitoring variations in extremes, the QA system is designed to detect as many errors as possible while maintaining a low probability of falsely identifying true meteorological events as erroneous. The system consists of 19 carefully evaluated tests that detect duplicate data, climatological outliers, and various inconsistencies (internal, temporal, and spatial). Manual review of random samples of the values flagged as errors is used to set the threshold for each procedure such that its falsepositive rate, or fraction of valid values identified as errors, is minimized. In addition, the tests are arranged in a deliberate sequence in which the performance of the later checks is enhanced by the error detection capabilities of the earlier tests. Based on an assessment of each individual check and a final evaluation for each element, the system identifies 3.6 million (0.24%) of the more than 1.5 billion maximum/minimum temperature, precipitation, snowfall, and snow depth values in GHCN-Daily as errors, has a false-positive rate of 1%22%, and is effective at detecting both the grossest errors as well as more subtle inconsistencies among elements.

Tamara G. Houston

Papers

An Overview of the Global Historical Climatology Network-Daily Database

Comprehensive Automated Quality Assurance of Daily Surface Observations