Indirect downscaling of hourly precipitation based on atmospheric circulation and temperature
The main source of information on future climate conditions are global circulation models (GCMs). While the various GCMs agree on an increase of surface temperature, the predictions for precipitation exhibit high spread among the models, especially in shorter-than-daily temporal resolution. This pap...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Copernicus Publications
2013-12-01
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| Series: | Hydrology and Earth System Sciences |
| Online Access: | http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/17/4851/2013/hess-17-4851-2013.pdf |
| _version_ | 1811203470306312192 |
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| author | F. Beck A. Bárdossy |
| author_facet | F. Beck A. Bárdossy |
| author_sort | F. Beck |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The main source of information on future climate conditions are global
circulation models (GCMs).
While the various GCMs agree on an increase of surface temperature, the
predictions for precipitation exhibit high spread among the models, especially
in shorter-than-daily temporal resolution. This paper presents a method to predict
regional distributions of the hourly rainfall depth based on daily mean sea
level pressure and temperature data. It is an indirect downscaling method
avoiding uncertain precipitation data from the GCM. It is based on a fuzzy logic classification of atmospheric
circulation patterns (CPs) that is further subdivided by means of the average
daily temperature. The observed empirical distributions at 30 rain gauges to
each CP-temperature class are assumed as constant and used for projections of
the hourly precipitation sums in the future. The method was applied to the
CP-temperature sequence derived from the 20th-century run and the
scenario A1B run of ECHAM5. For the study region in southwestern Germany ECHAM5
predicts that the summers will become progressively drier. Nevertheless, the
frequency of the highest hourly precipitation sums will increase. According
to the predictions, estival water stress and the risk of extreme hourly
precipitation will both increase simultaneously during the next decades.
However, the results are yet to be confirmed by further \mbox{investigation} based
on other GCMs. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T02:56:18Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8f335fcad3ef40a592de7e4b3ecf6e2d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1027-5606 1607-7938 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T02:56:18Z |
| publishDate | 2013-12-01 |
| publisher | Copernicus Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Hydrology and Earth System Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-8f335fcad3ef40a592de7e4b3ecf6e2d2022-12-22T03:50:47ZengCopernicus PublicationsHydrology and Earth System Sciences1027-56061607-79382013-12-0117124851486310.5194/hess-17-4851-2013Indirect downscaling of hourly precipitation based on atmospheric circulation and temperatureF. Beck0A. Bárdossy1University of Stuttgart, Institute for Modelling Hydraulic and Environmental Systems, Stuttgart, GermanyUniversity of Stuttgart, Institute for Modelling Hydraulic and Environmental Systems, Stuttgart, GermanyThe main source of information on future climate conditions are global circulation models (GCMs). While the various GCMs agree on an increase of surface temperature, the predictions for precipitation exhibit high spread among the models, especially in shorter-than-daily temporal resolution. This paper presents a method to predict regional distributions of the hourly rainfall depth based on daily mean sea level pressure and temperature data. It is an indirect downscaling method avoiding uncertain precipitation data from the GCM. It is based on a fuzzy logic classification of atmospheric circulation patterns (CPs) that is further subdivided by means of the average daily temperature. The observed empirical distributions at 30 rain gauges to each CP-temperature class are assumed as constant and used for projections of the hourly precipitation sums in the future. The method was applied to the CP-temperature sequence derived from the 20th-century run and the scenario A1B run of ECHAM5. For the study region in southwestern Germany ECHAM5 predicts that the summers will become progressively drier. Nevertheless, the frequency of the highest hourly precipitation sums will increase. According to the predictions, estival water stress and the risk of extreme hourly precipitation will both increase simultaneously during the next decades. However, the results are yet to be confirmed by further \mbox{investigation} based on other GCMs.http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/17/4851/2013/hess-17-4851-2013.pdf |
| spellingShingle | F. Beck A. Bárdossy Indirect downscaling of hourly precipitation based on atmospheric circulation and temperature Hydrology and Earth System Sciences |
| title | Indirect downscaling of hourly precipitation based on atmospheric circulation and temperature |
| title_full | Indirect downscaling of hourly precipitation based on atmospheric circulation and temperature |
| title_fullStr | Indirect downscaling of hourly precipitation based on atmospheric circulation and temperature |
| title_full_unstemmed | Indirect downscaling of hourly precipitation based on atmospheric circulation and temperature |
| title_short | Indirect downscaling of hourly precipitation based on atmospheric circulation and temperature |
| title_sort | indirect downscaling of hourly precipitation based on atmospheric circulation and temperature |
| url | http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/17/4851/2013/hess-17-4851-2013.pdf |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT fbeck indirectdownscalingofhourlyprecipitationbasedonatmosphericcirculationandtemperature AT abardossy indirectdownscalingofhourlyprecipitationbasedonatmosphericcirculationandtemperature |