Global Land Precipitation: A 50-yr Monthly Analysis Based on Gauge Observations

Abstract

This paper describes the initial work toward the production of monthly global (land and ocean) analyses of precipitation for an extended period from 1948 to the present. Called the precipitation reconstruction (PREC), the global analyses are defined by interpolation of gauge observations over land (PREC/L) and by EOF reconstruction of historical observations over ocean (PREC/O). This paper documents the creation of the land component of the analyses (PREC/L) on a 2.5° latitude/longitude grid for 1948–2000. These analyses are derived from gauge observations from over 17 000 stations collected in the Global Historical Climatology Network (GHCN), version 2, and the Climate Anomaly Monitoring System (CAMS) datasets. To determine the most suitable objective analysis procedure for gridding, the analyses generated by four published objective analysis techniques [those of Cressman, Barnes, and Shepard, and the optimal interpolation (OI) method of Gandin] were compared. The evaluation demonstrated two cru... Abstract This paper describes the initial work toward the production of monthly global (land and ocean) analyses of precipitation for an extended period from 1948 to the present. Called the precipitation reconstruction (PREC), the global analyses are defined by interpolation of gauge observations over land (PREC/L) and by EOF reconstruction of historical observations over ocean (PREC/O). This paper documents the creation of the land component of the analyses (PREC/L) on a 2.5° latitude/longitude grid for 1948–2000. These analyses are derived from gauge observations from over 17 000 stations collected in the Global Historical Climatology Network (GHCN), version 2, and the Climate Anomaly Monitoring System (CAMS) datasets. To determine the most suitable objective analysis procedure for gridding, the analyses generated by four published objective analysis techniques [those of Cressman, Barnes, and Shepard, and the optimal interpolation (OI) method of Gandin] were compared. The evaluation demonstrated two cru...