Modeled Historical Monthly Precipitation Metrics, Wisconsin 1981-2010

Created By:

Dr. Eric Compas, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater

Description:

This raster dataset contains a simplified version of the historical downscaled climate data produced by the Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts' (WICCI) Climate Working Group. This dataset contains several precipitation metrics averaged by month across the 30-year period from 1981-2010. These metrics include average total monthly precipitation and inter-model standard deviation for total monthly precipitation precipitation. In addition, the data includes the estimated number of days per month that meet commonly used thresholds: the days where the precipitation exceeds 1, 2, or 3 inches and days with no precipitation. The spatial resolution of the data is 0.1 x 0.1 degrees (approximately 6x6 miles on the ground). This historical climate data is a subset of the downscaling 'de-biasing' process where the 1950-2005 time period in the climate model is matched to the 1950-2009 in the observed station record. The slight mismatch in the climate and observed time period has negligible impact because climate change operates slowly over decades. Instead, it is more important that the climate record is long enough to 'average out' natural climate variability. More details about the original data this is derived from can be found at https://registry.opendata.aws/noaa-uwpd-cmip5/ and the WICCI's two climate assessment reports from 2011 and 2021 (available at https://wicci.wisc.edu/). The python code used to produce this simplified version is available at https://github.com/TheGeographer/DownscaledClimateData. A how-to video on using this data is available from GeoData@Wisconsin: https://geodata.wisc.edu/pages/videos.

Collection:

Climate, Statewide, and Coastal

Subject(s):

Atmospheric Sciences, Environment, Geoscientific Information, Health, and Planning and Cadastral

Year(s):

1981-2010

Held By:

UW-Madison Robinson Map Library

Supplemental Info:

This is an archived copy of the data held at UW-Madison. For detailed variable definitions please review the full data dictionary https://gisdata.wisc.edu/public/WI_Downscaled_Climate_Data_Dictionary_Precip.pdf. In addition, please refer to the Downscaled Climate Data User Guide: https://gisdata.wisc.edu/public/metadata/includes/Guide_to_using_downscaled_climate_data.pdf for more information about how to view and analyze these data. Both the user guide and data dictionary are included with individual file downloads. Disclaimer: These projections are being made available by the Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts (WICCI) to provide broader public access to the downscaled climate data used in WICCI reports and analysis. WICCI believes the information to be correct representations of potential high-resolution climate/hydrologic variations and changes subject to the limitations of the CMIP5 global climate simulations, the downscaling methods and their limitations, and the aggregation procedures used to summarize this data. However, human and calculation errors remain possibilities. Therefore, WICCI does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, or correct sequencing of the information. Also, WICCI and its Workgroup members shall not be responsible for any errors or omissions, or for the use or results obtained from this information.