Gridded Meteorological Datasets
Gridded Meteorological Datasets
Description
Landscape-scale ecological modeling has been hindered by suitable high-resolution surface meteorological datasets that include temperature, precipitation, downward shortwave radiation, humidity and winds. To overcome these limitations, desirable spatial attributes of gridded climate data from PRISM are combined with desirable temporal attributes of regional-scale reanalysis and daily gauge-based precipitation from NLDAS-2 to derive a spatially and temporally complete, high-resolution (4-km) gridded dataset of surface meteorological variables required in ecological modeling for the contiguous United States from 1979-2010. Validation of the resulting gridded surface meteorological data was conducted against an extensive network of weather stations including RAWS, AgriMet, AgWeatherNet and USHCN-2. The validation showed skill comparable to that derived from interpolation using station observations, however is advantageous in that it provides spatially and temporally complete data across several variables. These qualities suggest the dataset can serve as suitable surrogate for landscape-scale ecological modeling across vast unmonitored areas of the United States.
Examples
Precipitation: 18 Jan 2006 (example)
Minimum Temperature: 18 Jan 2006 (example)
Minimum Relative Humidity: 18 Jan 2006 (example)
Maximum Temperature: 1-31 Jan 2006 (example animation)
Logistics
Spatial Resolution: 4-km grid
Spatial Extent: Contiguous United States [elevation data]
Temporal Resolution: Daily (some sub-daily)
Temporal Extent: 1979-2010 (2011 soon)
Variables: Precipitation (amount and duration in past 24 hours), temperature (maximum and minimum), humidity (maximum and minimum relative humidity and specific humidity), surface downward shortwave radiation (daily mean), wind velocity (daily mean)
Format: netCDF adhering to Climate and Forecasting metadata standards
Data Access
Contact
Dr. John Abatzoglou, Department of Geography, University of Idaho
Citations
Abatzoglou, J.T., Development of gridded surface meteorological data for ecological applications and modeling, International Journal of Climatology
Acknowledgements
This work was made possible through the use of NLDAS-2 forcing output from NASA and PRISM data from Oregon State University. This research was supported by the NSF Idaho EPSCoR Program and by the National Science Foundation under award number EPS-0814387 and the National Institute for Food and Agriculture competitive grant, award number: 2011-68002-30191.
