Downscaled climate data for Alaska (1950-2009)

Datasets used in:
Young, A.M., Higuera, P.E., Duffy, P.A., and F.S. Hu. Climatic thresholds shape northern high-latitude fire regimes and imply vulnerability to future climate change. In Review at Ecography as of 10/2015.

----------------------- Description ----------------------------------
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These data are gridded maps of Alaska containing historical and
future downscaled climate data. Specifically, there are maps of
monthly (1) temperature and (2) total precipitation minus
potential evapotranspiration (P-PET). Here, in our data files,
we re-label 'P-PET' as 'DEF' for 'deficit'. For both historical and future
data the months correspond to a "fire year", or a year begining on
October 1st and ending on September 30th. Due to this, data for the
months of October, November, and December are the values recorded for
previous year. For example, P-PET data for November 2002, is the estimate
of P-PET for November 2001.

30-yr probabiltiy of fire occurrence for three different time periods
in the 21st century: 2010-2039, 2040-2069, 2070-2099. We use
downscaled GCM climate data under the RCP6.0 scenario. We provide
projections for all 100 models for each of the three different spatial
domains: AK, BOREAL, and TUNDRA. Gridded GCM data were processed and
provided by the Scenarios Network for Alaska and Arctic Planning
(https://www.snap.uaf.edu/). FOr further details regarding these
archived data please refer to YOung et al. (In Review) or the
Scenarios Network for Alaska and Arctic Planning webpage.
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----------------------- Resolution -----------------------------------
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Spatial Resolution: 2 km
Temporal Resolution: monthly
Time Coverage: random 1950-2099
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------------------------ File Naming ---------------------------------
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--------------------- Historical Data --------------------------------
Example: tas_mean_C_cru_TS31_01_1950_FY.tif
'tas' - climate variable, tas = surface temp, DEF = P-PET
'_mean_C' - units, mean_C = degree celsius, tot_mm = millimeters
'_cru_TS31' - Based off of CRU TS climate data
(http://www.cru.uea.ac.uk/cru/data/hrg/).
See https://www.snap.uaf.edu/ for details.
'_mm_yyyy' - month and year
'_FY' - FOr fire the fire year (October 1st - September 30th) See above.
'.tif' - File extension
--------------------- Future Data ------------------------------------
Example: tas_FY_mean_C_AR5_CCSM4_rcp60_01_2007.tif
'tas' - climate variable, tas = surface temp, DEF = P-PET
'_FY' - FOr fire the fire year (October 1st - September 30th) See above.
'_mean_C' - units, C = degree celsius, mm = millimeters
'_AR5' - From IPCC Fifth Assessment Report
'_CCSM4' - GCM
'_rcp60' - Climate change scenario
'_mm_yyyy' - month and year
'.tif' - File extension
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------------------ Geographic Information ----------------------------
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Rows: 725
Columns: 687
Spatial Extent (in meters) -
- Top: 2390439.786
- Left: -656204.44
- Right: 717795.56
- Bottom: 940439.786
Spatial Reference: Albers Equal Area
Datum: North American 1983
False Easting: 0
False Northing: 0
Central Meridian: -154
Standard Parallel 1: 55
Standard Parallel 2: 65
Latitude of Origin: 50