Global Bias-Corrected CORDEX Datasets at Quarter Degree Resolution

<strong>Abstract:</strong> This dataset provides globally consistent, bias-corrected climate data at 0.25° grid resolution, consisting of a set of five climate variables derived from four General Circulation Models (GCMs) participating in CMIP5 downscaled by 4 CORDEX Regional Climate Model (RCM) simulations and bias-corrected globally for the period 1979–2099 for 7 to 10 CORDEX domains. It includes data from two climate change scenarios, namely RCP2.6 and RCP8.5. The CMIP5 GCMs are: MOHC-HadGEM2-ES, MPI-M-MPI-ESM-LR and MR, and NCC-NorESM1-M. Available here are netCDF files per run, GCM and variable (see <strong>Size</strong> for the overall sum per GCM).

<strong>TableOfContents:</strong> daily mean 2m-air temperature (tas); daily minimum 2m-air temperature (tasmin), daily maximum 2m-air temperature (tasmax); daily sum of precipitation (pr); daily mean surface downwelling shortwave radiation (rsds)

<strong>TechnicalInfo:</strong> dimension: 1440 columns x 720 rows; temporalExtent_startDate_Historlcal: 1979-01-01 00:00:00; temporalExtent_endDate_Historical: 2005-12-31 23:59:59; temporalDuration_Historical: 27; temporalDurationUnit_Historical: a; temporalExtent_startDate_RCPs: 2006-01-01 00:00:00; temporalExtent_endDate_RCPs: 2099-12-31 23:59:59; temporalDuration_RCPs: 94; temporalDurationUnit_RCPs: a; temporalResolution: 1; temporalResolutionUnit: d; spatialResolution: 0.25; spatialResolutionUnit: degree; horizontalResolutionXdirection: 0.25; horizontalResolutionXdirectionUnit: degree; horizontalResolutionYdirection: 0.25; horizontalResolutionYdirectionUnit: degree; verticalResolution: none; verticalResolutionUnit: none

<strong>Methods: </strong> The ISIMIP3BASD v2.5 bias correction method (see Lange [2019; 2021]) was applied to adjust systematic biases while preserving the climate change signals. This parametric quantile mapping approach:<br>
• Corrects biases across all percentiles of variable distributions<br>
• Preserves trends in these percentiles<br>
• Applies variable-specific treatments (e.g., handling drizzle issues for precipitation)<br>
• Maintains physical relationships between variables (particularly for temperature variables)

using the CHELSA-W5E5 observational reference dataset. The regional climate models (RCMs) used are: (listed are Institution/working group; RCM Models; Driving GCMs): 

Climate Service Center Germany (GERICS), Hamburg, Germany; REMO2015 v1; MPI-ESM-LR and NCC-NorESM1-M and MOHC-HadGEM2-ES
Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Trieste, Italy; RegCM4-4 v0 and RegCM4-7 v0; MPI-ESM-MR
Centre pour l’Étude et la Simulation du Climat à l’Échelle Régionale (ESCER), Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada; CRCM5 v1; MPI-ESM-MR

The historical runs begin 1979-01-01 and end 2005-12-31. All projection runs begin 2006-01-01 and end 2099-12-31.

The routines (python) used to create and work with the data sets are available from this web page as well: Discontinuity_Analyses_GloBCORD-QD.py

<strong>Quality:</strong> Not all of the domains have been downscaled by CORDEX RCMs. Therefore, data files for MPI-M-MPI-ESM-MR only contain 8 (rcp26: 7) CORDEX domains; all other files contain 10 domains (see also https://cordex.org/domains/cordex-domain-description/)

<strong>Units:</strong> K; K; K; kg m-2 s-1; W m-2

<strong>GeoLocation:</strong> westBoundCoordinate: -165.0; westBoundCoordinateUnit: degrees East; eastBoundCoordinate: 179.0; eastBoundCoordinateUnit: degrees East; southBoundCoordinate: -55.0; southBoundCoordinateUnit: degrees North; northBoundCoordinate: 76.0; northBoundCoordinateUnit: degrees North

<strong>Size:</strong> MOHC-HadGEM2-ES: 280.3 GByte, MPI-M-MPI-ESM-LR: 271.0 GByte, MPI-M-MPI-ESM-MR: 214.3GByte, NCC-NorESM1-M: 280.4 GByte

<strong>Format:</strong> netCDF

<strong>DataSources:</strong> See the file "GloBCORD-QD_Description.pdf"

<strong>Contact:</strong> fuseini.yakubu (at) uni-hamburg.de; shabeh.hasson (at) uni-hamburg.de

<strong>Webpage:</strong> https://www.geo.uni-hamburg.de/geographie/abteilungen/physische-geographie/arbeitsgruppen/ag-hareme.html