Bioclimatic predictors in Maricopa County, Arizona derived from remotely sensed, daily weather parameters (NASA DAYMET): 2000-2016

overview There is considerable interest in using climatic variables and bioclimatic predictors not only in ecological species distribution models but in interdisciplinary studies of urban environments. We compiled an downloadable geodatabase of monthly environmental variables on a 1km x 1km spatial resolution including raw climate variables such as precipitation, minimum and maximum air temperature, and water vapor pressure obtained from NASA Earth Science Data and Information System Daily Surface Weather and Climatological Summaries (DAYMET) for Maricopa County. We then used the continuous environmental data from DAYMET to create 19 different annual bioclimatic predictors for Maricopa County (as defined by Nix, 1986 and Hijmans, 2004). Our study is the first to utilize NASA DAYMET model data to generate bioclimatic predictors. Bioclimatic predictors are important variables to use in model development to study nuances of seasonality especially when compiling models of species and vegetation. This geodatabase of environmental variables provides accessible vital data for the entire Central Arizona–Phoenix Long-Term Ecological Research (CAP LTER) study area that can be used in an array of interdisciplinary studies. related data set Processed DAYMET data from which the data in this data set were derived are accessible from: https://portal.edirepository.org/nis/mapbrowse?scope=knb-lter-cap&identifier=662 literature cited Hijmans, R.J., Cameron, S.E., Parra, J.L., Jones, P.G. and Jarvis, A., 2004. The WorldClim interpolated global terrestrial climate surfaces. Version 1.3. Nix, Henry A., 1986, A biogeographic analysis of Australian elapid snakes, in Longmore, Richard, ed., Atlas of elapid snakes of Australia: Canberra, Australian Flora and Fauna Series 7, Australian Government Publishing Service, p. 4‒15.