The Global Precipitation Climatology Centre (GPCC), which is operated by the Deutscher Wetterdienst (National Meteorological Service of Germany), is a component of the Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) with the main emphasis on the treatment of the global in-situ observations. The GPCC simultaneously contributes to the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) and other international research and climate monitoring projects. This rain gauge-only data set was acquired from GPCC and resampled to 0.5 degree grid boxes for use in the International Satellite Land Surface Climatology Project (ISLSCP) Initiative II. The GPCC collects precipitation data which are locally observed at rain gauge stations and distributed as CLIMAT and SYNOP reports via the Global Telecommunication System of the World Weather Watch (GTS) of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The Centre acquires additional monthly precipitation data from meteorological and hydrological networks which are operated by national services.
This data set is one of the products of the International Satellite Land-Surface Climatology Project, Initiative II (ISLSCP II) data collection which contains 50 global time series data sets for the ten-year period 1986 to 1995. A complete description of the data, it's derivation, acknowledgements, and references provided by the ISLSCP II Data Management Staff is included with this data set as a companion file named 1_gpcc_precip_monthly_doc.pdf
ISLSCP II is a consistent collection of data sets that were compiled from existing data sources and algorithms, and were designed to satisfy the needs of modelers and investigators of the global carbon, water and energy cycle. The data were acquired from a number of U.S. and international agencies, universities, and institutions. The data and documentation have undergone two peer reviews.
ISLSCP is one of several projects of Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX) [http://www.gewex.org/] and has the lead role in addressing land-atmosphere interactions -- process modeling, data retrieval algorithms, field experiment design and execution, and the development of global data sets.
Cite this data set as follows:
GPCC. 2011. ISLSCP II Global Precipitation Climatology Centre (GPCC) Monthly Precipitation. Data set. Available on-line [http://daac.ornl.gov/] from Oak Ridge National Laboratory Distributed Active Archive Center, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, U.S.A. doi:10.3334/ORNLDAAC/995
Data Set Spatial Extent: Global gridded
Westernmost Longitude: -180 W
Easternmost Longitude: 180 E
Northernmost Latitude: 90 N
Southernmost Latitude: -90 S
Projection: Geographic
Data Set Spatial Resolution: 1.0 degree and 0.5 degree in both latitude and longitude
Data Set Temporal Extent: 1986 through 1995
Data File Format
All of the data files in each data set within the ISLSCP Initiative II data collection are in ASCII GRID format. The file format consists of numerical fields of varying length, which are delimited by a single space and arranged in columns and rows. There are 8 data files ( .zip) in 1.0 degree (1deg) and 0.5 degree (hdeg) resolution in latitude and longitude and 2 changemap ASCII files:
File names and descriptions:
* gpcc_correction_factor_1deg.zip: When extrapolated, provides 12 .asc files of monthly correction factors for systematic gauge-measuring errors provided as 1.0 degree spatial resolution.
*gpcc_correction_factor_hdeg.zip: When extrapolated, provides 12 .asc files of correction factors for systematic gauge-measuring errors provided as 0.5 degree spatial resolution.
* gpcc_dif-files_1deg.zip: When extrapolated, provides 120 .dif files (1 file for each month for 1986-1995) provided as 1.0 degree spatial resolution. These files hold all the points from each precipitation map that did not match the ISLSCP II land/water mask, and were removed or added.
* gpcc_dif-files_hdeg.zip: When extrapolated, provides 120 .dif files (1 file for each month for 1986-1995) provided as 0.5 degree spatial resolution. These files hold all the points from each precipitation map that did not match the ISLSCP II land/water mask, and were removed or added .
* gpcc_numgauges_1deg.zip: When extrapolated, provides 120 .asc files (1 file for each month for 1986-1995) for the number of rain gauges per gridbox provided as 1.0 degree spatial resolution.
* gpcc_numgauges_hdeg.zip: When extrapolated, provides 120 .asc files (1 file for each month for 1986-1995) for the number of rain gauges per gridbox provided as 0.5 degree spatial resolution.
* gpcc_precip_1deg.zip: When extrapolated, provides 120 .asc files (1 file for each month for 1986-1995) of gridded monthly precipitation rates provided as 1.0 degree spatial resolution.
* gpcc_precip_hdeg.zip: When extrapolated, provides 120 .asc files (1 file for each month for 1986-1995) of gridded monthly precipitation rates provided as 0.5 degree spatial resolution.
*gpcc_precip_1d_changemap.asc: Gridded ASCII map showing the differences between the ISLSCP II land/water mask and the original data set for the 1.0 degree spatial resolution.
*gpcc_precip_hd_changemap.asc: Gridded ASCII map showing the differences between the ISLSCP II land/water mask and the original data set for the 0.5 degree spatial resolution.
Please refer to 1_gpcc_precip_monthly_doc.pdf and 0_gpcc_precip_month_readme.txt for a more complete description of the data files and naming conventions.
Rudolf, B., H. Hauschild, W. Rueth, and U. Schneider. 1994. Terrestrial Precipitation Analysis: Operational Method and Required Density of Point Measurements. In Global Precipitation and Climate Change, M. Desbois and F. Desalmand, Eds., NATO ASI Series, Vol. 1, No. 26, Springer-Verlag, 173-186.
Rudolf, B., T. Fuchs, W. Rueth and U. Schneider. 1997. Precipitation Data for Verification of NWP Model Re-Analyses: The Accuracy of Observational Results. In Proceedings WCRP International Conference on Reanalyses, Washington, DC, 27-31 Oct 1997, WMO/TD-No. 876, WCRP-104, 215-218.
These data are available through the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC) [http://daac.ornl.gov].
E-mail: uso@daac.ornl.gov
Telephone: +1 (865) 241-3952