Developing a Historical Precipitation Record - Satellite-based Applications on Climate Change - page 101

climate-scale variations. These reconstructed fields are important for monitoring
climate and its changes over long periods and for helping to validate climate models
that simulate twentieth-century variations.
Improvements in reconstructions may be possible if satellite analyses can be
improved. In addition, as longer records with more satellite-based observations
become available, the base data may be able to support improved reconstruction
statistics. Additional improvements can be obtained by including new data sources
that may provide independent information. For example, an extended dynamic
atmospheric reanalysis was produced by assimilating measured surface fields
(Compo et al. 2006 ). In the future, we intend to examine precipitation from that
reanalysis as well as from other sources as the data become available. The merged
reconstruction discussed here is available to the public online at http://cics.umd.
edu/~tsmith/recpr/ .
Acknowledgements Precipitation reconstructions produced by the author are a result of joint
work involving P. A. Arkin, M. R. P. Sapiano, and C.-Y. Chang. This work also benefited from
discussions with R. Adler, J. Janowiak, A. Mariotti, R. Reynolds, R. Vose, P. Xie, and anonymous
reviewers. Data used for reconstruction include the GHCN and SST data from the National
Climatic Data Center, the GPCP from NASA, the GPCC from Deutscher Wetterdienst, the CRU
analysis from Univ. of East Anglia, and the SLP data from the UK Met. Office Hadley Centre,
www.metoffice.gov.uk/hadobs . Some of this research was supported by the Climate Change Data
and Diagnostic Program Element of the NOAA Climate Program Office and the Cooperative
Institute for Climate and Satellites, NOAA Grant NA17EC1483. The contents of this chapter are
solely the opinions of the author and do not constitute a statement of policy, decision, or position
on behalf of NOAA or the US government.
References
Adler RF, Huffman GJ, Chang A, Ferraro R, Xie PP, Janowiak J, Rudolf B, Schneider U, Curtis S,
Bolvin D, Gruber A, Susskind J, Arkin P, Nelkin E (2003) The version-2 global precipitation
climatology project (GPCP) monthly precipitation analysis (1979-present). J Hydrometeor
4:1147-1167
Adler RF, Gu G, Wang J-J, Huffman GJ, Curtis S, Bolvin D (2008) Relationships between global
precipitation and surface temperature on inter-annual and longer time scales (1979-2006).
J Geophys Res 113:D22104. doi: 10.1029/2008JD010536
Allan RJ, Ansell TJ (2006) A new globally complete monthly historical mean sea level pressure
data set (HadSLP2): 1850-2004. J Climate 19:5816-5842
Allan RP, Soden BJ (2008) Atmospheric warming and the amplification of precipitation extremes.
Science 321:1481-1484
Barnett TP, Preisendorfer R (1987) Origins and levels of monthly and seasonal forecast skill for
United States surface air temperatures determined by canonical correlation analysis. Mon
Weather Rev 115:1825-1850
Compo GP, Whitaker JS, Sardeshmukh PD (2006) Feasibility of a 100-year reanalysis using only
surface pressure data. Bull Am Meteorol Soc 87:175-190
Davis RE (1976) Predictability of sea surface temperature and sea level pressure anomalies over
the North Pacific Ocean. J Phys Oceanogr 6:249-266
Efthymiadis D, New M, Washington R (2005) On the reconstruction of seasonal oceanic precipi-
tation in the presatellite era. J Geophys Res 110:D06103. doi: 10.1029/2004JD005339