Statistical downscaling of precipitation using a stochastic rainfall model conditioned on circulation patterns: an evaluation of assumptions

Publikation: Beitrag in FachzeitschriftArtikelForschungPeer-Review

Autoren

  • Uwe Haberlandt
  • Aslan Belli
  • András Bárdossy

Externe Organisationen

  • Universität Stuttgart
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Details

OriginalspracheEnglisch
Seiten (von - bis)417-432
Seitenumfang16
FachzeitschriftInternational Journal of Climatology
Jahrgang35
Ausgabenummer3
Frühes Online-Datum25 März 2014
PublikationsstatusVeröffentlicht - 15 März 2015

Abstract

For climate impact assessment regarding hydrology, the availability of long precipitation time series with high temporal and spatial resolution is essential. A possible approach to obtain this data is the statistical downscaling of precipitation simulated by a global climate model (GCM) using a stochastic rainfall model with parameters conditioned on circulation patterns (CP). This approach requires: (1) the existence of a strong relationship between CP and precipitation, (2) the sufficient reproduction of CPs by the GCM, (3) the adequate simulation of precipitation by the rainfall model and (4) either stationarity of the relationship between precipitation and CPs or an approach to account for non-stationarity. The objective of this research is the careful evaluation and discussion of the above stated four hypotheses. For this purpose, a case study for the Aller-Leine river basin in Northern Germany has been created. It has been found that CPs can be defined which show significant differences in precipitation behaviour. The CPs derived from re-analysis data are well reproduced by the GCM simulations. In addition, the hourly stochastic rainfall model simulates the observed precipitation characteristics well, except for a certain overestimation of the extremes. However, the change in rainfall between past and future time periods as predicted by a regional climate model could not be explained by the change in CP frequency, due to the non-stationarity of the relationship between rainfall and CP. This can be best accounted for by re-estimating the parameters of the stochastic rainfall model for future conditions based on corrected observations using a delta change approach regarding simulated rainfall from a regional climate model.

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Statistical downscaling of precipitation using a stochastic rainfall model conditioned on circulation patterns: an evaluation of assumptions. / Haberlandt, Uwe; Belli, Aslan; Bárdossy, András.
in: International Journal of Climatology, Jahrgang 35, Nr. 3, 15.03.2015, S. 417-432.

Publikation: Beitrag in FachzeitschriftArtikelForschungPeer-Review

Download
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AU - Bárdossy, András

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