High resolution climate change observations and projections for the evaluation of heat-related extremes

Emily Williams; Chris Funk; Pete Peterson; Cascade Tuholske

doi:10.1038/s41597-024-03074-w

High resolution climate change observations and projections for the evaluation of heat-related extremes

Sci Data. 2024 Mar 1;11(1):261. doi: 10.1038/s41597-024-03074-w.

Authors

Emily Williams^{1

2}, Chris Funk³, Pete Peterson⁴, Cascade Tuholske^{5

6}

Affiliations

¹ Climate Hazards Center, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA. emilywilliams@ucmerced.edu.
² Sierra Nevada Research Institute, University of California, Merced, CA, 95343, USA. emilywilliams@ucmerced.edu.
³ Climate Hazards Center, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA. chris.funk@geog.ucsb.edu.
⁴ Climate Hazards Center, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA.
⁵ Department of Earth Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, 59717, USA.
⁶ Geospatial Core Facility, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, 59717, USA.

PMID: 38429277
DOI: 10.1038/s41597-024-03074-w

Abstract

The Climate Hazards Center Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 climate projection dataset (CHC-CMIP6) was developed to support the analysis of climate-related hazards, including extreme humid heat and drought conditions, over the recent past and in the near-future. Global daily high resolution (0.05°) grids of the Climate Hazards InfraRed Temperature with Stations temperature product, the Climate Hazards InfraRed Precipitation with Stations precipitation product, and ERA5-derived relative humidity form the basis of the 1983-2016 historical record, from which daily Vapor Pressure Deficits (VPD) and maximum Wet Bulb Globe Temperatures (WBGT_max) were derived. Large CMIP6 ensembles from the Shared Socioeconomic Pathway 2-4.5 and SSP 5-8.5 scenarios were then used to develop high resolution daily 2030 and 2050 'delta' fields. These deltas were used to perturb the historical observations, thereby generating 0.05° 2030 and 2050 projections of daily precipitation, temperature, relative humidity, and derived VPD and WBGT_max. Finally, monthly counts of frequency of extremes for each variable were derived for each time period.

Publication types

Dataset

Abstract

Publication types

Grants and funding