UMD AOSC Seminar

Observed Global Precipitation Variability during the 20th Century


Dr. Phil Arkin
Ph.D., Meteorology, University of Maryland

University of Maryland
Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center (ESSIC)
Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites (CICS)

Global precipitation analyses that include land and ocean derived from a combination of rain gauge observations and satellite-derived estimates have been available for some time. While these analyses, which begin in 1979 or later, make possible detailed description of global and regional precipitation variations, there time series is too short for some crucial studies, including the validation of climate model simulations of precipitation during the 20th Century. Our group at the Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites (CICS) has created a statistical reconstruction of 20th Century near-global land and ocean precipitation based on the modern precipitation analyses together with historical rain gauge observations and historical analyses of both sea surface temperature and sea level pressure. The resulting analyses contain monthly anomalies relative to the climatology of the 1979 – 2008 base period between 75°N – 75°S on a 5° grid beginning 1900. Averages over ocean areas and all areas indicate increasing precipitation through the 20th Century as global temperatures warm, consistent with theoretical estimates and model simulations.




February 17, 2011, Thursday

Seminar: 3:30-4:30pm

Computer and Space Sciences (CSS) Building, Auditorium (Room 2400)
Refreshment is served at 3:00pm in the adjoining Atrium


[Contact: Professor Kayo Ide]
[AOSC | Seminar | Directions | Parking]


AOSC 818. Frontiers in Atmosphere, Ocean, Climate, and Synoptic Meteorology Research