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ClimateNA Map Version

 

Tongli Wang

Centre for Forest Conservation Genetics (CFCG)

Department of Forest Science, University of British Columbia

 

May 08, 2022

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Contents

About this program.. 1

Features. 3

How to use. 3

Data sources. 3

Baseline data. 3

Historical data. 3

Future climate data. 3

Climate variables. 4

1) Annual variables: 4

2) Seasonal variables: 4

3) Monthly variables. 6

How to refer. 7

Acknowledgements. 7

 

About this program

 

ClimateNA_Map is a Google Maps based version of ClimateNA v7.30. Users can simply click on the map to get climate data for the locations of your interest. The program extracts and downscales 1961-1990 monthly climate normal data from a moderate spatial resolution (4 x 4 km) to scale-free point locations, and calculates many (>200) monthly, seasonal and annual climate variables for specific locations based on latitude, longitude and elevation. The downscaling is achieved through a combination of bilinear interpolation and dynamic local elevational adjustment. ClimateNA also uses the scale-free data as baseline to downscale historical and future climate variables for individual years and periods between 1901 and 2100. For predictions of multiple locations and for more GCMs, we recommend you to download the standalone version at http://climatena.ca/.

 

Features

1.      Obtain climate data by clicking on the map. The values of latitude, longitude and elevation are generated by Google Maps geo-positioning system and Google Elevation Service. Alternatively, latitude, longitude and elevation can also be input manually.

2.      Changed periods (historical and future) using the dropdown menus.

3.      Visualize spatial climate layers overlaid over Google Maps.

4.      Save outputs for multiple locations/periods to a file on your local computer.

 

Data sources

Baseline data

The monthly baseline data for 1961-1990 normals were compiled from the following sources and unified at 4 x 4 km spatial resolution:

1.   British Columbia: PRISM at 800 x 800 m from Pacific Climate Impact Consortium;

2.   Parries provinces: PRISM at 4 x 4 km from the PRISM Climate Group (http://www.prism.oregonstate.edu/);

3.   United States: PRISM at 800 x 800 m from the PRISM Climate Group (Daly et al. 2008);

4.   The rest: ANUSPLIN at 4 x 4 km

5.  The monthly solar radiation data were provided by Dr. Robbie Hember at University of British Columbia.

 

Historical data

Historical monthly data for the years 1901- 2020 were gerated on our own. Reference is not available yet.

 

Future climate data

Future climate projections were selected from the General Circulation Models (GCMs) of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6) to be included in IPCC sixth assessment report (AR6). The new set of emissions scenarios from CMIP6, called “Shared Socioeconomic Pathways” (SSPs), included SSP126, SSP245, SSP460, SSP370 and SSP585. We included the ensembles among the 13 GCMs.

 

 

Climate variables

1) Annual variables:

Directly calculated annual variables:

MAT              mean annual temperature (°C),

MWMT           mean warmest month temperature (°C),

MCMT            mean coldest month temperature (°C),

TD                   temperature difference between MWMT and MCMT, or continentality (°C),

MAP               mean annual precipitation (mm),

MSP                May to September precipitation (mm),

AHM  annual heat-moisture index (MAT+10)/(MAP/1000))

SHM               summer heat-moisture index ((MWMT)/(MSP/1000))

           

Derived annual variables:

DD<0              degree-days below 0°C, chilling degree-days

DD>5              degree-days above 5°C, growing degree-days

DD<18            degree-days below 18°C, heating degree-days

DD>18            degree-days above 18°C, cooling degree-days

NFFD              the number of frost-free days

FFP                 frost-free period

bFFP               the day of the year on which FFP begins

eFFP                the day of the year on which FFP ends

PAS                 precipitation as snow (mm) between August in previous year and July in current year

EMT                extreme minimum temperature over 30 years

EXT                extreme maximum temperature over 30 years

Eref                 Hargreaves reference evaporation (mm)

CMD               Hargreaves climatic moisture deficit (mm)

MAR               mean annual solar radiation (MJ m2 d1)

RH                  mean annual relative humidity (%)

CMI                Hogg’s climate moisture index (mm)

DD1040 (10<DD<40)    degree-days above 10°C and below 40°C

 

2) Seasonal variables:

Seasons:

Winter (_wt): Dec. (prev. yr) - Feb for annual, Jan, Feb, Dec for normals

Spring (_sp): March, April and May

Summer (_sm): June, July and August

Autumn (_at): September, October and November

 

Directly calculated seasonal variables:

Tave_wt          winter mean temperature (°C)

Tave_sp           spring mean temperature (°C)

Tave_sm          summer mean temperature (°C)

Tave_at           autumn mean temperature (°C)

 

Tmax_wt         winter mean maximum temperature (°C)

Tmax_sp          spring mean maximum temperature (°C)

Tmax_sm         summer mean maximum temperature (°C)

Tmax_at          autumn mean maximum temperature (°C)

 

Tmin_wt          winter mean minimum temperature (°C)

Tmin_sp          spring mean minimum temperature (°C)

Tmin_sm         summer mean minimum temperature (°C)

Tmin_at           autumn mean minimum temperature (°C)

 

PPT_wt           winter precipitation (mm)

PPT_sp            spring precipitation (mm)

PPT_sm           summer precipitation (mm)

PPT_at            autumn precipitation (mm)

 

RAD_wt         winter solar radiation (MJ m2 d1)

RAD_sp          spring solar radiation (MJ m2 d1)

RAD_sm         summer solar radiation (MJ m2 d1)

RAD_at          autumn solar radiation (MJ m2 d1)

 

Derived seasonal variables:

DD_0_wt        winter degree-days below 0°C

DD_0_sp         spring degree-days below 0°C

DD_0_sm        summer degree-days below 0°C

DD_0_at         autumn degree-days below 0°C

 

DD5_wt          winter degree-days below 5°C

DD5_sp           spring degree-days above 5°C

DD5_sm          summer degree-days above 5°C

DD5_at           autumn degree-days above 5°C

 

DD_18_wt      winter degree-days below 18°C

DD_18_sp       spring degree-days below 18°C

DD_18_sm      summer degree-days below 18°C

DD_18_at       autumn degree-days below 18°C

 

DD18_wt        winter degree-days below 18°C

DD18_sp         spring degree-days above 18°C

DD18_sm        summer degree-days above 18°C

DD18_at         autumn degree-days above 18°C

 

NFFD_wt        winter number of frost-free days

NFFD_sp        spring number of frost-free days

NFFD_sm       summer number of frost-free days

NFFD_at         autumn number of frost-free days

 

PAS_wt           winter precipitation as snow (mm)

PAS_sp           spring precipitation as snow (mm)

PAS_sm          summer precipitation as snow (mm)

PAS_at            autumn precipitation as snow (mm)

 

Eref_wt           winter Hargreaves reference evaporation (mm)

Eref_sp            spring Hargreaves reference evaporation (mm)

Eref_sm           summer Hargreaves reference evaporation (mm)

Eref_at            autumn Hargreaves reference evaporation (mm)

 

CMD_wt         winter Hargreaves climatic moisture deficit (mm)

CMD_sp         spring Hargreaves climatic moisture deficit (mm)

CMD_sm        summer Hargreaves climatic moisture deficit (mm)

CMD_at          autumn Hargreaves climatic moisture deficit (mm)

 

RH_wt            winter relative humidity (%)

RH_sp             winter relative humidity (%)

RH_sm            winter relative humidity (%)

RH_at             winter relative humidity (%)

 

CMI_wt          winter Hogg’s climate moisture index (mm)

CMI_sp           spring Hogg’s climate moisture index (mm)

CMI_sm          summer Hogg’s climate moisture index (mm)

CMI_at           autumn Hogg’s climate moisture index (mm)

 

 

3) Monthly variables

Primary monthly variables:

Tave01 – Tave12        January - December mean temperatures (°C)

TMX01 – TMX12      January - December maximum mean temperatures (°C)

TMN01 – TMN12      January - December minimum mean temperatures (°C)

PPT01 – PPT12          January - December precipitation (mm)

RAD01 – RAD12       January - December solar radiation (MJ m2 d1)

 

Derived monthly variables:

DD_0_01 – DD_0_12   January - December degree-days below 0°C

DD5_01 – DD5_12     January - December degree-days above 5°C

DD_18_01 – DD_18_12         January - December degree-days below 18°C

DD18_01 – DD18_12             January - December degree-days above 18°C

NFFD01 – NFFD12                January - December number of frost-free days

PAS01 – PAS12                     January – December precipitation as snow (mm)

Eref01 – Eref12          January – December Hargreaves reference evaporation (mm)

CMD01 – CMD12      January – December Hargreaves climatic moisture deficit (mm)

RH01 – RH12             January – December relative humidity (%)

CMI01 – CMI12         January – December Hogg’s climate moisture index (mm)

 

How to refer

 

Wang T, Hamann A, Spittlehouse D, Carroll C, 2016. Locally Downscaled and Spatially Customizable Climate Data for Historical and Future Periods for North America. PLoS ONE 11(6): e0156720. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0156720

Mahony CR, Wang T; Hamann A and Cannon AJ, 2021. A CMIP6 ensemble for downscaled monthly climate normals over North America. EarthArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31223/X5CK6Z

 

 

Acknowledgements

Funding for this study was provided by the Forest Genetic Council of BC (FGC) and Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations.