Preprints
https://doi.org/10.5194/cpd-11-2585-2015
https://doi.org/10.5194/cpd-11-2585-2015
30 Jun 2015
 | 30 Jun 2015
Status: this preprint was under review for the journal CP but the revision was not accepted.

Gridded climate data from 5 GCMs of the Last Glacial Maximum downscaled to 30 arc s for Europe

D. R. Schmatz, J. Luterbacher, N. E. Zimmermann, and P. B. Pearman

Abstract. Studies of the impacts of historical, current and future global change require very high-resolution climate data (≤ 1 km) as a basis for modelled responses, meaning that data from digital climate models generally require substantial rescaling. Another shortcoming of available datasets on past climate is that the effects of sea level rise and fall are not considered. Without such information, the study of glacial refugia or early Holocene plant and animal migration are incomplete if not impossible. Sea level at the last glacial maximum (LGM) was approximately 125 m lower, creating substantial additional terrestrial area for which no current baseline data exist. Here, we introduce the development of a novel, gridded climate dataset for LGM that is both very high resolution (1 km) and extends to the LGM sea and land mask. We developed two methods to extend current terrestrial precipitation and temperature data to areas between the current and LGM coastlines. The absolute interpolation error is less than 1 and 0.5 °C for 98.9 and 87.8 %, respectively, of all pixels within two arc degrees of the current coastline. We use the change factor method with these newly assembled baseline data to downscale five global circulation models of LGM climate to a resolution of 1 km for Europe. As additional variables we calculate 19 "bioclimatic" variables, which are often used in climate change impact studies on biological diversity. The new LGM climate maps are well suited for analysing refugia and migration during Holocene warming following the LGM.

Publisher's note: Copernicus Publications remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims made in the text, published maps, institutional affiliations, or any other geographical representation in this preprint. The responsibility to include appropriate place names lies with the authors.
D. R. Schmatz, J. Luterbacher, N. E. Zimmermann, and P. B. Pearman
 
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Status: closed
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Status: closed
Status: closed
AC: Author comment | RC: Referee comment | SC: Short comment | EC: Editor comment
Printer-friendly Version - Printer-friendly version Supplement - Supplement
D. R. Schmatz, J. Luterbacher, N. E. Zimmermann, and P. B. Pearman
D. R. Schmatz, J. Luterbacher, N. E. Zimmermann, and P. B. Pearman

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Short summary
Global climate model output for the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) is downscaled to a very high resolution using the change factor method. We develop two new methods to extend current baseline climate to the LGM coastline so that the final data cover all terrestrial area at LGM. Results are gridded data for temperature, precipitation and 19 bioclimatic variables which are often used in studies on climate change impact on biological diversity, glacial refugia or migration during Holocene warming.