Final Report: Development, delivery, and application of data on climate extremes for the southwestern United States
Dates
Date Reported
2018-08-31
Citation
Final Report: Development, delivery, and application of data on climate extremes for the southwestern United States: .
Summary
We aimed to improve the scientific capacity to estimate climate extremes, evaluate their effects on natural resources, and enhance a platform for derivation of and access to customized climate information for the full extent of the Southwest. Extreme climate can have substantial effects on species, ecological and evolutionary processes, and the health of visitors to public lands. Researchers generally can specify the climate-extreme metrics, and the extents and resolutions of those metrics, most relevant to their scientific objectives and the practical applications of their work. However, such application-specific data rarely are available. We screened global climate models (GCMs) on the basis of their realism in representing natural [...]
Summary
We aimed to improve the scientific capacity to estimate climate extremes, evaluate their effects on natural resources, and enhance a platform for derivation of and access to customized climate information for the full extent of the Southwest. Extreme climate can have substantial effects on species, ecological and evolutionary processes, and the health of visitors to public lands. Researchers generally can specify the climate-extreme metrics, and the extents and resolutions of those metrics, most relevant to their scientific objectives and the practical applications of their work. However, such application-specific data rarely are available.
We screened global climate models (GCMs) on the basis of their realism in representing natural regional patterns and extremes of temperature and precipitation, including those driven by El Niño and La Niña. We provided qualitative assessments of the extent to which each GCM represented different climate elements. We delivered gridded observations and downscaled model projections, at daily and 6 km resolution, on past and future extreme temperature and precipitation. Additionally, we used downscaled data on temperature and precipitation to drive a hydrologic model and derive probabilistic estimates of water availability, flood, and drought. Simultaneously, we worked with research and management groups in the Southwest that either are making decisions about management of natural resources given climate extremes, or working directly with federal decision-makers to project biological responses to climate extremes.
