Precipitation Variability and Extremes in Central Europe: New View from STAMMEX Results

Abstract

EX (Spatial and Temporal Scales and Mechanisms of Extreme Precipitation Events over Central Europe) project has developed a high-resolution gridded long-term precipitation dataset based on the daily-observing precipitation network of the German Weather Service DWD, which runs one of the world's densest rain gauge networks, comprising more than 7,500 stations. Several quality-controlled daily gridded products with homogenized sampling were developed covering the periods 1931?onward (with 0.5° resolution), 1951?onward (0.5° and 0.25°), and 1971?2000 (0.5°, 0.25°, and 0.1°). Different methods were tested to select the best gridding methodology that minimizes errors of integral grid estimates over hilly terrain. Besides daily precipitation values with uncertainty estimates, the STAMMEX datasets include a variety of statistics that characterize temporal and spatial dynamics of the precipitation distribution (quantiles, extremes, wet/ dry spells, etc.). Comparisons with existing continental-scale daily precipitation grids (e.g., CRU, ECA E-OBS, GCOS)?which include considerably less observations compared to those used in STAMMEX?demonstrate the added value of high-resolution grids for extreme rainfall analyses. These data exhibit spatial variability patterns and trends in precipitation extremes, which are missed or incorrectly reproduced over Central Europe from coarser resolution grids based on sparser networks. The STAMMEX dataset can be used for high-quality climate diagnostics of precipitation variability, as a reference for reanalyses and remotely sensed precipitation products (including the upcoming Global Precipitation Mission products), and for input into regional climate and operational weather forecast models.