Advancing early warning capabilities with CHIRPS-compatible NCEP GEFS precipitation forecasts

Abstract

CHIRPS-GEFS is an operational data set that provides daily bias-corrected forecasts for next 1-day to ~15-day precipitation totals and anomalies at a quasi-global 50-deg N to 50-deg S extent and 0.05-degree resolution. These are based on National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Global Ensemble Forecast System version 12 (GEFS v12) precipitation forecasts. CHIRPS-GEFS forecasts are compatible with Climate Hazards center InfraRed Precipitation with Stations (CHIRPS) data, which is actively used for drought monitoring, early warning, and near real-time impact assessments. A rank-based quantile matching procedure is used to transform GEFS v12 “reforecast” and “real-time” forecast ensemble means to CHIRPS spatial-temporal characteristics. Matching distributions to CHIRPS makes forecasts better reflect local climatology at finer spatial resolution and reduces moderate-to-large forecast errors. As shown in this study, having a CHIRPS-compatible version of the latest generation of NCEP GEFS forecasts enables rapid assessment of current forecasts and local historical context. CHIRPS-GEFS effectively bridges the gap between observations and weather predictions, increasing the value of both by connecting monitoring resources (CHIRPS) with interoperable forecasts.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Jun 30, 2022
Source ID
10.1038/s41597-022-01468-2

Entities

People

  • Chris Funk
  • Frank Davenport
  • Greg Husak
  • L. Harrison
  • Martin Landsfeld
  • Pete Peterson
  • Shraddhanand Shukla
  • W. D. Turner

Organizations

  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration
  • United States Agency for International Development
  • United States Department of Defense

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Aviation Safety and Air Traffic Management
  • Military History
  • Polar and Arctic Studies