All of the figures in this section present absolute (rather than relative) precipitation measurements for the period 1900 to 1998; this period was chosen as it had available observed precipitation data. The choice of models was based on those listed on table 6 of the IPCC "General Guidelines on the Use of Scenario Data for Climate Impact and Adaptation Assessment", Version 2, June 2007.
The models we used and the reasons for our choice are given in the following table. In general we went for the latest version of a model from the same centre but also took account of the number of scenarios and the length of the simulation period.
|
Modelling Centre |
Country |
Model(s) in table 6 |
Models used |
Notes |
|
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) |
Australia |
CSIRO-Mk2 |
CSIRO Mk3.0 |
|
|
Max Planck Institut fur Meteorologie. (MPI) |
Germany |
ECHAM4/OPYC ECHAM3/LSG |
ECHAM5/ MPI-OM |
|
|
Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research. (UKMO) |
UK |
HadCM2 and HadCM3 |
UKMO HadCM3 |
In one set of files a missing value was replaced by previous year. |
|
Canadian Centre for Climate Modelling and Analysis (CCCMA) |
Canada |
CGCM1 And CGCM2 |
CGCM3.1 (T47) |
Has 5 scenarios |
|
Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) |
USA |
GFDL-R15 and GFDL-R30 |
GFDL CM2.1 |
|
|
National Centre for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) |
USA |
NCAR DOE-PCM |
PCM |
|
|
National Institute for Environmental Studies (MIROC) |
Japan |
CCSR-NIES |
MIROC3.2 (medres) |
Covers longer period than ‘hires’ model. |