Supporting Decadal and Regional Climate Prediction through NCAR's EaSM Data Portal

Following expert guidance from National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) scientists, a selection of Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP-5) global model output has been identified and published through the NCAR Research Data Archive (RDA) to support National Science Foundation (NSF) Earth System Models (EaSM) projects and similar research. Major lines of supported research include decadal and regional climate change studies that require high temporal resolution data for initialization of regional climate prediction models, and downscaling activities. Presently, the scalable data system offers access to the 3-D global atmospheric, six-hourly, Community Earth Systems Model (CESM) output parameters (specific humidity, temperature, wind components, and geopotential height on 26 hybrid model levels) from the 20th century run (1950-2005) and four concomitant Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) future scenarios spanning 2005-2100. Additionally, select parameters on pressure and surface levels (temperature, pressure, wind components, and precipitation rate) are provided to support analysis studies and serve as surface boundary conditions. Multiple options are available for users to access the EaSM data archive. The RDA-EaSM data sub-setting portal supports user selection of temporal range, spatial area, and parameters from the global model data that can be used to define boundary conditions suitable for regional modeling studies. Archive files can also be accessed in yearly timeseries-parameter, or monthly synoptic time structure through the RDA filelist interface.