Climate hydrology and ecology research support system meteorology dataset for Great Britain (1961-2015) [CHESS-met]
(CHESS-met)
THIS DATASET HAS BEEN SUPERSEDED The latest version is Climate hydrology and ecology research support system meteorology dataset for Great Britain (1961-2019) [CHESS-met]
If you need access to the archived version, please contact the EIDC
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THIS DATASET HAS BEEN SUPERSEDED The latest version is Climate hydrology and ecology research support system meteorology dataset for Great Britain (1961-2019) [CHESS-met]
If you need access to the archived version, please contact the EIDC
https://doi.org/10.5285/10874370-bc58-4d23-a118-ea07df8a07f2
1km resolution gridded meteorological variables over Great Britain for the years 1961-2015. This dataset contains time series of daily mean values of air temperature (K), specific humidity (kg kg-1), wind speed (m s-1), downward longwave radiation (W m-2), downward shortwave radiation (W m-2), precipitation (kg m-2 s-2) and air pressure (Pa), plus daily temperature range (K). These are the variables required to run the JULES land surface model [1] with daily disaggregation.
The precipitation data were obtained by scaling the Gridded estimates of daily and monthly areal rainfall (CEH-GEAR) daily rainfall estimates [2,3] to the units required for JULES input. Other variables were interpolated from coarser resolution datasets, taking into account topographic information.
[1] Best, M. J., Pryor, M., Clark, D. B., Rooney, G. G., Essery, R. L. H., Ménard, C. B., Edwards, J. M., Hendry, M. A., Porson, A., Gedney, N., Mercado, L. M., Sitch, S., Blyth, E., Boucher, O., Cox, P. M., Grimmond, C. S. B., and Harding, R. J.: The Joint UK Land Environment Simulator (JULES), model description - Part 1: Energy and water fluxes, Geoscientific Model Development, 4, 677-699. https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-4-677-2011, 2011.
[2] Tanguy, M.; Dixon, H.; Prosdocimi, I.; Morris, D. G.; Keller, V. D. J. (2016). Gridded estimates of daily and monthly areal rainfall for the United Kingdom (1890-2015) [CEH-GEAR]. NERC Environmental Information Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/33604ea0-c238-4488-813d-0ad9ab7c51ca
[3] Keller,V. D. J., Tanguy, M. , Prosdocimi, I. , Terry, J. A. , Hitt, O., Cole, S. J. , Fry, M., Morris, D. G., Dixon, H. (2015) CEH-GEAR: 1km resolution daily and monthly areal rainfall estimates for the UK for hydrological use. Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., 8, 83-112. https://doi.org/10.5194/essdd-8-83-2015.
The precipitation data were obtained by scaling the Gridded estimates of daily and monthly areal rainfall (CEH-GEAR) daily rainfall estimates [2,3] to the units required for JULES input. Other variables were interpolated from coarser resolution datasets, taking into account topographic information.
[1] Best, M. J., Pryor, M., Clark, D. B., Rooney, G. G., Essery, R. L. H., Ménard, C. B., Edwards, J. M., Hendry, M. A., Porson, A., Gedney, N., Mercado, L. M., Sitch, S., Blyth, E., Boucher, O., Cox, P. M., Grimmond, C. S. B., and Harding, R. J.: The Joint UK Land Environment Simulator (JULES), model description - Part 1: Energy and water fluxes, Geoscientific Model Development, 4, 677-699. https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-4-677-2011, 2011.
[2] Tanguy, M.; Dixon, H.; Prosdocimi, I.; Morris, D. G.; Keller, V. D. J. (2016). Gridded estimates of daily and monthly areal rainfall for the United Kingdom (1890-2015) [CEH-GEAR]. NERC Environmental Information Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/33604ea0-c238-4488-813d-0ad9ab7c51ca
[3] Keller,V. D. J., Tanguy, M. , Prosdocimi, I. , Terry, J. A. , Hitt, O., Cole, S. J. , Fry, M., Morris, D. G., Dixon, H. (2015) CEH-GEAR: 1km resolution daily and monthly areal rainfall estimates for the UK for hydrological use. Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., 8, 83-112. https://doi.org/10.5194/essdd-8-83-2015.
Publication date: 2016-12-12
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View numbers valid from 01 June 2023 (information prior to this was not collected)
Format
NetCDF
Spatial information
Study area
Spatial representation type
Raster
Spatial reference system
OSGB 1936 / British National Grid
Temporal information
Temporal extent
1961-01-01 to 2015-12-31
Provenance & quality
The precipitation was obtained by scaling the daily rainfall estimates from the CEH-Gridded Estimates of Areal Rainfall (CEH-GEAR) dataset [1,2] to units of kg m-2 s-1. The Met Office Rainfall Evaporation Calculation System (MORECS) [3,4] air temperature and vapour pressure, and hours of bright sunshine were interpolated to 1km resolution, then corrected for the local topography using the Integrated Hydrological Digital Terrain Model (IHDTM) [5] to find the CHESS-met air temperature (K), specific humidity (kg kg-1) and downward long- and shortwave radiation (W m-2). The wind speed (m s-1) was found by interpolating the MORECS wind speed, then correcting for topography using the UK Energy Technology Support Unit (ETSU) average wind speed dataset [6,7]. The daily temperature range (K) was reprojected from the CRU TS 3.21 (1961-2012) and CRU TS 3.24 (2013-2015) monthly data [8,9]. The air pressure (Pa) was found by calculating a climatology of the WATCH Forcing Data (WFD) air pressure [10], then correcting for topography using the IHDTM. The data were created using software developed in Fortran 95 and python.
This version of the CHESS-met dataset differs from the previous version (1961-2012) only by temporal coverage. That is, previous years' data have not been modified.
[1] Tanguy, M.; Dixon, H.; Prosdocimi, I.; Morris, D. G.; Keller, V. D. J. (2016). Gridded estimates of daily and monthly areal rainfall for the United Kingdom (1890-2015) [CEH-GEAR]. NERC Environmental Information Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/33604ea0-c238-4488-813d-0ad9ab7c51ca
[2] Keller,V. D. J., Tanguy, M. , Prosdocimi, I. , Terry, J. A. , Hitt, O., Cole, S. J. , Fry, M., Morris, D. G., Dixon, H. (2015) CEH-GEAR: 1km resolution daily and monthly areal rainfall estimates for the UK for hydrological use. Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., 8, 83-112. https://doi.org/10.5194/essdd-8-83-2015.
[3] Thompson, N., Barrie, I. A., and Ayles, M.: The Meteorological Office rainfall and evaporation calculation system: MORECS, Meteorological Office, Bracknell, 1981.
[4] Hough, M. N., and Jones, R. J. A.: The United Kingdom Meteorological Office rainfall and evaporation calculation system: MORECS version 2.0-an overview, Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 1, 227-239, 10.5194/hess-1-227-1997, 1997.
[5] Morris, D. G., and Flavin, R. W.: A digital terrain model for hydrology., Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium on Spatial Data Handling, 1, 250-262, 1990.
[6] Newton, K., and Burch, S. F.: Estimation of the UK wind energy resource using computer modelling techniques and map data, Energy Technology Support Unit, 50, 1985.
[7] Burch, S. F., and Ravenscroft, F.: Computer modelling of the UK wind energy resource: Final overview report., AEA Industrial Technology, 1992.
[8] CRU TS3.21: Climatic Research Unit (CRU) Time-Series (TS) Version 3.21 of High Resolution Gridded Data of Month-by-month Variation in Climate (Jan. 1901- Dec. 2012). 2013.
[9] Harris, I., Jones, P. D., Osborn, T. J., and Lister, D. H.: Updated high-resolution grids of monthly climatic observations - the CRU TS3.10 Dataset, International Journal of Climatology, 34, 623-642, https://doi.org/10.1002/Joc.3711, 2014.
[10] Weedon, G. P., Gomes, S., Viterbo, P., Shuttleworth, W. J., Blyth, E., Osterle, H., Adam, J. C., Bellouin, N., Boucher, O., and Best, M.: Creation of the WATCH Forcing Data and Its Use to Assess Global and Regional Reference Crop Evaporation over Land during the Twentieth Century, Journal of Hydrometeorology, 12, 823-848, https://doi.org/10.1175/2011jhm1369.1, 2011.
This version of the CHESS-met dataset differs from the previous version (1961-2012) only by temporal coverage. That is, previous years' data have not been modified.
[1] Tanguy, M.; Dixon, H.; Prosdocimi, I.; Morris, D. G.; Keller, V. D. J. (2016). Gridded estimates of daily and monthly areal rainfall for the United Kingdom (1890-2015) [CEH-GEAR]. NERC Environmental Information Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/33604ea0-c238-4488-813d-0ad9ab7c51ca
[2] Keller,V. D. J., Tanguy, M. , Prosdocimi, I. , Terry, J. A. , Hitt, O., Cole, S. J. , Fry, M., Morris, D. G., Dixon, H. (2015) CEH-GEAR: 1km resolution daily and monthly areal rainfall estimates for the UK for hydrological use. Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., 8, 83-112. https://doi.org/10.5194/essdd-8-83-2015.
[3] Thompson, N., Barrie, I. A., and Ayles, M.: The Meteorological Office rainfall and evaporation calculation system: MORECS, Meteorological Office, Bracknell, 1981.
[4] Hough, M. N., and Jones, R. J. A.: The United Kingdom Meteorological Office rainfall and evaporation calculation system: MORECS version 2.0-an overview, Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 1, 227-239, 10.5194/hess-1-227-1997, 1997.
[5] Morris, D. G., and Flavin, R. W.: A digital terrain model for hydrology., Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium on Spatial Data Handling, 1, 250-262, 1990.
[6] Newton, K., and Burch, S. F.: Estimation of the UK wind energy resource using computer modelling techniques and map data, Energy Technology Support Unit, 50, 1985.
[7] Burch, S. F., and Ravenscroft, F.: Computer modelling of the UK wind energy resource: Final overview report., AEA Industrial Technology, 1992.
[8] CRU TS3.21: Climatic Research Unit (CRU) Time-Series (TS) Version 3.21 of High Resolution Gridded Data of Month-by-month Variation in Climate (Jan. 1901- Dec. 2012). 2013.
[9] Harris, I., Jones, P. D., Osborn, T. J., and Lister, D. H.: Updated high-resolution grids of monthly climatic observations - the CRU TS3.10 Dataset, International Journal of Climatology, 34, 623-642, https://doi.org/10.1002/Joc.3711, 2014.
[10] Weedon, G. P., Gomes, S., Viterbo, P., Shuttleworth, W. J., Blyth, E., Osterle, H., Adam, J. C., Bellouin, N., Boucher, O., and Best, M.: Creation of the WATCH Forcing Data and Its Use to Assess Global and Regional Reference Crop Evaporation over Land during the Twentieth Century, Journal of Hydrometeorology, 12, 823-848, https://doi.org/10.1175/2011jhm1369.1, 2011.
Licensing and constraints
THIS DATASET HAS BEEN SUPERSEDED The latest version is Climate hydrology and ecology research support system meteorology dataset for Great Britain (1961-2019) [CHESS-met]
If you need access to the archived version, please contact the EIDC
Licence terms and conditions apply
Cite this dataset as:
Robinson, E.L.; Blyth, E.; Clark, D.B.; Comyn-Platt, E.; Finch, J.; Rudd, A.C. (2016). Climate hydrology and ecology research support system meteorology dataset for Great Britain (1961-2015) [CHESS-met]. NERC Environmental Information Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/10874370-bc58-4d23-a118-ea07df8a07f2
Citations
George, P.B.L., Lallias, D., Creer, S., Seaton, F.M., Kenny, J.G., Eccles, R.M., … Jones, D.L. (2019). Divergent national-scale trends of microbial and animal biodiversity revealed across diverse temperate soil ecosystems. Nature Communications, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-09031-1
Tanguy, M., Prudhomme, C., Smith, K., & Hannaford, J. (2018). Historical gridded reconstruction of potential evapotranspiration for the UK. Earth System Science Data, 10(2), 951-968. https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-10-951-2018
Coxon, G., Addor, N., Bloomfield, J.P., Freer, J., Fry, M., Hannaford, J., … Woods, R. (2020). CAMELS-GB: hydrometeorological time series and landscape attributes for 671 catchments in Great Britain. Earth System Science Data, 12(4), 2459-2483. https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-2459-2020
Buckland, P.I., Bateman, M.D., Bennike, O., Buckland, P.C., Chase, B.M., Frederick, C., … Panagiotakopulu, E. (2019). Mid-Devensian climate and landscape in England: new data from Finningley, South Yorkshire. Royal Society Open Science, 6(7), 190577. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.190577
Hannaford, J., Mackay, J.D., Ascott, M., Bell, V.A., Chitson, T., Cole, S., Counsell, C., Durant, M., Jackson, C.R., Kay, A.L., Lane, R.A., Mansour, M., Moore, R., Parry, S., Rudd, A.C., Simpson, M., Facer-Childs, K., Turner, S., Wallbank, J. R., … Wilcox, A. (2023). The enhanced future Flows and Groundwater dataset: development and evaluation of nationally consistent hydrological projections based on UKCP18. In Earth System Science Data (Vol. 15, Issue 6, pp. 2391–2415). Copernicus GmbH. https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-2391-2023
Supplemental information
The CHESS Explorer application provides the ability for users to preview the data, visualise maps of the different meteorological variables, and understand how they vary across the country and through time. Notice that this application displays data up to 2012 for now.
Correspondence/contact details
Authors
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3746-4517
Finch, J.
Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Other contacts
Custodian
NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre
info@eidc.ac.uk
Publisher
NERC Environmental Information Data Centre
info@eidc.ac.uk
Additional metadata
Keywords
Last updated
21 March 2025 13:36