Cite this dataset as
Villalobos Herrera, R., Blenkinsop, S., Guerreiro, S.B., Dale, M., Faulkner, D., Fowler, H.J. (2023). Dimensionless hyetographs and statistics of annual-maximum rainfall events in Great Britain, from historical rain gauge records. NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre. (Dataset). https://doi.org/10.5285/3d20ce5a-9115-4ad3-a55c-d51d66863757
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This dataset is available under the terms of the Open Government Licence 
Dimensionless hyetographs and statistics of annual-maximum rainfall events in Great Britain, from historical rain gauge records
This dataset contains over 72,000 event hyetographs associated with rainstorms that contain Annual Maximum rainfall (AMAX) values for durations between 5-min and 24-hr for a set of ~1,300 rain gauges in Great Britain. The record length and completeness varies on a gauge-by-gauge basis, the median record length is 19 years and the processed record ends in 06/2018.
Note that a rainstorm may have a different duration to the associated AMAX value, e.g., a 24-hr AMAX total may be caused by an 18.25-hr event. Further note that multiple AMAX totals may be embedded within a single rainstorm, e.g., Storm Desmond can be associated with the 2-, 3-, 6-, 12- and 24-hr AMAX totals for 2009 recorded at Honister Pass. Each hyetograph is accompanied by summary statistics corresponding to the underlying rainstorm and associated AMAX totals.
This dataset enables the study of the temporal characteristics of rainfall as well as more general studies regarding the climatology of AMAX-causing events in GB.
Note that a rainstorm may have a different duration to the associated AMAX value, e.g., a 24-hr AMAX total may be caused by an 18.25-hr event. Further note that multiple AMAX totals may be embedded within a single rainstorm, e.g., Storm Desmond can be associated with the 2-, 3-, 6-, 12- and 24-hr AMAX totals for 2009 recorded at Honister Pass. Each hyetograph is accompanied by summary statistics corresponding to the underlying rainstorm and associated AMAX totals.
This dataset enables the study of the temporal characteristics of rainfall as well as more general studies regarding the climatology of AMAX-causing events in GB.
Publication date: 2023-12-20
View record as
Format
Comma-separated values (CSV)
Spatial information
- Study area
-
- Spatial representation type
- Tabular (text)
- Spatial reference system
- WGS 84
Temporal information
- Temporal extent
-
… to 2018-06-30
Provenance & quality
Rainfall event hyetographs are derived from quality-controlled rain gauge observations with sub-hourly resolution collected by the England Environment Agency (EA), Natural Resources Wales (NRW) and the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA). Each hyetograph corresponds to an Annual Maximum rainfall (AMAX) event registered at each rain gauge for durations ranging from 5-min up to 24-hr. Multiple AMAX values with different durations may map onto a single hyetograph.
The sub-hourly data was quality controlled prior to AMAX and hyetograph using methods derived for the QC of CEH-GEAR1hr and the Global Sub Daily Rainfall dataset (GSDR), as well as additional checks that leverage the sub-hourly nature of the dataset. AMAX rainfall totals for 5-, 10-, 15-, 30-min and 1-, 2-, 3-, 6-, 12-, 24-hr durations were calculated using rolling window sums. The event hyetograph for each AMAX total was then extracted from the original sub-hourly time series and converted to uniform duration series. The final dataset consists of the event time series, provided as cumulative rainfall hyetographs for each event, as well as event metadata including summary statistics and a list of associated AMAX totals.
The sub-hourly data was quality controlled prior to AMAX and hyetograph using methods derived for the QC of CEH-GEAR1hr and the Global Sub Daily Rainfall dataset (GSDR), as well as additional checks that leverage the sub-hourly nature of the dataset. AMAX rainfall totals for 5-, 10-, 15-, 30-min and 1-, 2-, 3-, 6-, 12-, 24-hr durations were calculated using rolling window sums. The event hyetograph for each AMAX total was then extracted from the original sub-hourly time series and converted to uniform duration series. The final dataset consists of the event time series, provided as cumulative rainfall hyetographs for each event, as well as event metadata including summary statistics and a list of associated AMAX totals.
Related
Datasets associated with this service
Gridded estimates of hourly areal rainfall for Great Britain 1990-2016 [CEH-GEAR1hr] v2
Supplemental information
Villalobos Herrera, R., Blenkinsop, S., Guerreiro, S. B., & Fowler, H. J. (2023). The creation and climatology of a large independent rainfall event database for Great Britain. Journal of Climate, 14 August 2023.
Correspondence/contact details
Authors
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0853-2285
Fowler, H.J.
Newcastle University
Other contacts
- Rights holder
-
Universidad de Costa Rica
- Custodian
-
NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centreinfo@eidc.ac.uk
- Publisher
-
NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centreinfo@eidc.ac.uk
Additional metadata
- Topic categories
- climatologyMeteorologyAtmosphere
inlandWaters - INSPIRE theme
- Hydrography
- Keywords
- atmospheric precipitation , Climate and climate change , extreme events , Hydrology , hyetograph , meteorology , rain , storm , storm profiles , sub-daily rainfall
- Funding
- Natural Environment Research Council Award: NE/R01079X/1
Natural Environment Research Council Award: NE/S017348/1
Natural Environment Research Council Award: NE/V004166/1
Universidad de Costa Rica and Newcastle University Award: ERC-2013-CoG-617329 - Last updated
- 27 February 2024 16:14