High-resolution climate projection dataset over India using dynamical downscaling

High-resolution climate projections are valuable resources for understanding the regional impacts of climate change and developing appropriate adaptation/mitigation strategies. In this study, we developed a 10-km gridded hydrometeorological dataset over India by dynamic downscaling of the bias-corrected Community Earth System Model (CESMv1) climate projections under RCP8.5 scenario using the state-of-the-art Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. The downscaled CESM dataset (DSCESM) is archived in the World Data Center for Climate (WDCC) portal at three temporal resolutions (daily, monthly and monthly climatology) for current (2006-2015), mid-century (2041-2050) and end-century (2091-2100) periods. The dataset includes 2-m air temperature, total accumulated precipitation, wind speed, relative humidity, sensible and latent heat fluxes, along with surface shortwave and outgoing longwave radiation. All the DSCESM variables were evaluated against reanalysis data and station observations for the period 2006-2015. This dataset can help us quantitatively understand regional climate change in India. It can also be used in conjunction with agricultural, hydrological, fire and other application models for climate change impact assessment on various sectors to help develop effective adaptation/mitigation strategies. Climate projections from the bias-corrected CESMv1 have been dynamically downscaled to produce a high-resolution (10 x 10 km) climate dataset, DSCESM, over India for three 10-year periods, namely, current (2006-2015), mid-century (2041-2050) and end-century (2091-2100). The performance of these projections has been found to improve considerably after downscaling. This dataset, thus, would be of great value to researchers working on assessing the impact of climate change and developing adaptation and mitigation strategies for India (Figure: Increase of seasonal temperature over India as projected by DSCESM dataset for end-century).image