Comparison of ERA-Interim Reanalysis Data with Observed Surface Meteorological Data Over Greece

The availability of ground-based observations continues to be a serious constraint. Although reanalysis datasets constitute an alternative source, its evaluation is crucial before the gridded data are applied in climate research. For this reason, surface air temperature and precipitation measured at 19 wine production regions in Greece, during 1980-2012, are compared with respective data interpolated from the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts ERA-Interim. We conclude that ERA-Interim data constitutes better replacement of monthly minimum and, on lower degree, of maximum air temperatures. The agreement of reanalysis data with monthly precipitation totals, on the other hand, and particularly for summer, was much weaker.