The KLIWAS North Sea climatology. Part I: Processing of the atmospheric data

Climatological reference data serve as validation of regional climate models, as the boundary condition for the model runs, and as input for assimilation systems used by reanalyses. Within the framework of the interdisciplinary research program Climate Water Navigation (KLIWAS): Impacts of Climate Change on Waterways and Navigation of the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, a new climatology of the North Sea and adjacent regions was developed in an joint effort by the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency, the German Weather Service [Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD)], and the Integrated Climate Data Center (ICDC) of the University of Hamburg. Long-term records of monthly and annual mean 2-m air temperature, dewpoint temperature, and sea level pressure data from 1950 to 2010 were calculated on a horizontal 1° × 1° grid. All products were based on quality-controlled data from DWD’s Marine Data Centre. Correction methods were implemented for each parameter to reduce the sampling error resulting from the sparse coverage of observations in certain regions. Comparisons between sampling error estimates based on ERA-40 and the climatology products show that the sampling error was reduced effectively. The climatologies are available for download on the ICDC’s website and will be updated regularly regarding new observations and additional parameters. An extension to the Baltic Sea is in progress