Downscaled Climate Model Data for the Fifth U.S. National Climate Assessment

The Fifth U.S. National Climate Assessment (NCA5) utilized several different climate model sources to produce projection information for report authors. Two Empirical-Statistical Downscaling Model (ESDM) datasets, covering the coterminous U.S., were used: the Localized Constructed Analogues version 2 (LOCA2) and the Seasonal Trends and Analysis of Residuals (STAR). Both of these included gridded values of daily maximum and minimum temperature and precipitation for 1951-2100. Two scenarios were chosen (SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5). This talk will describe the products that were derived from these datasets and the choices that were made regarding certain issues that arose during development. Some of the issues were coverage of Alaska, Hawai’i, and Puerto Rico/US Virgin Islands and the choice of downscaled global models.