Extended Abstract (108K)5.1
The GEM (Generation of weather Elements for Multiple applications) weather simulation model
Clayton L. Hanson, USDA/ARS, Boise, ID; and G. L. Johnson and W. L. Frymire
Agricultural and natural resource management decisions require a variety of climatic information that can be used for specific applications such as hydrologic modeling. Often climate data requirements are greater than the available information because climate records are either unavailable, very short or there are significant numbers of missing records. Therefore, it is desirable to have the capacity to generate weather data that have the appropriate statistical characteristics for a location. This paper will describe the latest version of the stochastic weather simulation model GEM (Generation of weather Elements for Multiple applications) that was developed by the USDA-ARS and USDA-NRCS to deliver accurate time series of daily weather data. GEM can be used to generate daily precipitation amount, maximum and minimum air temperature, average dew-point temperature, solar radiation, and average wind speed. At the present time, GEM provides easy access to simulated weather data for more than 220 locations in the United States, including 16 in Alaska and three in Hawaii. A recent study has shown that data generated by GEM closely mimics nearly all aspects of the true climate of a location, although several improvements to GEM have been identified and are being developed at this time.
Session 5, Stochastic Weather Simulation Models (a.k.a. weather generators)and Their Applications (Parallel with Session 4)
Tuesday, 14 May 2002, 8:00 AM-9:45 AM
Next paper