largest changes in sea surface temperature (SST; not shown) occur during El Nin ˜o/
La Nin ˜a events. Most obvious in this figure are the large periods and areal coverage
of above/below normal rainfall associated with the SST changes with the El Nin ˜o/
La Nin ˜a phenomenon.
Although the monthly 2.5
products are most commonly used, higher-resolution
products also exist as part of the GPCP suite. A pentad (5-day mean) version of
GPCP combines similar satellite inputs as the monthly product with a different
gauge dataset (Xie et al. 2003). This experimental dataset is also produced on a 2.5
resolution grid and starts in 1979. A 1-degree, daily version of the GPCP dataset is
also available which starts in 1996 and combines IR from geosynchronous and low
orbits with the GPCP version 2 monthly product and AIRS and TOVS estimates
(Huffman et al. 2001). GPCP also plans on adding a 3-hourly global product to its
version 3 set of products, expected sometime in 2011.
60N
30N
EQ
30s
60s
60N
30N
EQ
30s
60s
0
60E
120E
JJA GPCP (1979−2008, mm/mon)
DJF GPCP (1979−2008, mm/mon)
180
120W
60W
0
0
60E
60W
0
30
120E
180
120W
60W
0
60
90
120 150 180 210 240 270
Fig. 6.3 GPCP December, January, and February (top) and June, July, and August (bottom) 30year rainfall climatology (mm per month)
88
R. Ferraro and T. Smith