Climatic Research Unit : Research and Projects : MEDALUS

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MEDALUS Climate Data

The MEDALUS project in the Climatic Research Unit is concerned with the analysis of present-day climate trends and the development of scenarios of future climate over the Mediterranean region. The two types of data needed to carry out this work are:

Observations

Monthly and daily data sets of meteorological observations for the Mediterranean have been compiled as part of the MEDALUS project, and are available for use by participating groups for MEDALUS-related research.

Gridded climatologies (i.e. compiled from observations but expressed with respect to a regular grid) are also available from the Climatic Research Unit.

Scenarios of future climate change

As part of the MEDALUS project, scenarios of future climate are being generated for the Target Areas of the Guadalentin, the Agri Basin and Lesvos. The data are being produced with the specific needs of hydrological modellers in mind. These scenarios are in the form of compatible daily time series of rainfall, maximum and minimum temperature for sites within the Target Areas, based on downscaled output from the Hadley Centre HADCM2 model simulation (greenhouse gases + sulphates). Ten-year daily time series for the decades 1970-79, 2030-39 and 2090-99 are being produced. Currently, scenarios for Alcantarilla in the Guadalentin are available, for the decades 1970-79 and 2090-99.

For further information please contact Jean Palutikof

Model data

Model data on current and future climate conditions are taken from General Circulation Models, which are three-dimensional representations of the earth- atmosphere system. There are a number of modelling groups world-wide, but much of the information used by the MEDALUS group is taken from UK Hadley Centre model experiments. Through a project funded by the UK Department of the Environment, some model data sets are available through the LINK project in the Climatic Research Unit.


Last updated: March 1998