On the Use of the ÖKS15 Climate Change Simulations and the Corresponding Gridded Observational Datasets
The aim of this document is to provide guidance on the optimal use of the climate scenarios produced in the project "ÖKS15 – Climate Scenarios for Austria". These baseline data are freely accessible via the CCCA Data Centre for climate research and climate impact research. On one hand, the document aims to illustrate the robustness of this dataset, so that work built upon it can be made more reliable. On the other hand, the STARC-Impact project team (Barbara Chimani, Christoph Matulla, Josef Eitzinger, Johann Hiebl, Michael Hofstätter, Gerhard Kubu, Douglas Maraun, Thomas Mendlik, Theresa Schellander-Gorgas and Sabina Thaler) also wants to use this document to provide general information on climate modelling that explains the limits of applicability of the datasets examined, makes these understandable to data users, and offers guidance on recurring questions regarding the use of model and observational data.
The first part of the document contains general information on climate models, downscaling methods and analyses. The second part contains the results of the evaluation of the ÖKS15 model data, as well as the gridded observational data used in this process. Information on the methods used to generate the data can be found in the ÖKS15 final report (Chimani et al., 2016). The third part brings together and answers questions collected from practical experience.
The catalogue of questions arose from an online survey conducted as part of the project, as well as the first project workshop. It was also decided to set up a wiki page at CCCA, where difficulties relating to one or another model run used in ÖKS15 that become known over time will be documented in future.