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A new statistical precipitation downscaling method with Bayesian model averaging: a case study in China

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Abstract

A new statistical downscaling method was developed and applied to downscale monthly total precipitation from 583 stations in China. Generally, there are two steps involved in statistical downscaling: first, the predictors are selected (large-scale variables) and transformed; and second, a model between the predictors and the predictand (in this case, precipitation) is established. In the first step, a selection process of the predictor domain, called the optimum correlation method (OCM), was developed to transform the predictors. The transformed series obtained by the OCM showed much better correlation with the predictand than those obtained by the traditional transform method for the same predictor. Moreover, the method combining OCM and linear regression obtained better downscaling results than the traditional linear regression method, suggesting that the OCM could be used to improve the results of statistical downscaling. In the second step, Bayesian model averaging (BMA) was adopted as an alternative to linear regression. The method combining the OCM and BMA showed much better performance than the method combining the OCM and linear regression. Thus, BMA could be used as an alternative to linear regression in the second step of statistical downscaling. In conclusion, the downscaling method combining OCM and BMA produces more accurate results than the multiple linear regression method when used to statistically downscale large-scale variables.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by the National Key Scientific Project of China (2012CB95570000, 2010CB950903) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (41330527, 41271066 and 31100327).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Forestry, Shenyang Agriculture University, Shenyang, 110866, China

    Xianliang Zhang

  2. State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100087, China

    Xiaodong Yan

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  1. Xianliang Zhang
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Correspondence to Xiaodong Yan.

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Zhang, X., Yan, X. A new statistical precipitation downscaling method with Bayesian model averaging: a case study in China. Clim Dyn 45, 2541–2555 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-015-2491-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-015-2491-7

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