SC-PREC4SA: A serially complete daily precipitation dataset for South America

Area of Science:

• Climatology
• Hydrology
• Data Science

Background:

• Precipitation data in South America often suffers from observational gaps and inconsistencies.
• Existing datasets lack the temporal consistency needed for robust climate and hydrological studies.
• Sparse station networks in diverse climates exacerbate data quality issues.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce the serially complete precipitation dataset for South America (SC-PREC4SA), covering 1960-2015.
• To enhance the reliability and consistency of daily precipitation data across South America.
• To provide a valuable resource for climate research, hydrological modeling, and water resource management.

Main Methods:

• Implementation of robust quality control procedures on raw precipitation data.
• Application of a gap-filling algorithm achieving 70% accuracy for wet days and 60% for wet-day magnitude.
• Utilization of a homogenization algorithm focused on wet days to reduce inhomogeneities while preserving variability.

Main Results:

• The SC-PREC4SA dataset demonstrates enhanced data reliability through rigorous quality control.
• Gap-filling and homogenization procedures significantly improved data consistency and reduced errors.
• The dataset captures daily precipitation patterns with high to moderate accuracy and consistency from 7794 stations.

Conclusions:

• SC-PREC4SA offers a robust and consistent daily precipitation dataset for South America.
• The dataset effectively addresses longstanding challenges in precipitation data availability and quality.
• It serves as a crucial resource for advancing climate research and water resource management in the region.