An Intercomparison between ERA-Interim Reanalysis and Observed Precipitation in Northeast China

Abstract EN

Recently, the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) released a new set of reanalysis data—ERA-Interim.

We make an intercomparison between ERA-Interim precipitation and observed precipitation in Northeast China.

The results show that, in general, the ERA-Interim reanalysis precipitation data can describe the spatial and temporal characteristics of seasonal precipitation in Northeast China well.

In terms of spatial distribution, ERA-Interim precipitation is generally consistent with the observation data in different seasons in Northeast China.

There is a larger difference in the center of Northeast China than in other areas between the two kinds of data.

The ERA-Interim precipitation is larger than observed precipitation in most of Northeast China.

In spring, autumn, and winter, the ERA-Interim precipitation value is close to the observation one, while in summer there is a large difference in Liaoning Peninsula and Changbai Mountain between the two kinds of precipitation data.

In terms of temporal characteristics, the time series of the ERA-Interim precipitation matches well with the observed precipitation in whole.

In different seasons, the annual variation of the ERA-Interim precipitation is well correlated with that of the observed precipitation.