Search NASA⌕ Search
Home/Archive/DOE OSTI

DOE OSTI · 2585263

Global Precipitation Experiment—A New World Climate Research Programme Lighthouse Activity

Zeng, Xubin [Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States)] (ORCID:0000000173522764)·Alves, Lincoln [National Institute for Space Research (INPE), Sao Paulo (Brazil)]·Boucher, Marie-Amélie [Univ. of Sherbrooke, QC (Canada)]·Cherchi, Annalisa [Italian National Research Council, Bologna (Italy). Inst. of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (ISAC)]·DeMott, Charlotte [Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States)]·Dimri, A. P. [Indian Institute of Geomagnetism (IIG), Mumbai (India)]·Gettelman, Andrew [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)]·Hanna, Edward [Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE (United States)]·Horinouchi, Takeshi [Hokkaido Univ., Sapporo (Japan)]·Huang, Jin [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Silver Spring, MD (United States)]·Lennard, Chris [Univ. of Cape Town (South Africa)]·Leung, Lai-Yung Ruby [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)]·Luo, Yali [Nanjing Univ. of Information Science and Technology (China)]·Thamban, Meloth [National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), Vasco da Gama (India)]·Palanisamy, Hindumathi [World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Geneva (Switzerland)]·Pryor, Sara C. [Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY (United States)]·Saint-Lu, Marion [Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (LMD), Paris (France)]·Sobolowski, Stefan P. [Univ. of Bergen (Norway); Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research (BCCR) (Noway)]·Stammer, Detlef [Univ. of Hamburg (Germany)]·Steiner, Jakob [Himalayan University Consortium, Lalitpur (Nepal); Univ. of Graz (Austria)]·Stevens, Bjorn [Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Hamburg (Germany)]·Uhlenbrook, Stefan [World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Geneva (Switzerland)]·Wehner, Michael [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)]·Zuidema, Paquita [Univ. of Miami, FL (United States)]
View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

The future state of the global water cycle and the prediction of freshwater availability for humans around the world remain among the challenges of climate research and are relevant to several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The Global Precipitation Experiment (GPEX) takes on the challenge of improving the prediction of precipitation quantity, phase, timing, and intensity, characteristics that are products of a complex integrated system. It will achieve this by leveraging existing World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) activities and community capabilities in satellite, surface-based, and airborne observations, modeling, and experimental research and by conducting new and focused activities. It was launched in October 2023 as a WCRP Lighthouse Activity. Here, we present an overview of the GPEX Science Plan that articulates the primary science questions related to precipitation measurements, process understanding, model performance and improvements, and plans for capacity development. The central phase of GPEX is the WCRP Years of Precipitation for 2–3 years with coordinated global field campaigns focusing on different storm types (atmospheric rivers, mesoscale convective systems, monsoons, and tropical cyclones, among others) over different regions and seasons. Activities are planned over the three phases (before, during, and after the Years of Precipitation) spanning a decade. These include gridded data evaluation and development, advanced modeling, enhanced understanding of processes critical to precipitation, multiscale prediction of precipitation events across scales, and capacity development. These activities will be further developed as part of the GPEX Implementation Plan.

Explore related subjects

Climate changeDatabasesHydrologic cycleNumerical analysis/modelingNumerical weather prediction/forecastingPrecipitation

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Zeng, Xubin [Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States)] (ORCID:0000000173522764), Alves, Lincoln [National Institute for Space Research (INPE), Sao Paulo (Brazil)], Boucher, Marie-Amélie [Univ. of Sherbrooke, QC (Canada)], Cherchi, Annalisa [Italian National Research Council, Bologna (Italy). Inst. of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (ISAC)], DeMott, Charlotte [Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States)], Dimri, A. P. [Indian Institute of Geomagnetism (IIG), Mumbai (India)], Gettelman, Andrew [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)], Hanna, Edward [Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE (United States)], Horinouchi, Takeshi [Hokkaido Univ., Sapporo (Japan)], Huang, Jin [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Silver Spring, MD (United States)], Lennard, Chris [Univ. of Cape Town (South Africa)], Leung, Lai-Yung Ruby [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)], Luo, Yali [Nanjing Univ. of Information Science and Technology (China)], Thamban, Meloth [National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), Vasco da Gama (India)], Palanisamy, Hindumathi [World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Geneva (Switzerland)], Pryor, Sara C. [Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY (United States)], Saint-Lu, Marion [Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (LMD), Paris (France)], Sobolowski, Stefan P. [Univ. of Bergen (Norway); Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research (BCCR) (Noway)], Stammer, Detlef [Univ. of Hamburg (Germany)], Steiner, Jakob [Himalayan University Consortium, Lalitpur (Nepal); Univ. of Graz (Austria)], Stevens, Bjorn [Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Hamburg (Germany)], Uhlenbrook, Stefan [World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Geneva (Switzerland)], Wehner, Michael [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)], Zuidema, Paquita [Univ. of Miami, FL (United States)]. 2025-02-01. Global Precipitation Experiment—A New World Climate Research Programme Lighthouse Activity. https://doi.org/10.1175/bams-d-23-0242.1

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related reports

DOE OSTI2026

Effects of 9.5 years warming on SOC concentration and composition in bulk soil and density fractions

Original data of whole-soil warming experiment after 9.5 years at Blodgett Forest Research Station. The Blodgett Forest is a mixed coniferous temperate forest with Mediterranean climate. The annual air temperature is 12.5℃ and the annual precipitation is 1774 mm yr-1- The soil is mesic ultic Alfisol of granitic origin, equivalent to Dystric Cambisol according to The World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB) system. The soil is warmed down to 1 m at + 4℃ by vertically installed heating cables. At the time of soil sampling on 1 May 2023, the whole-soil warming experiment had been running for approximately 9.5 years, from January 2014 to May 2023. The dataset includes: - Bulk_EA: C, N content, δ13C, and CN ratio of bulk soil; - Density_fractionation: organic carbon concentration, δ13C, and C/N ratio of free light fraction (fLF), occluded ligh fraction (oLF), and heavy fraction (HF); - PCA_DRIFT_AUC: original data of area under the curve (AUC) values of eight carbon bond types integrated on diffuse reflectance infrared fourier transform spectroscopy for each soil sample and soil fraction, which are consequently used for principal component analysis (PCA); - DRIFTS_stability_index: the calculation of aliphatic C–H (3000–2800 cm-1) to aromatic C=C (1670–1600 cm-1) ratios for each bulk soil sample and soil fraction. All data are provided in CSV format and can be viewed using Microsoft Excel.

Climate change↗
DOE OSTI2026

The Strength of Coupling to the Southern Ocean Modulates Tropical Eastern Pacific Variability and Forced Response

Despite rising global-mean temperatures, large parts of the Southern Ocean and tropical eastern Pacific Ocean have cooled during the satellite era. These regions may be linked by teleconnections, with Southern Ocean cooling contributing to tropical eastern Pacific cooling. We demonstrate that, on average, state-of-the-art Earth system models (ESMs) underestimate the magnitude of interaction between the Southern Ocean and tropical eastern Pacific Ocean. The strength of the teleconnection is shown to be mediated by the magnitude of the positive cloud–sea surface temperature (SST) feedback in the subtropical eastern Pacific Ocean and the strength of the wind–evaporation–SST (WES) feedback. We link excessive precipitation in the tropical Pacific south of the equator to the strength of the Southern Ocean–eastern Pacific teleconnection. This model bias, known as the double intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ), is shown to be related to erroneous convection south of the equator, weakened cross-equatorial trade winds, and unfavorable meteorological conditions for marine boundary layer subtropical clouds. We postulate there is a two-way interaction, in which a double-ITCZ occurs with weaker cloud–SST and WES feedbacks, which in turn impact local SSTs and amplify the double-ITCZ. Models with a stronger Southern Ocean to tropical Pacific teleconnection tend to exhibit more multidecadal variability in the Walker circulation, ITCZ, and west–east equatorial SST gradient, as well as greater delayed warming in the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean resulting from delayed Southern Ocean warming under greenhouse gas forcing. These results provide insight into why ESMs struggle to replicate observed tropical Pacific temperature trend patterns and point to ITCZ location as a key target for improvement in future model development.

Climate change↗
DOE OSTI2025

Multi-criteria thermal resilience certification scheme for indoor built environments during heat waves

With climate change, the indoor built environment is expected to significantly influence the occupant's safety and well-being. A novel multi-criteria thermal resilience certification scheme for indoor built environments during extreme heat events is proposed in this paper. The certification scheme considers overheating, thermal comfort, heat stress, and hygrothermal discomfort in built environments. These criteria are quantified using key performance indicators like indoor overheating degree, hours of exceedance, wet-bulb globe temperature, and heat index, respectively. This scheme is developed based on existing best practices like standards, rating systems, and literature. The scheme is implemented on a benchmark building energy performance model for detached post-World War II dwellings in Belgium as a case study using weather data measured from the City of Brussels. The indoor overheating in the reference dwelling is assessed with a static threshold of 27 °C for the bedrooms and adaptive thresholds for other areas. The analysis found that the building performance is within the defined threshold levels throughout the heat wave duration for all criteria. Therefore, the reference dwelling got a maximum attainable score of four points and is rated five-star for thermal resilience during heat waves. The proposed certification scheme is intended as a standardized framework and highlights the need for further revisions in building performance policies and guidelines.

Climate change↗