Chinese Scientists Develop High-Precision Precipitation Dataset for Alpine Regions

In a significant advancement for climate research, scientists in China have developed a high-precision gridded precipitation dataset aimed at supporting studies in alpine cold regions. This initiative, led by researchers at the Northwest Institute of Eco-environment and Resources (NIEER) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, utilizes an innovative approach called Three-Layer Intelligent Downscaling and Calibration (TLIDC), which employs artificial intelligence to generate detailed precipitation data tailored to extreme environments.

The groundwork for this new framework involved extensive quantitative evaluation, utilizing data sourced from 100 rain gauge stations situated in the Qilian Mountains—a crucial ecological barrier located on the border of northwestern Gansu and Qinghai provinces. With this framework, researchers successfully reconstructed daily precipitation data for the mountain range, covering a period from 1950 to 2024.

This cutting-edge framework offers high-precision precipitation data, boasting an accuracy level that surpasses many existing mainstream datasets, ultimately reducing errors that arise from limited ground-based observations. According to Qin Xiang, a researcher at NIEER, precise precipitation data is essential for hydrological and climate studies, particularly in alpine cold regions where traditional observational data is sparse.

The dataset developed through this research presents an effective solution for generating reliable and accurate precipitation information in challenging alpine terrains characterized by complex topography and lack of observational networks. This research addresses a pivotal gap in the fields of climate and hydrology, and the results have been published in the journal Atmospheric Research.