BIOCLIM+

BIOCLIM+ variables are developed to complement the traditional 19 bioclimatic variables. The variables provided include

  • near-surface relative humidity (hurs)
  • cloud area fraction (clt)
  • near-surface wind speed (sfcWind)
  • vapour pressure deficit (vpd)
  • surface downwelling shortwave radiation (rsds)
  • potential evapotranspiration (pet)
  • climate moisture index (cmi)
  • site water balance (swb)

which are available monthly from 1980 to 2018 at 30 arcsec spatial resolution as well as

  • frost change frequency (fcf)
  • snow cover days (scd)
  • potential net primary productivity (npp)
  • growing degree days (gdd)
  • growing season length (gsl)
  • growing season temperature (gst)
  • growing season precipitation (gsp)

for the periods 1981–2010, 2011–2040, 2041–2070, and 2071–2100, considering three shared socioeconomic pathways (SSP126, SSP370, SSP585) and five Earth system models.

Precipitation of the warmest quarter (bio18, left) and precipitation during the tree growing season (gsp, right). Bio18 is often used in the context of how much rainfall is available for the vegetation while temperatures are high enough to allow for plant growth. It shows however quite some artifacts on the global scale which are due to the definition of a quarter. The gsp layer on the right does not show this artefacts, but also carries a different information.
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Additional information is available here:

CHELSA BIOCLIM+: Technical Specifications

When using the data, you agree to cite the respective original publication:

Brun, P., Zimmermann, N.E., Hari, C., Pellisier, L., Karger, D.N. (2022) Global climate-related predictors at kilometre resolution for the past and future Earth System Science Data. 14, 5573–5603 https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-5573-2022