Comparison of reanalysis datasets for regional climate modelling.

Although a lot has been done on comparisons of observational datasets and reanalysis at both global and regional scales, the usefulness of the comparisons to choose which reanalysis datasets to use for setting initial and lateral boundary conditions in regional climate modelling has been limited. Comparisons have mostly been based on coarse resolutions of monthly aggregations. It is against this background that this paper attempts to compare and evaluate relevance of different reanalysis datasets by comparing their selected finer temporal resolution (daily) hydro-climatological variables products using both land and ocean based observational data over the domain 0 to 40 0S and 6 to 53 0E, covering Africa from the equator south-wards including Madagascar. The study domain is as shown by Figure 1 below.
Evaluations of the reanalyses will be made at 3x3 degree grids along the four (4) boundaries of the domain. The 3x3 degree grid is proposed to accommodate different reanalyses grids. The AIRS satellite data (1x1 degree resolution) is being used as observational data from which reanalyses data (relative humidity and temperature) will be compared. The reanalyses data will be interpolated to 1x1 degree grid resolution of AIRS satellite data and 12 levels. Efficiency terms including Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE), Bias, and Correlation Coefficients at different levels will be used to evaluate the reanalyses. Plots for comparisons across the vertical levels will also be attempted for consistency of the individual reanalyses. It is anticipated that the study will make a contribution as one of the very few fine-resolution regional climate modelling targeted reanalysis evaluation.