High-resolution gridded datasets of hydro-climate indices for Ireland

Abstract

This report describes the application of numerical weather prediction (NWP) simulations to develop high-quality, long-term, gridded climate datasets of hydro-climate variables for Ireland, covering the period 1981 2016. There is constant demand for such datasets from industry, research and governmental agencies for use in fields such as agriculture, water resource estimation and management, hydrology and hydrogeology, public health, energy and planning and studies on observed climate change trends and vulnerability. Variables such as evapotranspiration and soil moisture conditions are crucial factors in estimating water sustainability, understanding groundwater recharge, agronomic management and the management of flood and drought risk. However, with the exception of temperature and precipitation, spatially and temporally homogeneous, multi-decadal, gridded observational climate datasets are not readily available for hydro-climatic research applications in Ireland.