ACRE: Data → Reanalyses → Users

Abstract

Dr Rob Allan will give an overview of Atmospheric Circulation Reconstructions over the Earth (ACRE), addressing each of its data, reanalyses and applications/user activities.

The international Atmospheric Circulation Reconstructions over the Earth (ACRE) initiative both undertakes and facilitates the recovery of historical instrumental surface terrestrial and marine global weather observations to underpin 3D dynamical reanalyses spanning the last 200-250 years.  Such reanalyses outputs can then be tailored and/or downscaled to higher resolution for the full range of climate applications (e.g. impacts, extremes and risks) and Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS) needs worldwide.

The international ACRE initiative is run by a consortium of nine core partners, and provides an umbrella that links together some 100+ projects, institutions, organisations, and data rescue and climate applications activities around the globe.

Data variables recovered by ACRE are available to be assimilated into all reanalyses, especially the 3D global dynamical historical reanalyses of its main US partner, the US NOAA ESRL and CIRES (at the University of Colorado) – the  ACRE-facilitated 20th Century Reanalysis (20CR). Dynamical downscaling (such as by the Met Office PRECIS team model) will then provide the facility to take the above reanalyses down to finer resolution (around 12-25 km).

The initiative is keen to see the uptake of 20CR outputs and products by the climate science community, and the wide ranging climate applications and services, policy makers, planners, environmental managers, educational and public sectors.

About the Speaker

Dr Rob Allan joined the Met Office Hadley Centre in the UK in mid-2000 after some 10 years working in the Climate Impact Group of CSIRO’s Atmospheric Research Division in Melbourne, Australia. At the Met Office Hadley Centre, he was responsible for the development of historical gridded global monthly mean sea level pressure (MSLP) and daily North Atlantic-European MSLP data sets back to 1850.

During his visit, Dr Allan gave an overview of the international Atmospheric Circulation Reconstructions over the Earth (ACRE) project, addressing each of its data, reanalyses and applications/user activities. Developed by Dr Allan in 2006-7, the ACRE project both undertakes and facilitates the recovery of historical instrumental surface terrestrial and marine global weather observations to underpin 3D dynamical reanalyses spanning the last 200-250 years.