Context
The Extreme Precipitation Days index is relevant to agriculture, water management, transport and the urban sector. This Index is based on daily precipitation and is part of the Extreme Precipitation Hazard type of the Wet and Dry category of the classification.
The index gives the number of days in a year with daily total precipitation exceeding the 95th percentile threshold of rainy days of a reference period, here 1981-2010.
A higher/lower value indicates more/less frequent extreme precipitations.
Definition
The count of days in a year with daily precipitation exceeding the 95th percentile threshold of rainy days over a reference period, here the 1981-2010 period (day).
In weather and climate models total precipitation is the flux of water equivalent (rain or snow) reaching the land surface (expressed as kg.m-2.sec-2 and converted to mm day-1). This Index is usually presented as annual, seasonal or monthly cumulated values over the considered period.
Data Sources
The data was assembled on behalf of the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) based on climate projections hosted on the C3S Climate Data Store (CDS). The Index is calculated from the ERA5 reanalysis and a set of nine bias-corrected multi-model simulations from the EURO-CORDEX experiment. These simulations have a spatial resolution of 0.25° x 0.25°, a 3-hourly output, and cover scenarios RCP4.5 and RCP8.5. More information about the dataset can be found in the corresponding CDS documentation resources.
Supporting Information
Further information about this application can be found in the ECDE application User Guide and the Data and datasets underpining the ECDE. Related information can also be found in other sections of the EEA site:
- The Index based interactive EEA report: Wet and dry - Heavy precipitation and river floods (link).