The climate of daily precipitation in the Alps: development and analysis of a high‐resolution grid dataset from pan‐Alpine rain‐gauge data

TLDR

The European Alps host one of the densest rain‑gauge networks, providing high‑resolution observations that underpin a recently updated, quality‑controlled precipitation dataset. This study develops a pan‑Alpine daily precipitation grid and characterizes mesoscale patterns, including heavy rainfall and prolonged dry spells, while assessing uncertainty through cross‑validation. Using ~5,500 daily gauge measurements from seven Alpine countries (1971‑2008), the authors construct a 5 km grid with daily resolution via a distance‑angular weighting scheme that incorporates precipitation‑topography relationships. Grid‑point estimates systematically underestimate high intensities and overestimate low ones, and analyses reveal complex topographic influences on daily precipitation indicators that diverge from mean‑precipitation patterns. The dataset, produced under the EU‑funded EURO4M project, is freely available for scientific use.

Abstract

ABSTRACT In the region of the European Alps, national and regional meteorological services operate rain‐gauge networks, which together, constitute one of the densest in situ observation systems in a large‐scale high‐mountain region. Data from these networks are consistently analyzed, in this study, to develop a pan‐Alpine grid dataset and to describe the region's mesoscale precipitation climate, including the occurrence of heavy precipitation and long dry periods. The analyses are based on a collation of high‐resolution rain‐gauge data from seven Alpine countries, with 5500 measurements per day on average, spanning the period 1971–2008. The dataset is an update of an earlier version with improved data density and more thorough quality control. The grid dataset has a grid spacing of 5 km, daily time resolution, and was constructed with a distance‐angular weighting scheme that integrates climatological precipitation–topography relationships. Scales effectively resolved in the dataset are coarser than the grid spacing and vary in time and space, depending on station density. We quantify the uncertainty of the dataset by cross‐validation and in relation to topographic complexity, data density and season. Results indicate that grid point estimates are systematically underestimated (overestimated) at large (small) precipitation intensities, when they are interpreted as point estimates. Our climatological analyses highlight interesting variations in indicators of daily precipitation that deviate from the pattern and course of mean precipitation and illustrate the complex role of topography. The daily Alpine precipitation grid dataset was developed as part of the EU funded EURO4M project and is freely available for scientific use.