Comparison of climate time series produced by General Circulation Models and by observed data on a global scale

Outputs of General Circulation Models (GCMs) for precipitation are compared with time series produced from observations. Comparison is made on global and hemispheric spatial scale and on annual time scale. Various time periods are examined, distinguishing periods before and after publishing of model outputs. Historical climate time series are compared with the outputs of GCMs for the 20th century and those for the A1B, B1 and A2 emission scenarios for the 21st century. Several indices are examined, i.e. the estimated means, variances, Hurst parameters, cross-correlations etc.

Acknowledgement: This research is conducted within the frame of the undergraduate course "Stochastic Methods in Water Resources" of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA). The School of Civil Engineering of NTUA provided moral support for the participation of the students in the Assembly.