Bias Correction of ERA-interim meteorological forcing dataset for Africa, based on Piani et al. (2010) for the period 1979 - 2011. Variables description Tair: air temperature (K) Tmin: minimum air temperature (K) Tmax: maximum air temperature (K) PSurf: surface pressure (Pa) Qmean: specific humidity (kg/kg) Wind: wind speed (m/s) Precip: precipitation (mm) LWdown: Downwards long-wave radiation flux (W/m-2) SWdown: Downwards short-wave radiation flux (W/m-2). This data set has been produced in the framework of the "Climate change predictions in Sub-Saharan Africa: impacts and adaptations (ClimAfrica)" project, Work Package 1 (WP1). WP1 (Past climate variability) aimed to provide consolidated data to other WPs in ClimAfrica, and to analyze the interactions between climate variability, water availability and ecosystem productivity of Sub-Saharan Africa. Various data streams that diagnose the variability of the climate, in particular the water cycle, and the productivity of ecosystems in the past decades, have been collected, analyzed and synthesized. The data streams range from ground-based observations and satellite remote sensing to model simulations. More information on ClimAfrica project is provided in the Supplemental Information section of this metadata.

WATCH Forcing Data 20th Century. A meteorological forcing dataset (based on ERA-40) for land surface and hydrological models (1901-2001). Data generated in 2 tranches with slightly different methodology: 1901-1957 and 1958-2001. Five variables are at 6 hourly resolution and five variables are at 3 hourly resolution: Tair_WFD_ - 2m Air temperature (K) Tmin_WFD_ - 2m Minimum air temperature (K) Tmax_WFD_ - 2m Maximum air temperature (K) PSurf_WFD_ - 10m Surface pressure (Pa) Qair_WFD_ - 2m Specific umidity (kg/kg) Wind_WFD_ - 10m Wind speed (m/s) LWdown_WFD_ - Downwards long-wave radiation flux (W/m-2) SWdown_WFD_ - Downwards short-wave radiation flux (W/m-2) Rainf_WFD_GPCC_ - Rainfall rate GPCC bias corrected and undercatch corrected Snowf_WFD_GPCC_ - Snowfall rate GPCC bias corrected and undercatch corrected (kg/m-2/s) Rainf_WFD_CRU_ - Rainfall rate CRU bias corrected and undercatch corrected (kg/m-2/s) Snowf_WFD_CRU_ - Snowfall rate CRU bias corrected and undercatch corrected (kg/m-2/s). This data set has been produced in the framework of the "Climate change predictions in Sub-Saharan Africa: impacts and adaptations (ClimAfrica)" project, Work Package 1 (WP1). WP1 (Past climate variability) aimed to provide consolidated data to other WPs in ClimAfrica, and to analyze the interactions between climate variability, water availability and ecosystem productivity of Sub-Saharan Africa. Various data streams that diagnose the variability of the climate, in particular the water cycle, and the productivity of ecosystems in the past decades, have been collected, analyzed and synthesized. The data streams range from ground-based observations and satellite remote sensing to model simulations. More information on ClimAfrica project is provided in the Supplemental Information section of this metadata.