Mapping long-term atmospheric variables over Greece

A gridded dataset representing near surface atmospheric fields has been developed to allow spatial analysis of long-term weather patterns over an area with significant climate spatiotemporal variability, Greece. The atmospheric elements considered are means of near surface temperature, means of relative humidity, as well as monthly and annual accumulated precipitation. The extracted patterns are based on the gridded European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecast (ECMWF) daily analyses interpolated on a regular 0.25 degrees x 0.25 degrees grid. Long-term means on annual and monthly bases for an 18-year reference period (1990-2007), are estimated for the continuous fields. Monthly and annual averages of accumulated precipitation for the period of 1980-2001 have also been created from near to analysis ECMWF forecasts and records gathered from surface meteorological stations. The extracted dataset has been accordingly formatted in order to allow visualization of the long-term atmospheric variables using a geographic information system.