Bechtold et al. (2026) A global hourly ISIMIP3 climate forcing dataset for impact modeling

Identification

• Journal: Earth system science data
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-09-09
• Authors: Michel Bechtold, Benjamin Poschlod, Christian Otto, Jan Volkholz, Matthias Büchner, Florian Zabel
• DOI: 10.5194/essd-18-6637-2026

Research Groups

• Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, KU Leuven (Belgium)
• Institute for Global Water Security, Hamburg University of Technology (Germany)
• Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (Germany)
• Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Basel (Switzerland)

Short Summary

This study generates a global hourly climate dataset by temporally disaggregating the Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project Phase 3 (ISIMIP3) daily climate archives using the Temporal Disaggregation Tool (Teddy). The resulting dataset provides a harmonized foundation for more realistic sub-daily climate-impact modeling across sectors.

Objective

• Investigate the feasibility of generating hourly climate data from daily ISIMIP3 forcing datasets.
• Develop and apply a temporal disaggregation method to produce hourly meteorological fields consistent with ISIMIP's bias-correction framework.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Global, at 0.5° spatial resolution.
• Temporal Scale: Hourly, with a focus on sub-daily variability.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Temporal Disaggregation Tool (Teddy) v1.3.
• Data sources: ISIMIP3 daily climate archives, bias-corrected hourly reanalysis data from WFDE5.

Main Results

• A global hourly climate dataset is generated using Teddy to disaggregate daily ISIMIP3 forcing datasets.
• The resulting dataset preserves daily mass and energy, maintains temporal coherence between variables, and captures sub-daily variability essential for non-linear processes and diurnal dynamics.
• Four illustrative applications demonstrate the added value of hourly forcing: fraction of wet hours, number of hours with dangerous heat index, suitable conditions for onshore wind power generation, and photovoltaic power potential.

Contributions

• This study provides a comprehensive global hourly climate forcing dataset for ISIMIP3, enabling impact modelers to incorporate sub-daily variability essential for capturing non-linear processes and diurnal dynamics.
• The Temporal Disaggregation Tool (Teddy) is applied to daily ISIMIP3 forcing datasets, delivering hourly meteorological fields consistent with ISIMIP's bias-correction framework.

Funding

• This research was funded by the [insert funding agency/project name] under grant [insert grant number].

Citation

@article{Bechtold2026global,
  author = {Bechtold, Michel and Poschlod, Benjamin and Otto, Christian and Volkholz, Jan and Büchner, Matthias and Zabel, Florian},
  title = {A global hourly ISIMIP3 climate forcing dataset for impact modeling},
  journal = {Earth system science data},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.5194/essd-18-6637-2026},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-6637-2026}
}