Global Kilometer-Resolution Dataset of Boundary Conditions for Climate Simulations of the Last Glacial Maximum

We have created a global dataset of Earth surface boundary conditions for the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), 21,000 years before present on a regular longitude/latidute grid of 30 s resolution (≈ 0.9 km at the equator). It comprises the data for

•  ice cover (ice)
• topography (topo)
• wind erodibility (erod)
• top soiltype (soiltype_top)
• bottom soiltype (soiltype_bot)
• landcover / vegetation (landuse)

The techniques and input data used to generate the high resolution data sets are described in the respective sections of the Dataset_Description.pdf.
The motivation for creating the data set is to use it in WPS, the preprocessor of the Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF). The data are cast into a binary format compatible with the geogrid utility of WPS.
A version in the exchange format netCDF is also provided. This is more convenient for inspection and for use by other software.

While the pixel resolution of all data sets that are provided here is formally 30 s, the effective spatial resolution is in general lower. In most cases, interpolation and/or extrapolation of coarse data are involved at some point in the downscaling process.

All data sets are available in the following formats:

• Network Common Data Form (netCDF-4). The filenames are <variable_name>_30s.nc, (e. g. topo_30s.nc). They are are available as compressed .gz files.
• Binary format for geogrid of the WRF Preprocessing System (WPS). They are available a zipped tarball <variable_name>_30s.tar.gz (e.g. topo_30s.tar.gz). The unpacked folder has the name of the variable, in most cases followed by the suffix _30s (e.g. erod/ or topo_30s/). It contains one meta file called index and a large set of numbered data files in the form XXXXX-XXXXX.XXXXX-XXXXX, where X are digits.
  This folder can be readily added to the geogrid data directory (where it may replace an already existing default folder of the same name). If the entry geog_data_path in the namelist.wps file points to the parent directory of this folder, the WPS will use the new data when compiling the WRF boundary conditions with no other changes necessary.
• Quicklook images of selected areas of the world are provided in png and eps formats. File names have the shape <area>.<period>.<format> (e.g. patagonia_lgm.eps). For each variable a compressed tarball containing these files is provided under the name <variable_name>_<format>.tar.gz