Assessment and validation of CLIGEN-simulated rainfall data for Northern Taiwan

By using CLIGEN and long-term meteorological data, consecutive daily rainfall data can be simulated. At present, the applicability of CLIGEN to regions other than the United States remains to be tested. In this study, CLIGEN was first applied in a subtropical monsoon climate region. Rainfall data from 1961 to 1990 at three weather stations in northern Taiwan were collected, and rainfall parameters and patterns were validated. The results showed no significant difference in the mean and distribution patterns between observed and simulated values for rainfall parameters including precipitation for each month, wet days for each month, precipitation on wet days for each month and standard deviation of daily precipitation for each month. Regarding rainfall pattern, after re-calibration of storm pattern coefficients, the accuracy of the simulated storm duration was greatly enhanced. However, the simulated daily maximum 5- and 30-min peak intensities were overestimated, and there is room for improvement. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.