PACRAIN
The Pacific Rainfall Database
[Goals] [Sponsor] [Data Sources] [Update Information]
[Retrieve Data] [References] [More Information]
Goals
  • Collect rainfall and other data from a variety of sources over the Tropical Pacific Ocean, a notoriously data-poor region
  • Develop an extensive set of metadata corresponding to measurement sites
  • Integrate collected data and metadata into a single database
  • Provide simple database query cabability and whole dataset download in an easy-to-use format
  • Provide value-added products such as gridded monthly rain estimates
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Sponsor
The PACRAIN program is supported by a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Program Office - Global Ocean Monitoring and Observing.
Data Sources
 		The PACRAIN Database consists of daily and monthly rainfall records from many sites located on atolls and islands. The database is updated monthly. Data comes from the following sources:
Update Information
 		Last Update:  Database updated April 2, 2024

US - area stations (American Samoa, Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, Marshall Islands, Northern Marianas, Palau) May 1917* through
February 2024
Tropical Atmosphere Ocean (TAO) Array Buoys All one-minute data available October 2020 (majority 1998-2014)
New Zealand - area stations ( Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, New Caledonia, Niue, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Western Samoa) 1890* through
February 2024
French Polynesia 1952* through
December 2000
SPaRCE sites 1993* through
February 2024
Taylor's Atlas sites January 1874* through
December 1972*
*Only monthly data are available for this date.
Retrieve Data

Note: Gridded estimates are derived from data collected at atoll stations and TAO buoys only. Grids are not available for months in which there are insufficient reports to meet minimal estimation critera. Also, these estimates are derived statistically and should not be considered representative of rains over land masses with greater area and/or vertical relief than those associated with stations listed as 'atoll' or 'oceanic' within the PACRAIN database.
References

Cook, W.E. and J.S. Greene, 2019: Gridded Monthly Rainfall Estimates Derived from Historical Atoll Observations. J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol., 36, 671-687.

Cook, W.E. and J.S. Greene, 2022: Derivation of new daily rainfall values from TAO one-minute rain gauge data. J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol., 39(11), 1837-1855.

Greene, J.S., M. Klatt, M. Morrissey and S. Postawko, 2008: The Comprehensive Pacific Rainfall Database. J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol. 25(1), 71-82.

Postawko, S., M. Morrissey, and B. Gibson, 1994: The Schools of the Pacific Rainfall Climate Experiment: Combining research and education. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 75(8), 1260–1266.

Taylor, R. C., 1973: An Atlas of Pacific Islands Rainfall. Department of Meteorology, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Data Rep. 25, 174 pp.
More Information
 		For more information about PACRAIN or for questions about the data, contact:

Dr. Scott Greene
Department of Geography and Environmental Sustainability
100 E. Boyd Street, SEC 510C
Norman, OK 73019
(405) 325-4319
jgreene@ou.edu