What is the data?
The data is from the UKCP18 regional projections using the RCP8.5 scenario. RCP8.5 is the highest of the plausible future emissions scenarios used by the IPCC, sometimes referred to as 'business as usual'.
What do the 'median', 'upper', and 'lower' values mean?
This scenario is run as 12 separate ensemble members. To select which ensemble members to use, a single value for the mean UK precipitation for the period 2050-2079 was taken from each ensemble member. They were then ranked in order from lowest precipitation to highest.
The 'lower' field in this data is the second lowest ranked ensemble member.
The 'higher' field is the second highest ranked ensemble member.
The 'median' field is the central (7th) ranked ensemble member.
This gives a median value, and a spread of the ensemble members indicating the level of uncertainty in the projections.
Original datasets:
pr_rcp85_land-rcm_uk_12km_12_ann-30y_200912-207911.nc (median)
pr_rcp85_land-rcm_uk_12km_05_ann-30y_200912-207911.nc (lower)
pr_rcp85_land-rcm_uk_12km_04_ann-30y_200912-207911.nc (upper)