Development of a Self-Recording Per-Minute Precipitation Dataset for China

The establishment of self-recording precipitation observation systems in China began in 1951, and strips of self-recording precipitation graph paper have been archived since then. More than 9 million sheets of self-recording graph paper from 2253 stations in 31 provinces have been digitized by using image scanning and curve extraction technology. Format specification and quality control have been applied to the digitized data, and the China Surface Self-Recording Per-Minute Precipitation Dataset (V1.0) has been developed. The integrity and accuracy of this dataset are evaluated. This is the first attempt in China to establish a per-minute precipitation dataset that covers the period from 1951 to present. Preliminary evaluation reveals that the station density is high and the data continuity is good in most areas of China. However, the integrity of stations in some areas of western China is relatively poor. The availability rate and accuracy rate in summer are higher than 99% at most stations, with the overall availability and accuracy rates reaching as much as 99.42% and 99.22%, respectively.