An application of hybrid downscaling model to forecast summer precipitation at stations in China

•A pattern of hybrid downscaling was applied to predict summer precipitation in China.•Four predictors from GCMs and observational data were selected.•The hybrid HD-4P scheme has better prediction skill than a conventional SD-2P scheme.•The HD-4P reproduced the China summer precipitation anomalies better than SD-2P in 1998.

A pattern prediction hybrid downscaling method was applied to predict summer (June–July–August) precipitation at China 160 stations. The predicted precipitation from the downscaling scheme is available one month before. Four predictors were chosen to establish the hybrid downscaling scheme. The 500-hPa geopotential height (GH5) and 850-hPa specific humidity (q85) were from the skillful predicted output of three DEMETER (Development of a European Multi-model Ensemble System for Seasonal to Interannual Prediction) general circulation models (GCMs). The 700-hPa geopotential height (GH7) and sea level pressure (SLP) were from reanalysis datasets. The hybrid downscaling scheme (HD-4P) has better prediction skill than a conventional statistical downscaling model (SD-2P) which contains two predictors derived from the output of GCMs, although two downscaling schemes were performed to improve the seasonal prediction of summer rainfall in comparison with the original output of the DEMETER GCMs. In particular, HD-4P downscaling predictions showed lower root mean square errors than those based on the SD-2P model. Furthermore, the HD-4P downscaling model reproduced the China summer precipitation anomaly centers more accurately than the scenario of the SD-2P model in 1998. A hybrid downscaling prediction should be effective to improve the prediction skill of summer rainfall at stations in China.