Creation of a homogenized climate database for the Carpathian region by applying the MASH procedure and the preliminary analysis of the data

Homogenization of the long term observation series is essential in climate change studies. The most important achievements of the COST Action ES0601 (HOME) are survey and the comparison of the available homogenization methods. A benchmark test was performed in the Action to choose the best recent methods. The MASH (Multiple Analysis of Series for Homogenization; Szentimrey) procedure which was developed at the Hungarian Meteorological Service (OMSZ) produced good results. The Short Term Scientific Missions (STSMs) supported by the COST established the wide usage of MASH in the neighboring countries. This is the main reason why MASH became the common homogenization method used to fulfil the Climate of the Carpathian Region tender service. The aim of the project is to improve the climate data source and data access in the Carpathian Region by creating a daily harmonized gridded dataset during the period between 1961 and 2010. The homogenization process executed and the verification of the homogenization along with the quality control results are introduced in this paper. Preliminary results of trend analysis carried out on the harmonized database are also presented.