Collecting and Assessing Observed Climate Data

Rainfall data is only necessary for one location, as the analysis will represent a sample paddy field. This data was taken from the closest observational station data to the study area, Cabanatuan City. However, this station has several years of missing data.

A continuous time series dataset was constructed by filling in the missing data with data from the nearby Central Luzon State University (CLSU) agro-meteorological station. Any residual missing values were filled using data from APHRODITE extracted at (120.95 °E, 15.483 °N). The small number of days filled will not make significant impact on the results. The filling in of missing days was needed to undertake bias correction.

This process of combining data from several stations needs to be completed with care. The stations must be in similar topographic and geographic areas and climate zones. The CLSU station is located nearby, and in the same valley as, Cabanatuan City and has similar geography.