0.101 (40%) for grid spacings 0.7, 1.0, and 2.0, respectively. For $\tau$, the average RMSE was 0.102 (88% ), 0.107 (90%), and 0.233 (38%) for grid spacings 0.7, 1.0, and 2.0, respectively. As with the GEV parameters, the approximation with the grid spacing at least as small as the bandwidth appears to provide reasonable estimation of the spatial dependence parameters. When too few knots are used, the bandwidth is often overestimated to compensate for the lack of knots and, thus, RMSE is high and coverage is far below the nominal level.=1

Analysis of regional climate model output {#stemp}
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To illustrate the proposed method, we analyze climate model output provided by the North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program (NARCCAP). Our objective is to study changes in extreme precipitation under various climate scenarios in different spatial regions while accounting for residual spatial dependence remaining after allowing for spatially-varying GEV parameters. The data are downloaded from the website <http://www.narccap.ucar.edu/index.html>. We analyze output from two timeslice experiments. Both runs use the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory’s AM2.1 climate model with 50 km resolution. The model is run separately under historical (1969–2000) and future conditions (2039–2070). Observational data is used for the sea-surface temperature 