Playing to Adapt: Crowdsourcing Historical Climate Data with Gamification to Improve Farmer's Risk Management Instruments

Abstract The design of reclamation soil covers at oil sands mines in northern Alberta, Canada, has been conventionally based on the calibration of soil–vegetation–atmosphere transfer (SVAT) models against field monitoring observations collected over several years, followed by simulations of long-term performance using historical climate data. This paper evaluates the long-term water balances for reclamation covers on two oil sands landforms and three natural coarse-textured forest soil profiles using both historical climate data and future climate projections. Twenty-first century daily precipitation and temperature data from CanESM2 were downscaled based on three representative concentration pathways (RCPs) employing a stochastic weather generator [Long Ashton Research Station Weather Generator (LARS-WG)]. Relative humidity, wind speed, and net radiation were downscaled using the delta change method. Downscaled precipitation and estimated potential evapotranspiration were used as inputs to simulate soil water dynamics using physically based models. Probability distributions of growing season (April–October) actual evapotranspiration (AET) and net percolation (NP) for the baseline and future periods show that AET and NP at all sites are expected to increase throughout the twenty-first century regardless of RCP, time period, and soil profile. Greater increases in AET and NP are projected toward the end of the twenty-first century. The increases in future NP at the two reclamation covers are larger (as a percentage increase) than at most of the natural sites. Increases in NP will result in greater water yield to surface water and may accelerate the rate at which chemical constituents contained within mine waste are released to downstream receptors, suggesting these potential changes need to be considered in mine closure designs.

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Using Historical Climate Data to Evaluate Climate Trends: Issues of Statistical Inference

Energy & Environment ◽

10.1260/095830504322986457 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 15 (1) ◽

pp. 1-10 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Craig Loehle

Keyword(s):

Statistical Inference ◽

Climate Data ◽

Climate Trends ◽

Historical Climate

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Climatology in support of climate risk management

Progress in Physical Geography Earth and Environment ◽

10.1177/0309133315578941 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 39 (4) ◽

pp. 536-553 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Glenn McGregor

Keyword(s):

Risk Management ◽

Climate Science ◽

Climate Risk ◽

Science Literature ◽

Climate Information ◽

Climate Data ◽

Climate Risks ◽

Wide Range ◽

Climate Risk Management ◽

Climate Events

Climate risk management has emerged over the last decade as a distinct area of activity within the wider field of climatology. Its focus is on integrating climate and non-climate information in order to enhance the decision-making process in a wide range of climate-sensitive sectors of society, the economy and the environment. Given the burgeoning pure and applied climate science literature that addresses a range of climate risks, the purpose of this progress report is to provide an overview of recent developments in the field of climatology that may contribute to the risk assessment component of climate risk management. Data rescue and climate database construction, hurricanes and droughts as examples of extreme climate events and seasonal climate forecasting are focused on in this report and are privileged over other topics because of either their fundamental importance for establishing event probability or scale of societal impact. The review of the literature finds that historical data rescue, climate reconstruction and the compilation of climate data bases has assisted immensely in understanding past climate events and increasing the information base for managing climate risk. Advances in the scientific understanding of the causes and the characterization of hurricanes and droughts stand to benefit the management of these two extreme events while work focused on unravelling the nature of ocean–atmosphere interactions and associated climate anomalies at the seasonal timescale has provided the basis for the possible seasonal forecasting of a range of climate events. The report also acknowledges that despite the potential of climate information to assist with managing climate risk, its uptake by decision makers should not be automatically assumed by the climatological community.

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Combining on-farm and climate data for risk management of nitrogen decisions

Climate Risk Management ◽

10.1016/j.crm.2016.03.002 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 13 ◽

pp. 10-18 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Christopher J. Anderson ◽

Peter M. Kyveryga

Keyword(s):

Risk Management ◽

Climate Data ◽

On Farm

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Enhancing Climate Resilience at NASA Centers: A Collaboration between Science and Stewardship

Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society ◽

10.1175/bams-d-12-00169.1 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 95 (9) ◽

pp. 1351-1363 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Cynthia Rosenzweig ◽

Radley M. Horton ◽

Daniel A. Bader ◽

Molly E. Brown ◽

Russell DeYoung ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Risk Management ◽

Climate Adaptation ◽

Local Level ◽

Natural Habitat ◽

The United States ◽

Climate Impact ◽

Climate Data ◽

Climate Risks ◽

Climate Resilience ◽

Kennedy Space

A partnership between Earth scientists and institutional stewards is helping the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) prepare for a changing climate and growing climate-related vulnerabilities. An important part of this partnership is an agency-wide Climate Adaptation Science Investigator (CASI) Workgroup. CASI has thus far initiated 1) local workshops to introduce and improve planning for climate risks, 2) analysis of climate data and projections for each NASA Center, 3) climate impact and adaptation toolsets, and 4) Center-specific research and engagement. Partnering scientists with managers aligns climate expertise with operations, leveraging research capabilities to improve decision-making and to tailor risk assessment at the local level. NASA has begun to institutionalize this ongoing process for climate risk management across the entire agency, and specific adaptation strategies are already being implemented. A case study from Kennedy Space Center illustrates the CASI and workshop process, highlighting the need to protect launch infrastructure of strategic importance to the United States, as well as critical natural habitat. Unique research capabilities and a culture of risk management at NASA may offer a pathway for other organizations facing climate risks, promoting their resilience as part of community, regional, and national strategies.

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Interdisciplinary Climate: The Case of the First 50 Years of British Observations in Australia

Weather Climate and Society ◽

10.1175/wcas-d-12-00005.1 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 4 (2) ◽

pp. 118-131 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Kendal McGuffie ◽

Ann Henderson-Sellers

Keyword(s):

Interdisciplinary Research ◽

New South ◽

Weather Data ◽

Climate Data ◽

Climate Research ◽

Historical Climate ◽

South Wales ◽

Instrumental Records ◽

Single Instrument

Abstract This paper presents the case for improved interdisciplinarity in climate research in the context of assessing and discussing the caution required when utilizing some types of historical climate data. This is done by a case study examining the reliability of the instruments used for collecting weather data in Australia between 1788 and 1840, as well as the observers themselves, during the British settlement of New South Wales. This period is challenging because the instruments were not uniformly calibrated and were created, repaired, and used by a wide variety of people with skills that frequently remain undocumented. Continuing significant efforts to rescue such early instrumental records of climate are likely to be enhanced by more open, interdisciplinary research that encourages discussion of an apparent dichotomy of view about the quantitative value of early single-instrument data between historians of physics (including museum curators) and climate researchers.

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