Best practises and lessons learnt from AQUACLEW

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christiana Photiadou ◽  
Lorna Little ◽  
Peter Berg ◽  
Rafael Pimentel ◽  
Maria Jose Polo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Quality Assurance ◽  
Data Quality ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
User Requirements ◽  
Climate Services ◽  
Production Chain ◽  
Service Production ◽  
Data Production ◽  
Climate Service

<p>AQUACLEW (Advancing Data Quality for European Water Services) is an ERA4CS project with the overall goal to improve quality of climate services. The project brings together nine European organisations, with different experience and expertise in developing climate services, providing data and collaborating with users. The project aims to investigate how to increase user uptake in a broad community using general information from a web interface, as well as tailored user-specific decision-support in seven case studies across Europe. Additionally, we track our ‘climate friendliness’ throughout the project.</p><p>AQUACLEW uses innovative research techniques and integrated co-development with users to advance the quality and usability of climate services for a number of water related sectors. We pose the following research questions: 1) how do we improve co-development to better incorporate multiple user feedbacks along the entire climate service production chain, from research to production, service use and decision making? 2) How should data, quality-assurance metrics and guidance be tailored along the whole data-production chain to closer meet user requirements, including resolution and precision?</p><p>Firstly, initial results show that the iterative approach between providers and users of data, demands confidence building through active engagement and involvement of experts to think on different pathways of action for users to interact with climate services and to integrate climate projections into their practice. To facilitate this interaction a number of online activities were designed:  a guided-tour for the climate service, feedback loops, and game-like activities were included in the meetings with focus groups.</p><p>Secondly we focused on investigating how data, quality-assurance metrics and guidance could be tailored along the whole data-production chain to closer meet user requirements, through three different experiments following different protocols. Protocols were developed for differentiated split sample testing in hydrological models and bias adjustment methods, and an expert elicitation. All three protocols were applied across four of seven case studies that had common factors to test the improvements of data production. The protocols had a strong impact through improved data quality in impact assessments for climate change adaptation in water management, thus decision-making can be better supported.</p><p>Lastly, we found preliminarily that ‘climate friendly’ efforts have provoked regular discussions within the consortium, suggestions for new ways to be climate friendly, challenges to travel by train and to find online solutions.</p>

scholarly journals Mind the Gap: Towards a Typology of Climate Service Usability Gaps

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 1512 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Raaphorst ◽  
Gerben Koers ◽  
Gerald Jan Ellen ◽  
Amy Oen ◽  
Bjørn Kalsnes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Climate Services ◽  
The North ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Climate Service ◽  
North And South

Literature on climate services presents a large diversity of different services and uses. Many climate services have ‘usability gaps’: the information provided, or the way it is visualized, may be unsuitable for end users to inform decision-making processes in relation to adaptation against climate change impacts or for the development of policies to this end. The aim of this article is to contribute to more informed and efficient decision-making processes in climate adaptation by developing a typology of usability gaps for climate services. To do so, we first present and demonstrate a so-called ‘climate information design’ (CID) template with which to study and potentially improve the visual communicative qualities of climate services. Then, two climates services are selected for a further, qualitative explorative case study of two cases in the north and south of the Netherlands. A combination of focus group sessions and semi-structured interviews are used to collect data from Dutch governmental stakeholders as well as private stakeholders and NGOs. This data is then coded to discover what usability gaps are present. We then present twelve different types of usability gaps that were encountered as a typology. This typology could be used to improve and redesign climate services.

Identifying climate service production constraints to adaptation decision-making in Sweden

2019 ◽  
Vol 93 ◽  
pp. 83-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen M. Ernst ◽  
Åsa Gerger Swartling ◽  
Karin André ◽  
Benjamin L. Preston ◽  
Richard J.T. Klein
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Production Constraints ◽  
Service Production ◽  
Climate Service ◽  
Adaptation Decision

Statewide Monitoring of the Mesoscale Environment: A Technical Update on the Oklahoma Mesonet

2007 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 301-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renee A. McPherson ◽  
Christopher A. Fiebrich ◽  
Kenneth C. Crawford ◽  
James R. Kilby ◽  
David L. Grimsley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Quality Assurance ◽  
Data Quality ◽  
Observation Time ◽  
Product Generation ◽  
Oklahoma Mesonet ◽  
Operations Center

Abstract Established as a multipurpose network, the Oklahoma Mesonet operates more than 110 surface observing stations that send data every 5 min to an operations center for data quality assurance, product generation, and dissemination. Quality-assured data are available within 5 min of the observation time. Since 1994, the Oklahoma Mesonet has collected 3.5 billion weather and soil observations and produced millions of decision-making products for its customers.

scholarly journals Which Meteorological and Climatological Information Is Requested for Better Surfing Experiences? A Survey-Based Analysis

Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 293
Author(s):  
Anna Boqué Ciurana ◽  
Enric Aguilar
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Climate Services ◽  
Tourism Sector ◽  
Potential Market ◽  
Climate Service ◽  
Adaptive Actions ◽  
Behavioral Perspective ◽  
Impacts Of Climate Change

This paper extends the work of previous research by investigating surfing practices and surf-recreation companies from a behavioral perspective. The study’s main aim is to gain insights into the role of meteorological/climatological information in decision-making related to the surf-tourism activities market. This information was gathered employing an online survey that asked respondents about where they surf and how they check forecasts for surfing. Climate services (CS) are promoted to support the decision-making process to better prepare for and adapt to the risks and opportunities of climate variability and change. The current market for CS is still in its early stages. In this paper, we report the findings from our recent investigation into the actual and potential market for CS for the Iberian Peninsula surf-tourism sector. Based on surfers’ and surf companies’ demands, it was found that an improved surfing climate service (herein, SCS) will have clear implications in the management of these tourism areas and provide insights into whether surfing activities may be successful. At the same time, such services can help to manage adaptive actions in regard to the impacts of climate change in surfing areas.

scholarly journals Advances in the application and utility of subseasonal-to-seasonal predictions

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-57
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Water Resource Management ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Lead Times ◽  
Climate Services ◽  
Related Services ◽  
Significant Step ◽  
Community Effort ◽  
Agriculture Water

AbstractThe subseasonal-to-seasonal (S2S) predictive timescale, encompassing lead times ranging from 2 weeks to a season, is at the frontier of forecasting science. Forecasts on this timescale provide opportunities for enhanced application-focused capabilities to complement existing weather and climate services and products. There is, however, a ‘knowledge-value’ gap, where a lack of evidence and awareness of the potential socio-economic benefits of S2S forecasts limits their wider uptake. To address this gap, here we present the first global community effort at summarizing relevant applications of S2S forecasts to guide further decision-making and support the continued development of S2S forecasts and related services. Focusing on 12 sectoral case studies spanning public health, agriculture, water resource management, renewable energy and utilities, and emergency management and response, we draw on recent advancements to explore their application and utility. These case studies mark a significant step forward in moving from potential to actual S2S forecasting applications. We show that by placing user needs at the forefront of S2S forecast development – demonstrating both skill and utility across sectors – this dialogue can be used to help promote and accelerate the awareness, value and co-generation of S2S forecasts. We also highlight that while S2S forecasts are increasingly gaining interest among users, incorporating probabilistic S2S forecasts into existing decision-making operations is not trivial. Nevertheless, S2S forecasting represents a significant opportunity to generate useful, usable and actionable forecast applications for and with users that will increasingly unlock the potential of this forecasting timescale.

scholarly journals Assessing the value of climate services for the wine sector

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mehri Khosravi ◽  
Marta Bruno Soares ◽  
António Graça ◽  
Natacha Fontes ◽  
Marta Teixeira
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Information Provision ◽  
End Users ◽  
Strategic Decision ◽  
Climate Information ◽  
Climate Services ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Wine Sector ◽  
Climate Service

<p>Climate services involve the production, translation and use of climate information to support users’ decisions towards adapting to climate variability and change. However, the value of climate services to end-users is only truly realised when the information provided by such services is used to support and inform users’ decision-making processes (Bruno Soares et al. 2018). Capturing and assessing the value and benefits of climate services constitutes a critical area of research in the field of climate services and can be informed by a range of epistemological and methodological approaches. <br>In this paper, we present the assessment of the socio-economic value and benefits of a climate service developed specifically for the wine sector and implemented under the auspices of the H2020 MED-GOLD project. The assessment was conducted with the end-users during a two-month period where they actively interacted with the climate service and the information it provides. Participatory mixed-methods consisting of a workshop, continuous feedback through survey, and interviews were applied to pursue this assessment.<br>Our paper describes the process and methods through which the climate service was assessed with the end-users. It then highlights key findings from the study such as typologies of value and benefits yielded by the end-users; usability of information provided by the service across operational and strategic decision-making processes; and key factors influencing use of climate information and the realisation of value. <br>In doing so, our paper contributes to current knowledge on what constitutes value to end-users in the wine sector and helps unpack some of the complexity between climate information provision, use and the realisation of its value to end-users. It also contributes to wider ongoing discussions on how to effectively assess the value and benefits of climate services to end-users and how to facilitate the realisation of such value, as well as its assessment, in future climate services initiatives.</p>

Megadrought and Collapse

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
15Th Century ◽  
Societal Collapse ◽  
The Face ◽  
Time Periods ◽  
Paleoclimate Proxy ◽  
Habitat Tracking

This is the first book to treat the major examples of megadrought and societal collapse, from the late Pleistocene end of hunter–gatherer culture and origins of cultivation to the 15th century AD fall of the Khmer Empire capital at Angkor, and ranging from the Near East to South America. Previous enquiries have stressed the possible multiple and internal causes of collapse, such overpopulation, overexploitation of resources, warfare, and poor leadership and decision-making. In contrast, Megadrought and Collapse presents case studies of nine major episodes of societal collapse in which megadrought was the major and independent cause of societal collapse. In each case the most recent paleoclimatic evidence for megadroughts, multiple decades to multiple centuries in duration, is presented alongside the archaeological records for synchronous societal collapse. The megadrought data are derived from paleoclimate proxy sources (lake, marine, and glacial cores; speleothems, or cave stalagmites; and tree-rings) and are explained by researchers directly engaged in their analysis. Researchers directly responsible for them discuss the relevant current archaeological records. Two arguments are developed through these case studies. The first is that societal collapse in different time periods and regions and at levels of social complexity ranging from simple foragers to complex empires would not have occurred without megadrought. The second is that similar responses to megadrought extend across these historical episodes: societal collapse in the face of insurmountable climate change, abandonment of settlements and regions, and habitat tracking to sustainable agricultural landscapes. As we confront megadrought today, and in the likely future, Megadrought and Collapse brings together the latest contributions to our understanding of past societal responses to the crisis on an equally global and diverse scale.

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