Conference Theme & Topics
Conference Theme
Creating climate services through partnerships.
Climate has and will continue to have a strong impact on the environment, on the economy and on health and safety. Societies need to adapt to present weather and climate on the one hand, but also develop new strategies for expected future conditions. It is vital that more services be created and existing ones improved, based on better monitoring and understanding, and on improved predictions of climate in the short, medium and long term.
In line with the Global Framework of Climate Services (GFCS) these initiatives are increasingly developed through partnerships and dialogue, between scientists, developers, providers and end-users, the primary aim being to support society to cope with high impact climate extremes.
ECAC – Applied climatology: Developing Climate Services in Partnerships
The ECAC programme will provide a forum for exchange and sharing knowledge on climate monitoring and prediction and the development of climate services.
In line with the Global Framework of Climate Services (GFCS) these initiatives are increasingly developed through partnerships and dialogue, between scientists, developers, providers and end-users, the primary aim being to support society to cope with and adapt to climate extremes, in particular those with high impacts. The programme is organised in three session groups:
- Monitoring climate and climate change
- Understanding processes and climate change
- Research and services for socio-economic sectors
As the developing climate and meteorological services dedicated to various socio-economic sectors are increasingly building on joint applications, many interconnections with the ASI and CE sessions are expected.
Communication and education (CE)
The CE programme provides a platform for discussions on the provision and dissemination of meteorological and climate information to society. This includes strategic issues such as the development of adaptation strategies and communication within and through all types of media. Far-reaching challenges will also be discussed such as the role of meteorology and atmospheric sciences in education and training, and important aspects of career development.
In line with the conference theme, communication and interpretation of uncertainty in seasonal prediction and climate projections will also be addressed.
Numerical weather prediction (NWP)
The emphasis of the NWP programme is on the development and operational use of numerical models:
- Studies on efficient and robust numerical schemes in super-computing environments, modelling of processes relevant to weather forecasting, data assimilation, the use of observations, as well as probabilistic techniques.
- Use of tools developed for specific downstream applications of NWP forecasts.
- Operational interpretation and use of NWP outputs, including automatic interpretation algorithms, interpretation by forecasters and challenges connected with the provision of high resolution products to users.
NWP activities include both research and operational aspects. The operational aspects involve the forecasters and increasingly end-users.
The atmospheric system and its interactions (ASI)
The ASI session programme is a platform addressing our understanding, observing and modelling capacities of atmospheric processes, the water cycle and physio-graphic surface conditions at all scales, including the various feedback mechanisms and an integrated earth system approach.
The ASI sessions thus mostly cover basic scientific activiti es upstream of those addressed in the NWP and ECAC programmes, but without forgetting potential applications for a broad range of services and sectors. The ASI sessions also provide plenty of interfaces for related sciences and applications: hydrology, agrometeorology, air quality and atmospheric composition, biometeorology, space weather, renewable energy potential, urban development, etc.