One of the main goals of the European Climate Prediction (EUCP) project is to reduce the well-known gap between ‘top-down’ climate information provided and driven by science and ‘bottom-up’ end-user requirements in order to increase the credibility and usability of climate information. In doing so, EUCP will facilitate the provision of authoritative climate information that can be used more broadly to assess the impact of climate change and that can better assist decision makers involved in climate-related decisions.
In line with this goal, a series of consultations with specifically chosen users have been held through Zoom meetings. Seven users of climate information took part in these, including national and international organisations and programmes, industry and private consultancies. These users range from meteorological and climate service providers, to manufacturers, and institutes and consultancies specialised in natural resource management. These consultations were done to guide the shaping of future climate information that EUCP may produce, and to ensure this information would fulfil the needs of multiple users from a multitude of sectors. The active participation of these climate information users was made possible through engagement carried out by our EUCP partners.
The consultation meetings were realised with several users interested in European regions and beyond (examples identified locations in Brazil, China, North and West Africa, Israel, Jordan, Balkans and Chile). The time scales of the climate information used ranged from day-to-day forecasts via seasonal forecasts and decadal predictions to longer term climate projections. Their needs in spatial scale were ranging from really high spatial resolution to global scales. In addition to identifying these users’ needs in terms of areas, spatial and temporal scales, users expressed in interest in the following elements related to climate information:
- Increased predictability and confidence of short-term climate information (1-10 years);
- Reduced climate uncertainties of several variables such as temperature, precipitation, relative humidity and surface winds;
- Increased confidence in projecting/predicting drought, frost, cold spell and extreme precipitation from short-to-long-term climate information;
- A methodology allowing them to select climate information for their needs amongst the already large amount of available information;
- Bias-adjusted climate information.
EUCP will now consider how to potentially shape research and project deliverables to address these interests.
Funded by the European Union under Horizon 2020.