Asia-Pacific Climate Change Adaptation Information Platform (AP-PLAT)
Asia-Pacific Climate Change Adaptation Information Platform

Multi-stakeholder Climate Change Downscaler Training in Thailand

Date 27/FEB/2018
Location Khlong Luang, Thailand

Participants from seven countries gathered at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) in Thailand on February 19-20, 2018 for a training course on the use of a Climate Change Downscaler system for impact assessments, adaptation planning, and urban planning. Organized by the Regional Resource Center for Asia and the Pacific (RRC.AP), the training workshop was delivered in collaboration with the Ministry of the Environment of Japan, the University of Tsukuba, and the Center for Environmental Science in Saitama.

Spatially detailed climate prediction is essential for undertaking climate change impact assessments and designing corresponding adaptation strategies and measures to address identified impacts. Climate projection is also a tool that can be used to assess the effects of urban planning and changes in land-use on the local thermal environment. Currently, climate impact assessment researchers as well as land-use and urban planners have to either rely on climate modeling specialists to generate necessary data or apply dynamic downscaling to their data in order to obtain detailed spatial climate prediction data fit for their respective purposes. However, dynamic downscaling requires advanced, specialized knowledge, making it difficult for non-specialists to use.

Responding to the need for a simplified process for making local climate change projections and assessments, Dr. Hiroyuki Kusaka (University of Tsukuba), Dr. Masayuki Hara (Center for Environmental Science in Saitama), and Yasutaka Wakatsuki (Ibaraki University) developed a downscaling assessment system called the S8•SI-CAT Downscaler. It aims to reduce the workload for non-specialists of climate modeling, including government officers and researchers, who are responsible for local climate change projections. The workshop provided participants with hands-on exercises on the specific functions of the S8•SI-CAT Downscaler required for their particular research and policy needs.

Schematic image of down scaling from Global Climate model (GCM) to Regional Climate Model (RCM)
Schematic image of down scaling from Global Climate model (GCM) to Regional Climate Model (RCM)
  • [1] The countries are Indonesia, Japan, Mongolia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam.

(Posted : 27/FEB/2018)

BACK