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CATCOS Phase 2

Project

High-quality and long-term climate data are an essential basis for the assessment of climate change. Upon completion of CATCOS Phase 1, it was vital to continue supporting developing and emerging countries in the establishment and sustainable continuation of climate observations. To this end, CATCOS Phase 2 aimed at enhancing climate monitoring capacities in ten partner countries. CATCOS Phase 2 supported regional cooperation as it bears the potential to optimize the use and benefit of climate observations. Additionally, the incorporation of science-based climate information into the decision-making process was promoted within CATCOS Phase 2, as it enables better management of risks emerging from climate variability and change.

Project start01.04.2014
Project end31.12.2016
RegionInternational
StatusCompleted projects
  • Research & cooperation

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Building on the achievements so far, the focus of Phase 2 was on the following three components:

Strengthen Climate Observation Capacities

Based on the previous success with the seven partner countries, CATCOS Phase 2 expanded its activities to Bolivia, Peru and Uzbekistan. A dual domain approach strengthened observation capacities in the atmospheric and terrestrial domains. The installation of aerosol instruments in Kenya, originally planned for CATCOS Phase 1, was completed in CATCOS Phase 2. New instrumentation for greenhouse gas measurements were implemented in Kyrgyzstan and new glacier mass balance monitoring was resumed in Uzbekistan. Customized trainings in the partner countries (on-site trainings, regional training courses) and working stays in Switzerland were arranged for local operators and scientists. These activities aimed at enhancing local capacities on standard operating procedures, instrument maintenance, data processing and analysis, quality control and scientific publication of the measured data.

Enhance Regional Cooperation

In CATCOS Phase 2, Regional Climate Services Workshops were organized for Southern Africa, Ibero-America and Central Asia.

These workshops supported the implementation of the Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS) for selected priority areas, notably Agriculture and Food Security, Disaster Risk Reduction, Health and Water. For this reason, national meteorological and hydrological services and other key local, regional and international stakeholders convened to consolidate regional climate services capacities. Emphasis was put on the importance of systematic high-quality climate observations as a basis for sound climate services. User-provider dialogues allowed the identification of sector-specific needs for improving climate services. Ultimately, the workshops offered opportunities to strengthen regional collaboration by enabling discussions on how to optimize the benefit of existing expertise, institutional arrangements and infrastructure in the region.

Promote the Use of Climate Data

Targeted communication within CATCOS Phase 2 on the local, regional and global scales highlighted the benefits of the established monitoring data. For this purpose, different media channels were used (e.g. publication of factsheets and press releases), country visits were carried out, and presentations at scientific and political conferences were held. As part of CATCOS Phase 2, the innovative mobile application wgms Glacier was developed to allow easy access to glacier information worldwide in support of science-based planning and policy-making.

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