Education and Outreach | Fundamental Research | Enhancing Productivity | Protection of Life and Property

ESIG 2004 Achievements

Education and Outreach

AMS (American Meteorological Society) Committee on Probability and Statistics

During FY04, Richard Katz continued to maintain and update the website for the American Meteorological Society Committee on Probability and Statistics. The site's purpose is to promote the sound use of statistical methods in the atmospheric sciences. ( www.isse.ucar.edu/ams/ams_ps.html ).

Capacity Building by Proxy

Michael Glantz began a new outreach activity that aims to foster human capacity building through research and educational activities across international borders and in developing areas. The first such effort began in FY04 as a “Peace Bridge Initiative” between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan. This cooperative effort involves professors and students of Termez State University in the city of Termez in southern Uzbekistan and Balkh University in Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan. Although these universities are only 70 kilometers apart, the gap between their levels of development is very great. Uzbekistan was part of the Soviet Union, and their research and educational policies reflect the demands of Soviet leaders who put a high value on science and technology. Afghanistan has been in turmoil for decades, beginning in the early 1970s and continuing with the repressive rule of the Taliban and the war to oust them. The focus on “capacity building by proxy” refers to enabling Uzbek researchers and educators to work closely with their counterparts across the Amudarya River that forms the international border between these two countries. With the support of NCAR and NOAA, the notion has expanded from measuring air pollution in urban areas to include education and training on issues related to weather, climate, and water. Glantz is exploring a second initiative along these lines in FY05.

Studies of Forecast Value Website

This comprehensive website categorizes recent case studies of the value of imperfect weather and climate forecasts. Its scope is focused on prospective studies that obtain quantitative estimates of forecast value. During FY04, Richard Katz continued to maintain and update the site (www.isse.ucar.edu/HP_rick/esig.html).

Climate Affairs Developments

Michael Glantz's notion of Climate Affairs continued development during FY04. Glantz worked with Columbia University's Earth Institute to establish a “Climate and Society” Master's program, which began in the fall of 2004. The Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) in Bangkok is in the process of developing a Climate Affairs education program. Glantz attended a workshop in Malaysia in April 2004 to assist in the development of Climate Affairs activities. At that workshop, the University of Malaya committed resources to the development of a Center of Excellence for Climate Affairs.

Glantz and Qian Ye traveled to China several times during FY04 in order to arrange for a Social and Economic Impacts Study to be conducted for the Chinese National Climate Center. Ye and Glantz were invited to lead the study, which is designed to benefit the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. The project will be conducted from 2005 through 2009. Ye and Glantz were also invited to lead a preliminary workshop for the Chinese National Climate Center in order to assist in the development of a national operational system on climate and ecosystem interactions.

Glantz began initial work during FY04 on a “Water Affairs” activity with the United Nations University (UNU) International Network on Water, Environment and Health at McMasters University in Hamilton, Ontario. “UN-WATER” was recently confirmed as a system-wide interagency coordination mechanism in the United Nations, as an activity related to the recently announced UN International Decade for Action, “Water for Life” 2005–2015. The goal of a Water Affairs activity would be to assist in capacity development and knowledge management. A key contributing factor to the water crisis in many developing countries is the lack of indigenous capacity (scientific, educational, institutional, and managerial) for effective water management.

Alaska has recently observed a more drastic temperature change than any other part of the world. While reasons for this change are still a major focus of international research, the effects of this warming are seen all over Alaska. Shannon McNeeley continued work during FY04 on a Climate Affairs education and outreach program with the Alaska Native Science Commission and the University of Alaska. It focuses on the impacts of climate and environmental changes in Alaska, with a particular focus on Alaska natives. This program combines knowledge and techniques from western science and from indigenous traditional knowledge and wisdom. Two other projects on Alaska Climate Affairs are under way in ESIG, and a website has been created to educate others on those activities at Alaskan Climate Affairs.

Clim-Econ Discussion List

The Economics of Climate Variability and Global Change list (Clim-Econ) is a moderated electronic discussion group, created and managed by Kathleen Miller, which serves to facilitate interdisciplinary discussion on the economic aspects of climate variability and change. The initial subscribers included the participants in the Institute on the Economics of the Climate Resource held at NCAR in June 1995. The list currently has more than 500 subscribers from around the world, including individuals with a variety of backgrounds and professional affiliations. csf.colorado.edu/clim-econ/

Disaster Dynamics

Eric Scharff, Robert Harriss, and Seth McGinnis continued to develop the Disaster Dynamics project. The team has created several computer-based simulation prototypes targeted at undergraduate emergency management education. In addition to creating new tools, the team researched and facilitated existing games to encourage systems-thinking skills. The primary prototype emphasizes the planning and consensus-building surrounding hurricane mitigation and the consequences of those decisions. The team has presented work at emergency management education workshops and is working with users to design the learning modules. During FY04, the team tested prototypes with users and refined the game content and structure. Prototypes and documentation can be found on the project website at http://swiki.ucar.edu/dd/

Digital Library on Societal Impacts

During FY04, Eric Scharff began initial development of the Digital Library on Societal Impacts (DLSI). This will be a Web-based resource for collecting and disseminating research findings related to the use and value of weather forecasts. The goal of the library is to make research results, including case studies, websites, decision support tools, and other resources accessible to the appropriate communities. In particular, results should be synthesized so that they are useful to policymakers and researchers interested in the use of weather forecasts. This work is being done through the NCAR-USWRP Collaborative Program on the Societal Impacts and Economic Benefits of Weather Information (SIP). Asim Zia was hired in August 2004 to assist in the development of DLSI.

Fragilecologies Website

Michael Glantz continues to maintain a website of environmental editorials since the late 1990s. He wrote a column for the Boulder Daily Camera for six years and the Boulder Planet for two years thereafter. He then established this website focused primarily on climate-society-environment issues. It includes guest editorials, an Idea Bank, and other editorials on a wide range of climate-related topics. At present, this website receives approximately 8,000 "hits" per week and is growing. www.fragilecologies.com

Geophysical Statistics Project (GSP)

Richard Katz serves as co-Principal Investigator of NCAR's Geophysical Statistics Project (GSP, led by Doug Nychka (IMAGe). Other PIs include Jeff Anderson (IMAGe) and Joe Tribbia (CGD). During FY04, a renewal proposal was funded by the National Science Foundation's Division of Mathematical Sciences. The FY04 accomplishments of GSP are included under the FY04 ASR section of the Institute for Mathematics Applied to Geosciences (IMAGe) (www.cgd.ucar.edu/stats/IMAGe/).

Network Newsletter/ENSO Signal

The Network Newsletter has been published quarterly in ESIG for the past nineteen years. This international, multidisciplinary newsletter was combined in January 2003 with the ENSO Signal, which is intended for those interested in the ENSO cycle and its impacts on ecosystems and societies. The newsletter fosters a network of those interested in climate-related impact assessment. The ENSO Signal was originally published at NOAA's Office of Global Programs and has been published in ESIG since January 2000. Michael Glantz, Editor, and DJan Stewart, Managing Editor, continue to work on networking research centers, nongovernmental organizations, universities, institutes, and individuals in the production of these publications. The online version of the ENSO Signal receives thousands of “hits” every month and continues to grow its list of electronic subscribers. The printed version of the Newsletter is sent to more than 2,000 foreign subscribers and more than 2,000 domestic subscribers, who contribute articles, publications, and meeting news to the Managing Editor. NCAR continues to support the combined publication, which is distributed free of charge and are both available electronically and in hard copy.

Statistics of Weather and Climate Extremes

During FY04, Richard Katz continued to maintain and update a website on the statistics of weather and climate extremes. This site is intended to serve as a resource for the use of the statistical theory of extreme values in the analysis of weather and climate extremes and their impacts (www.isse.ucar.edu/extremevalues/extreme.html).

Telementoring

This refers to relatively long-term computer-based mentoring activities with colleagues in other countries as well as in the United States. Telementoring includes students as well as professionals wishing to know more about climate-society interactions, as well as those who ask for guidance on identifying topics, resources, and networks for research, which includes the physical, biological, and social sciences, and the humanities. ESIG scientists continued several telementoring activities during FY04.

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Education and Outreach | Fundamental Research | Enhancing Productivity | Protection of Life and Property