Periodic Reporting for period 1 - KADI (Knowledge and climate services from an African observation and Data research Infrastructure)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2022-09-01 al 2023-08-31
The KADI Coordination and Support Action is a Horizon Europe project to advance the foundations for a pan-African research infrastructure for atmospheric and climate services. KADI is coordinated by ICOS and builds - inter alia - on the results of an earlier project, SEACRIFOG. KADI aims to improve the knowledge base on climate change in Africa and to develop the tools to address the negative impacts of climate change.
These will be achieved by a consortium of partners from Africa and Europe as well as diverse experiences, backgrounds and viewpoints. The aim is to provide a comprehensive concept and pave the way for its implementation. This way, the envisaged infrastructure can support the important societal role of climate research. Specific objectives:
• A comprehensive design for a pan-African climate observation system developed on the basis of climate services as guiding design principle. This shall be rooted in a comprehensive documentation of past and existing observing capability, contrasted with scientifically justified requirements to identify the gaps, as facilitated by the WMO WIGOS OSCAR tool and the SEACRIFOG collaborative tool.
• A broad information network as basis for a successful and sustainable cooperation that connects infrastructure operators, scientists, data and knowledge users, a community of practice in climate services, agencies and funding bodies. This will be achieved by networking and knowledge exchange approach connecting to all important players on the global (e.g. UNFCCC, WMO, GCOS, UNESCO-IOP, GEO), continental (AU/EU), national (e.g. weather services, governmental agencies) and local level (universities, local authorities).
• A solid strategy for implementation and usage in close connection to future actors and users. Our ambition is to provide more than a simple design study but rather a comprehensive concept that will be ready to apply as soon as resources become available. Key players to carry the research infrastructure will be identified. The project includes four pilots to test these approaches as follows:
• Earth System Modeling as important data integration and knowledge generation tool that may feed multiple climate services.
• Coastal bio-geochemistry as crucial part of the climate and carbon system and potential source of climate services at from local to global scale.
• Cities as complex societal systems requiring services combining climate change mitigation, adaptation, urban heat stress and air quality in Nairobi, Dar Es Salaam and Abidjan.
• Experiences as inevitable part of the human dimension of the research infrastructure.
These will be achieved by a consortium of partners from Africa and Europe as well as diverse experiences, backgrounds and viewpoints. The aim is to provide a comprehensive concept and pave the way for its implementation. This way, the envisaged infrastructure can support the important societal role of climate research. Specific objectives:
• A comprehensive design for a pan-African climate observation system developed on the basis of climate services as guiding design principle. This shall be rooted in a comprehensive documentation of past and existing observing capability, contrasted with scientifically justified requirements to identify the gaps, as facilitated by the WMO WIGOS OSCAR tool and the SEACRIFOG collaborative tool.
• A broad information network as basis for a successful and sustainable cooperation that connects infrastructure operators, scientists, data and knowledge users, a community of practice in climate services, agencies and funding bodies. This will be achieved by networking and knowledge exchange approach connecting to all important players on the global (e.g. UNFCCC, WMO, GCOS, UNESCO-IOP, GEO), continental (AU/EU), national (e.g. weather services, governmental agencies) and local level (universities, local authorities).
• A solid strategy for implementation and usage in close connection to future actors and users. Our ambition is to provide more than a simple design study but rather a comprehensive concept that will be ready to apply as soon as resources become available. Key players to carry the research infrastructure will be identified. The project includes four pilots to test these approaches as follows:
• Earth System Modeling as important data integration and knowledge generation tool that may feed multiple climate services.
• Coastal bio-geochemistry as crucial part of the climate and carbon system and potential source of climate services at from local to global scale.
• Cities as complex societal systems requiring services combining climate change mitigation, adaptation, urban heat stress and air quality in Nairobi, Dar Es Salaam and Abidjan.
• Experiences as inevitable part of the human dimension of the research infrastructure.
-First project meeting was held in Cape Town in October 2022.
-By February 2023 the modelling pilot had completed two new simulations, final ones for the first round of verifications. The next step was collaboration in terms of verification of systems, and repeating the same process with colleagues in Kenya.
-From September 2022 to August 2023, WITS has performed Earth System Model simulations and observation-based verifications of these simulations, towards reaching the KADI objective of an improved parameterization of African land-surface attributes within the Earth System Model, through the innovative use of African observation systems. Links were also formed between WITS and CNRS, towards the application of EO data sets for the spatial verification of model simulations of land-surface attributes such as soil-moisture and above-ground biomass change. Similarly, a research collaboration was formed between WITS and NRF-SAEON and WITS and KMD, towards verifying the model simulations of inter-annual variations in the carbon flux.
-A seminal workshop titled ”The Integrated Regional Observation Carbon-Climate Constraints” was held at the National Research Foundation (NRF) in South Africa on 16 May 2023.
-NRF-SAEON has purchased some of the equipment which will be used for quantifying key elements of the coastal carbon cycle. Monthly meetings have been held to plan the deployment, the types of measurements to be made, the requirements to be labelled as ICOS stations, long-term maintenance, etc.
-The University of Turku developed a shared template for stakeholder and resource assessment based on commonly used methods and discussions with the team. The template contains advice on 1) identifying potential climate services for the cities, 2) identifying existing and potential stakeholders, 3) defining the geographical context, and 4) recognizing data needs and gaps.
-Researchers from the "Aerosols and Pollution" team organized several working meetings to define the various actions to be carried out within its climate service. The team has contacted its network of partners (via face-to-face meetings and telephone calls for some) to inform them and acknowledge their support for the implementation of the pilot city of Abidjan.
-The knowledge exchange component of KADI (WP4) has planned training opportunities to be executed in 2024. Other collaborations opportunities for knowledge exchange have also been initiated. Some include the LEAP RE online platform, the Africa Knowledge Platform, WCRP Academy and the Tanzania Resilience Academy.
-By February 2023 the modelling pilot had completed two new simulations, final ones for the first round of verifications. The next step was collaboration in terms of verification of systems, and repeating the same process with colleagues in Kenya.
-From September 2022 to August 2023, WITS has performed Earth System Model simulations and observation-based verifications of these simulations, towards reaching the KADI objective of an improved parameterization of African land-surface attributes within the Earth System Model, through the innovative use of African observation systems. Links were also formed between WITS and CNRS, towards the application of EO data sets for the spatial verification of model simulations of land-surface attributes such as soil-moisture and above-ground biomass change. Similarly, a research collaboration was formed between WITS and NRF-SAEON and WITS and KMD, towards verifying the model simulations of inter-annual variations in the carbon flux.
-A seminal workshop titled ”The Integrated Regional Observation Carbon-Climate Constraints” was held at the National Research Foundation (NRF) in South Africa on 16 May 2023.
-NRF-SAEON has purchased some of the equipment which will be used for quantifying key elements of the coastal carbon cycle. Monthly meetings have been held to plan the deployment, the types of measurements to be made, the requirements to be labelled as ICOS stations, long-term maintenance, etc.
-The University of Turku developed a shared template for stakeholder and resource assessment based on commonly used methods and discussions with the team. The template contains advice on 1) identifying potential climate services for the cities, 2) identifying existing and potential stakeholders, 3) defining the geographical context, and 4) recognizing data needs and gaps.
-Researchers from the "Aerosols and Pollution" team organized several working meetings to define the various actions to be carried out within its climate service. The team has contacted its network of partners (via face-to-face meetings and telephone calls for some) to inform them and acknowledge their support for the implementation of the pilot city of Abidjan.
-The knowledge exchange component of KADI (WP4) has planned training opportunities to be executed in 2024. Other collaborations opportunities for knowledge exchange have also been initiated. Some include the LEAP RE online platform, the Africa Knowledge Platform, WCRP Academy and the Tanzania Resilience Academy.
The project is in its first year which was mainly used for setting up structures, creating and reactivating networks and identifying resources for the next phases.