In developing and emerging countries, climate data are often of poor quality and do not meet the prerequisites for the provision of climate services for political decision-makers. The main objective of the GFCS is to build and develop the capacities of National Meteorological and Hydrological Services in generating climate products and services, and to link climate service providers and users in a way that allows the better use of climate information.
In Peru and the Andean region, the importance of user-tailored climate services is recognized, but this requires better quality climate observations and more expert meteorologists and climatologists. To address this need, the GFCS pilot project CLIMANDES (Servicios climáticos con énfasis en los Andes en apoyo a las decisiones) was established between Peru and Switzerland in 2012. The project seeks to increase the number of professionals and students trained in meteorology and climatology in support of the recently established WMO Regional Training Centre (RTC), which is hosted at the National Agricultural University La Molina in Lima (Module 1). Furthermore, CLIMANDES aims to develop climate services for the pilot regions Cusco and Junin (Module 2).
As part of Module 1, the science curriculum of the RTC was restructured to align with current and future needs in the Andean region. New e-learning tools are now also being developed for both undergraduate and graduate students of meteorology and climatology. Furthermore, the student exchange within the Andean region – as well as with University of Bern (Switzerland) – is facilitated to enable knowledge exchange and to strengthen the role of the RTC. To improve operational forecasting skills at the Peruvian National Service for Meteorology and Hydrology (SENAMHI), applied training courses are regularly held in the field of practical meteorology. In the long run, all of these efforts will contribute to developing more skilled professionals.
In Module 2, state-of-the-art data quality control and homogenization procedures are currently being implemented at SENAMHI. Climate change indices will be calculated based on these data for the Cusco and Junin pilot regions. To translate the climate information into comprehensive sector-relevant products and services, effective communication channels have been identified. Political decision-makers will be enabled to take appropriate adaptation measures. In this way, the initiative will result in socio-economic benefits for numerous sectors – agriculture, health and water – and, hence, for society at large.
The project is coordinated by WMO and implemented by SENAMHI and the Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology MeteoSwiss in collaboration with the National Agricultural University La Molina (UNALM), the University of Bern, and Meteodat GmbH. It is financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). The project will run from August 2012 to July 2015.
