The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) is organizing an International Conference on the Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment CORDEX to be held at ICTP, Trieste, Italy from 21 – 26 March of 2011.
The Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment – CORDEX – is a new international program with the threefold objective of:
- Evaluating and improving dynamical and statistical regional climate downscaling (RCD) techniques;
- Produce a new generation of RCD-based climate projections for regions worldwide
- Foster communication between the cl imate modeling and impact communities and enhance the engagement of scientists from developing countries in climate change research.
CORDEX entails the completion and intercomparison of ensembles of different regional climate model (RCM) experiments using the same domains, resolution and lateral boundary condition fields from either analyses of observations or global climate models. The RCM simulations are then expected to be compared to analogous downscaling experiments with statistical/empirical techniques. Specific sets of analysis metrics for both, model validation and assessment of projections, are being developed for each region. Phase I of CORDEX is currently under way, focusing as high priority on a domain encompassing the entire African continent. An expected outcome of the CORDEX Phase I activities is a significant contribution by the RCD community to the IPCC Fith Assessment Report (AR5). A number of RCM groups worldwide have joined the CORDEX effort, and the first simulations have been completed or are currently under way not only for the Africa domain but also for other regional domains. The conference will consist of two segments. The first (21-24 March) will be devoted to a review of the status and main issues of the CORDEX initiative over the various CORDEX domains. Special sessions will be devoted to the Africa domain and to the assessment of the first multi-model CORDEX simulations over this region. This first segment of the conference will include invited and contributed papers and will entail a strong communication between the climate modeling and impact communities. The second segment (25-26 March) will include targeted skill building training sessions along with a specific Africa regional analysis design activity. This second segment will be mostly composed of theoretical lectures and hand-on laboratory sessions.
The directors of the Conference are F. Giorgi (ICTP, Italy), C. Jones (SMHI, Sweden) and B. Hewitson (University of Cape Town, S. Africa).
Participation
The conference will be conducted in English. Limited funding (including travel grants) for participation in the conference is available for scientists from developing countries. No registration fee is required.
