Climate Simulation and Analysis

• Production and access to expertise and reliable regional climate information;

• Generation of new Regional Climate Models for use at the international level; availability of new global climate data (CMIP5); refinement of the resolution of regional climate projections;

• Exploit the potential of lesser-used variables and indicators from regional simulations that could be relevant for Vulnerabilities, Impacts and Adaptation projects (e.g. humidity, wind, freezing rain);

• New approaches to analyzing regional climate projections to better interpret results and facilitate decision-making;

• Understanding processes that occur near the surface (and which directly affect humans) and are important particularly for hydrology, forestry and agriculture, such as formation of snow cover, evapotranspiration and water in the soil.

Support projects by producing relevant and cutting-edge regional climate data and by providing expertise on their appropriate use.

• Produce a set of new, high resolution (25 km) regional climate projections for North America, continuous through 2100, using a new version of the Canadian Regional Climate Model, driven by global models of the new CMIP5 ensemble;

• Go to a very high resolution (15 km) and develop expertise at this scale;

• Provide expertise in climate processes and climate simulation to other Ouranos groups, members and partners;

• Develop innovative analytical approaches to regional climate information;

• Advance climate-modeling expertise through collaborative research with universities, member organizations and international experts.