Fifth VACS Panel Meeting

Meeting Report

Venue: Department of Oceanography, RW James Building, University of Cape Town

Agenda

Day 1: Monday 21 November 2011
0915 Welcome, Introductions and Orientation (Richard Washington and Mathieu Rouault)

0930
Panel Meeting Aims and Objectives (Richard Washington)
Discussion of meeting aims & objectives and final comments on agenda

0945
WCRP – CLIVAR & GEWEX and the Africa Panel (Nico Caltabiano - CLIVAR, Sam Benedict - GEWEX, Willem Landman – WGSIP, Fred Semazzi - JSC)
Aim: Overview of new directions within WCRP – consequences for regional panels and immediate requirements from panels – notably VACS.

1030-1100 Coffee and Tea

1100
Current African Climate Activity: Overview of current climate related activities and programmes in Africa. Maximum 5 minutes per item.
Aim: Brief synopsis of key programmes and initiatives in Africa to provide context for subsequent agenda items, particularly VACS activities. ‘Programmes’ is broadly defined. It is expected that programmes are multi-annual and multi-institutional. Please indicate the central aims, African institutions involved and the level of involvement, status of each programme, funding sources, etc. Also for consideration: how should VACS interface with these programmes effectively? Do we wish to actively promote some of them?

1230-1400 Lunch

1400
Science Priorities in Africa: Presentations
Aim: Panel members present her/his top three climate science priorities for Africa. Justification for choice is required. Maximum of 20 minutes per presentation. In some cases it may be appropriate for panel members to join forces to offer a regional perspective. In other cases, panel members will present her/his own perspective. It is strongly recommended that you consult with colleagues who are engaged in African climate work prior to the panel meeting.

1600 Tea and Coffee

1620
Science Priorities Continued/Discussion and Consensus It may be necessary for working groups to be formed to develop science priorities.

1700 Day 1 Close

Day 2: Tuesday 22 November 2011

0900
Consensus on Science Priorities: Production of Final List
Aim: Derive a consensus of priorities. Final Discussion. Four writing teams to record the priorities. Priorities to form basis of review paper.

1030-1100 Coffee and Tea

1100
VACS Activities and Actions
Aim: To develop a set of actions and activities with named panel members as champions to take the action forward. Each panel member will be called up to present their preferred action/activities In addition to a declared set of climate science priorities for Africa, VACS needs to develop a set of activities and actions. Some of these actions and activities may be in support of the science priorities but this does not need to be so. In each case, the outputs (tangible products which we as a panel will produce directly) and the outcomes (consequences for the African climate community) need to be clear. Some may be defined in relation to the climate science priorities.

The list below, which builds on VACS panel discussions earlier this year, is offered to begin the process. Discussion is by no means restricted to these.
1) Goal: Framework of agreement for the construction of a monthly gridded temperature and rainfall data set for the continent. The existence of a gridded data set unlocks research on modes, mechanisms, predictability, model capability – in fact it underpins much of climate research. Rainfall is particularly important to stakeholders. Note that the aim does not feature the actual creation of a gridded data set – this is a research task and needs to be funded. But what hampers funding of such research efforts at the moment is that agencies are sceptical of the task given the many barriers to obtaining agreements from custodians of data. VACS could make a major contribution to the diplomacy necessary to set up such a task and make it viable. With its links to regional centres, VACS has the potential to take this forward. A champion within the VACS panel is needed.
2) Goal: Portal/mechanism to make CMIP5 and similar data (CORDEX?) available to African researchers. VACS developed ‘The African Climate Atlas’ which is a menu driven system for plotting basic climate data. There are several such portals. The CMIP3 component of the Atlas, which offered ensemble mean model data, has been heavily used within Africa. The Atlas could be extended to more recently released data sets. Other mechanisms/portals could be considered.
3) Goal: Catalogue of observed climate change in Africa. Both detection and attribution studies are needed, partly to steady potentially damaging claims about popularly accepted examples of anthropogenic climate change on the continent. ‘Catalogue’ might be a step too far – framework for research might be more appropriate or at least ‘promotion of’. This is a highly visible issue. Needs champion. Note ‘weatherathome’ experiment.
4) Goal: Seasonal, Intra-seasonal and decadal Prediction. Major focus for >10 years and locus of attention within African climate community. Specific goal needs to be discussed. Champion needed.
5) Goal: Documentation of successful application of climate science information in Africa. To help climate science to pay for itself in Africa, examples of successful application are needed. Some key work ongoing. What can VACS do to promote this work further?
6) Goal: Consensus on climate change. CMIP3 led to numerous studies on projected climate change in Africa. Many studies were overlapping and some contradictory. A lot of replication led to wasted funds, particularly in consultancy work. Need to do better for CMIP5. Probably strong overlap with CORDEX. What mechanisms can VACS put in place?
7) Capacity development in African climate science now has an established history. There are numerous ongoing, overlapping efforts. Oversight of the history of these efforts, the funders involved and the resulting products are not easily obtained. VACS may play a key role in documenting capacity development, polling for needs and steering strategic development.

1230-1330 Lunch

1330 Resume Discussion of VACS Activities and Actions

1600 Tea and Coffee

1615 Overview and Discussion of Activities and Actions thus far

1700 Day 2 Close

Day 3: Wednesday 23 November 2011

0900 Review of Actions and Activities

0930 Writing teams record Actions and Activities

1100 Coffee and Tea

1115 Presentation of Final list of Actions and Activities

1200 Meeting Summary (Nico Caltabiano), Any Other Business

1300 Meeting Closes

Participants

VACS members:

Richard Washington (Chair), Richard Anyah, Mohamed Kadi, Simon Mason, Mathieu Rouault, Mxolisi Shongwe, Fred Semazzi, Peter Lamb, Joseph Mutemi, Arame Tall

Invited Experts: Willem Landman (WGSIP), Sam Benedict (GEWEX)

CLIVAR Support: Nico Caltabiano