Downscaling for Practitioners - Basics of Downscaling Climate Data and Making It Relevant for Design Use

Join us November 12 at 2 p.m. CDT for a presentation by Michael Notaro (Director-Nelson Institute Center for Climatic Research) and Steve Vavrus (Senior Scientist, State Climatologist) on downscaling climate data.

This seminar will focus on the basics of downscaling climate data from large scale general circulation models (GCMs) to local scales, such as the Midwest or Wisconsin. The talk will frame the basics of downscaling by highlighting two methods previously used to generate data for Wisconsin: dynamically downscaled data that uses a nested regional climate model and statistically downscaled data that leverages statistical relationships between current climate and output from GCMs to bring data from a global level to a local one. The presenters will discuss the benefits and challenges of each method and the applicability of the data products for use in design of infrastructure. The talk will end with a 'best-practices' for using climate data and forecast what changes might be around the corner for climate modeling and use in impact assessments.