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In this paper, we have compared different bias correction methodologies to assess whether they could be advantageous for improving the performance of a seasonal prediction model for volume anomalies in the Boadella reservoir (northwestern Mediterranean). The bias correction adjustments have been applied on precipitation and temperature from the European Centre for Middle-range Weather Forecasting System 4 (S4). We have used three bias correction strategies: two linear (mean bias correction, BC, and linear regression, LR) and one non-linear (Model Output Statistics analogs, MOS-analog). The results have been compared with climatology and persistence. The volume-anomaly model is a previously computed Multiple Linear Regression that ingests precipitation, temperature and in-flow anomaly data to simulate monthly volume anomalies. The potential utility for end-users has been assessed using economic value curve areas. We have studied the S4 hindcast period 1981–2010 for each month of the year and up to seven months ahead considering an ensemble of 15 members. We have shown that the MOS-analog and LR bias corrections can improve the original S4. The application to volume anomalies points towards the possibility to introduce bias correction methods as a tool to improve water resource seasonal forecasts in an end-user context of climate services. Particularly, the MOS-analog approach gives generally better results than the other approaches in late autumn and early winter. We thank the Catalan Water Agency for the hydrological data provided. We acknowledge the AEMET and ECMWF for the ECMWF System 4 ensemble re-forecast data. We also acknowledge the E-OBS dataset from the EU-FP6 project ENSEMBLES (http://ensembles-_eu.metoffice.com) and the data providers in the ECA&D project (http://www.ecad.eu). Raül Marcos thanks the Ministerio de Educación Cultura y Deporte for the FPU (grant reference AP2010-0999) and the Agustí Pedro i Pons University Foundation funding for international research projects. Marco Turco was supported by the Spanish Juan de la Cierva Programme(IJCI-2015-26953).

Several Blue-Action partners attended and contributed to the 2017 Arctic Circle event in Reykjavik, Iceland, October 13-15. More information about the event and full programme:http://www.arcticcircle.org/ These are the sessions we have been contributing to: http://www.blue-action.eu/index.php?id=4011 Several Blue-Action partners attended and contributed to the 2017 Arctic Circle event in Reykjavik, Iceland, October 13-15. More information about the event and full programme:http://www.arcticcircle.org/ These are the sessions we have been contributing to: http://www.blue-action.eu/index.php?id=4011

Several Blue-Action partners attended and contributed to the 2017 Arctic Circle event in Reykjavik, Iceland, October 13-15. More information about the event and full programme: http://www.arcticcircle.org/ These are the sessions we have been contributing to: http://www.blue-action.eu/index.php?id=4011 Several Blue-Action partners attended and contributed to the 2017 Arctic Circle event in Reykjavik, Iceland, October 13-15. More information about the event and full programme: http://www.arcticcircle.org/ These are the sessions we have been contributing to: http://www.blue-action.eu/index.php?id=4011

If climate services are to lead to effective use of climate information in decision-making to enable the transition to a climate-smart, climate-ready world, then the question of trust in the products and services is of paramount importance. The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) has been actively grappling with how to build such trust: provision of demonstrably independent assessments of the quality of products, which was deemed an important element in such trust-building processes. C3S provides access to essential climate variables (ECVs) from multiple sources to a broad set of users ranging from scientists to private companies and decision-makers. Here we outline the approach undertaken to coherently assess the quality of a suite of observation- and reanalysis-based ECV products covering the atmosphere, ocean, land, and cryosphere. The assessment is based on four pillars: basic data checks, maturity of the datasets, fitness for purpose (scientific use cases and climate studies), and guidance to users. It is undertaken independently by scientific experts and presented alongside the datasets in a fully traceable, replicable, and transparent manner. The methodology deployed is detailed, and example assessments are given. These independent scientific quality assessments are intended to guide users to ensure they use tools and datasets that are fit for purpose to answer their specific needs rather than simply use the first product they alight on. This is the first such effort to develop and apply an assessment framework consistently to all ECVs. Lessons learned and future perspectives are outlined to potentially improve future assessment activities and thus climate services., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 103 (9), ISSN:0003-0007, ISSN:1520-0477

While climate change impacts affect cities globally, adaptation measures need to be identified and designed locally, since the specific settlement and microclimate conditions determined by the characteristics of built and natural environment play a crucial role in aggravating (or reducing) the intensity of extreme weather events, such as heat waves and flooding. In the field of climate risk modelling, a key area of study concerns the integration of the urban microclimate analysis in the conventional GCM-RCM (Global Climate Model – Regional Climate Model) downscaling approach, to refine climate projections and capture the variations at urban/district scale of hazard indicators as the Mean Radiant Temperature (Trm) and the flooding paths and accumulation areas. It is an emerging and interdisciplinary field, where climate science, earth observation, urban studies, environmental design and building technology can contribute to identify suitable approaches to microclimate modelling. The H2020-CLARITY project (www.clarity-h2020.eu)aims at developing Climate Services to support the integration of adaptation measures in urban infrastructure projects, providing an innovative hazard/impact modelling methodology that takes into account urban microclimate variability. The microclimate effect in European cities is quantified by exploiting the potential of the wide amount of data generated by satellite earth observations and made available at pan-European level through the Copernicus datasets (e.g. Urban Atlas, European Settlement Map, etc.), which can be processed with specific algorithms and GIS spatial analysis tools to extract detailed information related to key parameters linked to urban morphology and surface type, such as albedo, emissivity, buildings shadows, green fraction and runoff coefficient. The proposed methodology allows to refine the information derived from climate models, with a typical maximum resolution of 10-12km (such as Euro-Cordex), at the level of a 250x250m mesh overlapped on European urban areas, thanks to the high resolution of satellite data. This information is used as input of the CLARITY Pre-feasibility assessment tool, which aims at supporting a detailed quantification of expected impacts from extreme heat and precipitation events, and a first screening of suitable adaptation measures tailored to the city-specific context. The aim is to extend through a new generation of Climate Services the application of Copernicus data, as a harmonized, freely available and expanding data repository at EU level, also exploiting the synergies with other EU initiatives, such as the Risk Data Hub currently being developed by the JRC-DRMKC (Disaster Risk Management Knowledge Centre).

Poster presented at the 5-9 June 2017, 3rd European Climate Change Adaptation Conference, Glasgow (UK) Why Climate Services? Weather and climate prediction in the Arctic and northern regions is inherently challenging and year-on-year and decadal variability makes it difficult to detect reliable signals of change. Changes in Arctic climate and weather patterns also influence Northern Hemisphere weather and climate, and potentially other climate systems worldwide. In an increasingly globalized world, decision-makers from all sectors need to access improved climate and weather information across regional boundaries to address forthcoming social and economic challenges posed by a changing climate. Why Blue-Action? The Blue-Action project aims to deliver improved modelling, prediction, and forecasting of Arctic climate change and its impact on Northern Hemisphere climate, weather, and extreme weather events, in line with stakeholder needs. Activities across the academic, business, policy, and public communities are often disconnected, or follow a linear, 'scientist-tells-end-user' pathway, limiting opportunities for true co-creation of outcomes and real innovation. With this in mind, Blue-Action brings together trans-disciplinary teams covering the entire pathway from earth observation and modelling to businesses and local communities to focus on developing new effective, and scalable services based on cutting-edge climate science. Enabling better co-creation of climate services is central to Blue- Action's approach., Blue-Action: Arctic Impact on Weather and Climate is a Research and Innovation action (RIA) funded by the Horizon 2020 Work programme topics addressed: BG-10-2016 Impact of Arctic changes on the weather and climate of the Northern Hemisphere. Start date: 1 December 2016. End date: 1 March 2021. We support Blue Growth! Visit us on: www.blue-action.eu Follow us on Twitter: @BG10Blueaction

Climate Services are emerging worldwide as an essential tool to bridge the advancement in climate science and earth observations with a variety of operational fields in the domains of disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA). There is a growing need to harmonize risk and impact assessment modelling methodologies in order to increase the potential for use of scientific results by decision-makers to streamline national to local DRR and CCA policies. An integrated modelling approach should provide a detailed impact quantification on selected elements at risk (e.g. population, buildings, transport infrastructure, economic sectors, etc.) under the effect of extreme weather events in context of climate change, based on high resolution climate projections and analyses.A large share of global climate risk is concentrated in urban areas. Cities are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change because of the high density of people, built infrastructure, and economic activity, but also because urban areas shape their own climate, amplifying climate extremes such as excessive heat and flooding. Sustainable urban and health planning can offer solutions, and it is important to understand, how physical and socioeconomic processes co-determine the exposure and vulnerability of populations, economy, and infrastructure to the impacts of climate extremes.

The intensity and impact of climate change induced extreme weather events, such as heat waves or floods, is to a large extent determined by the characteristics of built and natural environment. Urban resilience measures therefore need to be identified and designed locally to reduce impacts by altering the specific settlement characteristics and improving the microclimate conditions. To support urban planners in choosing the adequate adaptation options for specific urban infrastructure projects, climate projections should capture the variations at urban/district scale for key hazard indicators. Such refinement can be achieved by integrating the urban microclimate analysis in the conventional GCM-RCM (Global Climate Model - Regional Climate Model) downscaling approach. This is an emerging and interdisciplinary research area In the field of climate risk modelling, where climate science, earth observation, urban studies, environmental design and building technology can contribute to identify suitable approaches. The H2020-CLARITY project (www.clarity-h2020.eu) aims to provide such support by developing an innovative hazard/impact modelling methodology that takes into account urban microclimate variability in an easy to use Climate Service. The microclimate effects are quantified by exploiting the potential of the wide amount of data generated by satellite earth observations and made available at pan-European level through the Copernicus datasets. Specific algorithms and GIS spatial analysis tools are used to process the data and to extract detailed information related to key parameters linked to urban morphology and surface type (e.g. albedo, emissivity, green fraction, runoff coefficient, etc.). Resulting “local” variations of the hazards are available for advanced automated screening and expert studies through localized data packages that combine complementary hazards, exposure and vulnerability data for specific region with a choice of relevant adaptation measures.

Poster on WP5 case studies of the Blue-Action project: in Blue-Action aset of five case studies bring scientists together with stakeholders and often small and medium enteprises to co-develop products that “translate” the model outputs and improved modelling skill developed in WPs 1-4 intosocietal- and sector-relevant products. The value of these products to both stakeholders and end-users will be quantified, preferably in financial terms where possible. The case studies address the following sectors: Winter tourism centers in Northern Finland Temperature-related human mortality in European regions Extreme weatherrisks to maritime activities Climate services for marine fisheries Yamal 2040: Scenarios for the Russian Arctic Each case study follows a broadly similar pattern, involving: identification of end-user/stakeholder requirements development of products evaluation and valuation of products and the increased skill delivered by Blue Action and dissemination of results More can be read here: http://blue-action.eu/index.php?id=4662 This poster has been updated for the workshop "Climate services at work, Projects exchange and networking lab", held in Brussels, 29 -30 November 2017 - CDMA building. Organiser:European Commission More about this workshop:Through climate services, the best (climate) science serves the need of a wide range of users - from public authorities to business to citizens - to factor in the climate signal in their decisions, in order to minimize risks and seize possible opportunities. That is why the use of climate services can play a crucial role for the transition to a low carbon economy and to a more informed, resilient society, and support the implementation of the Paris Agreement. This makes user-driven climate services and the emergence of a related market a key research and innovation priority identified by the EU and supported through a number of funding programmes and initiatives. This vision, which has been pinpointed in the European research and innovation roadmap for climate services, is being turned into action also through a new wave of project activities - recently started or in pipeline to kick-off – which promise to deliver added value to the decision making and planning processes they address. The objectives of this event organized by Executive Agency for SMEs (EASME) in cooperation with JPI-Climate are: to bring together participants in climate services projects (mainly from Horizon 2020 and JPI-Climate ERA4CS); facilitate exchange and discussions on topics of mutual interest; enable the individual projects to position themselves and identifying synergies and cooperation opportunities with other projects; allow (perspective) users and stakeholders to get a snapshot of what is going on in the field; help identify activities and means to maximize the projects' impact and outreach and contribute towards increased coordination, complementarity and visibility of project activities.

Poster presented at the 5-9 June 2017, 3rd European Climate Change Adaptation Conference, Glasgow (UK) Why Climate Services? Weather and climate prediction in the Arctic and northern regions is inherently challenging and year-on-year and decadal variability makes it difficult to detect reliable signals of change. Changes in Arctic climate and weather patterns also influence Northern Hemisphere weather and climate, and potentially other climate systems worldwide. In an increasingly globalized world, decision-makers from all sectors need to access improved climate and weather information across regional boundaries to address forthcoming social and economic challenges posed by a changing climate. Why Blue-Action? The Blue-Action project aims to deliver improved modelling, prediction, and forecasting of Arctic climate change and its impact on Northern Hemisphere climate, weather, and extreme weather events, in line with stakeholder needs. Activities across the academic, business, policy, and public communities are often disconnected, or follow a linear, 'scientist-tells-end-user' pathway, limiting opportunities for true co-creation of outcomes and real innovation. With this in mind, Blue-Action brings together trans-disciplinary teams covering the entire pathway from earth observation and modelling to businesses and local communities to focus on developing new effective, and scalable services based on cutting-edge climate science. Enabling better co-creation of climate services is central to Blue- Action's approach.

Climate Services are emerging worldwide as an essential tool to bridge the advancement in climate science and earth observations with a variety of operational fields in the domains of disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA). There is a growing need to harmonize risk and impact assessment modelling methodologies in order to increase the potential for use of scientific results by decision-makers to streamline national to local DRR and CCA policies. An integrated modelling approach should provide a detailed impact quantification on selected elements at risk (e.g. population, buildings, transport infrastructure, economic sectors, etc.) under the effect of extreme weather events in context of climate change, based on high resolution climate projections and analyses.A large share of global climate risk is concentrated in urban areas. Cities are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change because of the high density of people, built infrastructure, and economic activity, but also because urban areas shape their own climate, amplifying climate extremes such as excessive heat and flooding. Sustainable urban and health planning can offer solutions, and it is important to understand, how physical and socioeconomic processes co-determine the exposure and vulnerability of populations, economy, and infrastructure to the impacts of climate extremes.

Climate change is likely to increase droughts. The vulnerability of cities to droughts is increasing worldwide. Policy responses from cities to droughts lack consideration of long-term climatic and socio-economic scenarios, and focus on short-term emergency actions that disregard sustainability in the connected regional and river basin systems. We aim to explore the dynamics of the water-energy-land nexus in urban systems suffering increased climate change-related droughts, and their implications for sustainability. We complement a case study with a literature review providing cross-regional insights, and detail pervasive knowledge, policy and ambition gaps in the interaction between cities and droughts. We show that water availability with low emissions, without compromising ecosystems and with low costs to society, poses a local-scale limit to sustainable urban growth, a new concept delineating the limits to growth in cities. We conclude that urban and river basin planners need to institutionalize transparency and cross-sectoral integration in multi-sector partnerships, to consider long-term land use planning together with water and energy, and to apply integrated climate services to cities. Our study reveals the importance of including land, water and energy in long-term urban planning, and to connect them with the county, region, river basin and global scales.

Incentive-based conservation has gained ample notoriety over recent decades, particularly across Latin America where targeted incentives feature prominently in environmental services initiatives, such as for carbon storage or watershed regulation. Here we first develop an analytical framework for assessing the Peruvian initiatives of conservation incentives. We then identify six ongoing interventions that have introduced incentives conditional upon compliance with voluntary environmental commitments. We collected information from secondary sources and conducted semi-structured interviews with thirty national- and local-level stakeholders. We scrutinized the extent to which such initiatives featured impact-oriented design and implementation elements, as typically recommended in the state-of-the-art literature on Payment for Environmental Services (PES) and Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+). We found only limited adoption of such recommendations, including spatial targeting, payment differentiation, enforced conditionality, and customized measures nurturing locally perceived equity and transparency. We argue, supported by a still incipient rigorous evidence from impact evaluations, that suboptimal design and implementation choices probably have influenced outcomes towards limiting the sought-for environmental and welfare impacts. We discuss three critical aspects for upscaling: overcoming financial and legal constraints, strategic involvement of non-government stakeholders, and more impact-oriented design of the interventions. © 2021 The Authors

Climate services are technology-intensive, science-based and user-tailored tools providing timely climate information to a wide set of users. They accelerate innovation, while contributing to societal adaptation. Research has explored the advancements of climate services in multiple fields, producing a wealth of interdisciplinary knowledge ranging from climatology to the social sciences. The aim of this paper is to map the global landscape of research on climate services and to identify patterns at individual, affiliation and country level and the structural properties of each community. We use a sample of 358 records published between 1974 and 2018 and quantitatively analyze them. We provide insights into the main characteristics of the community of climate services through Bibliometrics and complement these findings with Network Science. We have computed the centrality of each actor as derived from a Principal Component Analysis of 42 different measures. By exploring the structural properties of the networks of individuals, institutions and countries we derive implications on the most central agents. Furthermore, we detect brokers in the network, capable of facilitating the information flow and increasing the cohesion of the community. We finally analyze the abstracts of the sample via Content Analysis. We find a progressive shift towards climate adaptation and user-centric visions. Agriculture and Energy are the top mentioned sectors. Anglophone countries and institutions are quantitatively dominant, and they are also important in connecting different discipline of the network of scholars, by building on established partnerships. Finding that nodes facilitating the diffusion of information flows (the brokers) are not necessarily the most central, but have a high degree of interdisciplinarity facilitating interactions of different communities.Social media abstract. #WhoisWho in #climateservices? A comprehensive map of research in #Europe and beyond