Climate Data Digitization and Downscaling of Future Climate Projections In Nepal
January – December 2011

Background

Nepal is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change, as northern part of the country is extremely elevated above the mean sea level. It has been observed that the glacier are retreating and glacier lakes are forming rapidly over Himalayan region due to the melting of glaciers which in turn have a great threat of GLOFs as flash floods downstream.

Nepal is situated in Himalaya-Hindu Kush region and is regarded as one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change, as northern part of the country is extremely elevated above the mean sea level, having glacier lakes uphill of the Mount Everest. It has been observed that the glacier are retreating and glacier lakes are forming rapidly over Himalayan region due to the melting of glaciers which in turn have a great threat of GLOFs as flash floods downstream. It is clearly documented that the increase of surface temperature over the elevated highlands, with ice caps and glaciers, is much higher than low-lying areas due to albedo effect of the land use. These phenomena might continue which may result in further increase in surface temperature with the irreversible and unprecedented climate change or global warming. In addition, Nepal is also highly vulnerable to flash floods associated with microburst, severe thunderstorms, active monsoon trough, etc. Frequency and intensity of these meteorological phenomena could also be increased in the future, with the projected climate change.  

Objective

Understanding vulnerability and impacts associated with climate change in different sectors is the key for managing risks by taking appropriate proactive adaptation measures. As the degree of vulnerability or/and impacts to communities and their resilient is depend on physical, environmental, social and economic , analysis of historical meteorological information in different temporal and spatial scales  is of vital importance. Therefore, it is essential to digitize all un-digitized observed meteorological data such as wind speed, evaporation, soil moisture and radiation data, which were observed prior to 1987 in Nepal in order to improve the availability of historical data in digital format. This will facilitate more rigorous scientific analysis of observed meteorological data, across the country, over a maximum available period of time to quantify the changes and understand the severity of the problem of climate change. It is also equally important to generate future climate change scenarios using state-of-the-art dynamical downscaling tools such as PRECIS, RegCM4 and WRF at a high spatial resolution (25 or 20 km). This information is also of vital importance to create awareness among policy makers and planners for taking proactive adaptation measures in the vulnerable sectors. Project team will transfer the technical knowhow of generating future climate scenarios in order to build capacity of the staff of DHM through training workshops and active participation in all the project activities. 

The project aims to digitize observed meteorological data of Nepal and for developing future climate change scenarios for Nepal for 2030 – 2060 periods. Also, a web portal for querying and accessing of observed meteorological data as well as downscaled future climate scenarios will be developed under this project for the benefit of the sector specific stakeholders.

Funding Support from
Asian Development Bank

Partner Organizations:
Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research (BCCR), Norway; The Energy Resources Institute (TERI), India and; ITC, Netherlands  

For more information, contact
Dr. Senaka Basnayake,
Urban Climate Risks Management Specialist
Email: Senaka_basnayake@adpc.net