International Research Center on El Niño

Understanding El Niño, learning to live together…

www.ciifen-int.orgwww.ciifen-int.org

El Niño. From a coastal current to global phenomenon.El Niño. From a coastal current to global phenomenon.

El Niño

At the end the XIX Century: a warm coastal current that appeared near Christmas in Peru. Only local effects were known.

At the end of the XX Century a positive anomaly of the sea surface temperature (referred to the period base 1971-2000) at the region NIÑO 3.4 equal or greater than 0.5°C averaged in 3 consecutive months . Effects known are almost global.

At the beginnig of the XXI Century: ¿Extremes of the Climate Variability?

El Niño

At the end the XIX Century: a warm coastal current that appeared near Christmas in Peru. Only local effects were known.

At the end of the XX Century a positive anomaly of the sea surface temperature (referred to the period base 1971-2000) at the region NIÑO 3.4 equal or greater than 0.5°C averaged in 3 consecutive months . Effects known are almost global.

At the beginnig of the XXI Century: ¿Extremes of the Climate Variability?

El Niño – Southern Oscilation ENSO El Niño – Southern Oscilation ENSO

Centro Internacional para la Investigación del Fenómeno de El Niño

El Niño 1997-1998 originate 100 Billion USD of losses all around the world. Only en Ecuador, the final account ranged from 3,5 to 4 Billions USD.

United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 52/200, on December the 18th of 1997, calling for an enhacement of international cooperation to reduce the impact of such phenomenon, specially in “the countries of the Pacific Ocean Bassin”.

Ecuador Goverment supported strongly the iniciative. The Center was based in Guayaquil (Ecuador)

Why CIIFEN exists?

Why CIIFEN exists?

Centro Internacional para la Investigación del Fenómeno de El Niño

Centro Internacional para la Investigación del Fenómeno de El Niño

International Organization. Linked with ISDR and WMO. Open to United Nations countries and agencies. International Directorate at this moment: ISDR, WMO, Ecuador, Spain and CPPS.

Objectives:•Improvement on institutional actuation in front of El Niño and La Niña events in the western area of South América. Maximaze benefits when possible and minimice losses by the development and use of products taylored for sectors: agriculture, fisheries, water ressouces and public health. •Increase trough research, of the global knowledge of the ENSO and climate in western southamerica. This objective shall be covered by cooperation trough a network of national and international institutions. •Translation from science to applications that foster social and economic development, including reduction of disaster risks.

Status and ObjectivesStatus and Objectives

Centro Internacional para la Investigación del Fenómeno de El Niño

What CIIFEN is doing?What CIIFEN is doing?• Development of Early Warnig Systems on Climate Variability

for Andean Region. Early Warning means few months. There is enaugh time to implement PREPARED plans. But the spatial scale of the climatic events are larger than in weather events

• Studies on adaptation to climate change and climate variability. Region is very sensitive to deviations from the normal behaviour of rainy and dry seasons (giving floods or droughts).

• Evaluations on Water Ressources in shared bassins in the Andean Region.

• Support to susteinable development and capacity building.• Implementation of a Virtual Collaborative Environment of

Research and Development (VCERD)

Centro Internacional para la Investigación del Fenómeno de El Niño

VCERDVCERD•Computational system that simultaneously allows: working of groups geographically •separated, remote management of current research projects, and dissemination to society •of the results of this research.

•Accessed trough Internet or Internet 2, taking the form of a portal. Shows different •information and resources depending of the profile of the user (researcher, manager, public).

•Access to climate data, research studies, publications, participate in virtual discussions about •models and predictions, jointly manipulate models, simulations and visualizations, and even •to control laboratory equipment in a remote way.

•Managers are able to follow up the projects and the expenses on the different items on the budget.

•The general public can have access to useful climate information such as predictions, warnings and •recommendations in simple language.

•Use of intelligent systems, automatization of climate data process, search of information on •El Niño research published by other Institutions, “translation” of climate predictions into a •simple and common language, among others.

•VCERD constructed in a modular form: nucleus and sectorial areas.