Advancing QUAlity of CLimate services for European Water
The overall goal of AQUACLEW was to use innovative research techniques and integrated co-development with users to advance the quality, and usability of climate services that provide climate change information to water related sectors. Data and information in present climate services reflect high uncertainties and low resolution, which is difficult to use in practical climate adaptation work. The works in AQUACLEW aimed at improving confidence and site-specific information by better tailoring climate data and adaptation knowledge. In AQUACLEW, we not only co-developed the climate services with users, we also co-developed the research requirements, the services’ interfaces and the guidance tools. By integrating users and researchers throughout the climate service production chain, the quality, usability and user uptake of climate services for water are improved. Data providers and researchers can more fully understand user’s needs and users were able to update on the latest scientific knowledge. With a better understanding of the potentials and limitations of the data, users can influence (choose between) assumptions made in each step when producing the services’ outputs. In AQUACLEW, we developed regional, national and pan-European climate services and indicators of climate change impacts together with about 30 users. Outputs were evaluated in 7 real-world climate adaptation case studies across Europe. These covered a diverse range of water-related sectors, i.e. (i) flash flood risks in pre-alpine regions, (ii) flash flood risk in urban areas, (iii) drought and water resources allocation for industry, tourism, agriculture and energy, (iv) hydropower production, (v) biodiversity, (vi) agricultural production and (vii) sediment transport and coastal erosion.
Funding: the project AQUACLEW is part of ERA4CS, an ERA-NET initiated by JPI Climate, and funded by FORMAS (SE), DLR (DE), BMWFW (AT), IFD (DK), MINECO (ES), ANR (FR), with co-funding by the European Union (Grant 690462).
Coordinator: Dr. Berit Arheimer, Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI)
Partners: AQUACLEW has 8 partners from 6 European countries (SE, SP, AT, DE, DK, FR): SMHI Sweden (Coord.), TU Dortmund University (Germany), University of Innsbruck, Unit of Hydraulic Engineering (Austria), University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (Austria), Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (Denmark), University of Cordoba (Spain), University of Granada (Spain), INRAE Antony (France)
Start: 1st September 2017
Duration: 3 years
Website: http://www.aquaclew.eu/
Contact @ INRAE Antony: Vazken Andréassian
Publications linked to the project: https://aquaclew.eu/publications/
PhD Theses developed at INRAE (in French, available here):
- Lemoine, A., 2021. Indicateurs d’impacts des changements hydroclimatiques sur la gestion des réservoirs hydroélectriques. Thèse de doctorat, INRAE (Antony), Sorbonne Université (Paris), GRNE (Paris), 261 pp.
- Royer-Gaspard, P., 2021. De la robustesse des modèles hydrologiques face à des conditions climatiques variables. Thèse de doctorat, INRAE (Antony), Sorbonne Université (Paris), GRNE (Paris), 283 pp.