Following the pioneering and successful work of the Task Force on Regional Climate Downscaling (TFRCD) which mandate ended in 2011, the WCRP has now established a CORDEX Science Advisory Team which mandate is to implement and oversee, in communication with the broader scientific community, the following tasks:
- Further develop a framework to evaluate RCD techniques for use in downscaling global climate projections. Such a framework is conceptually similar to the successful coupled model intercomparisons undertaken by the WGCM, and has the goal of quantifying the performance of RCM techniques and assessing their relative merits.
- Foster an international coordinated effort to develop improved downscaling techniques and to provide feedback to the global climate modelling community. A specific objective is to produce improved multi-model RCD-based high-resolution climate information over regions worldwide for input to impact/adaptation work and to the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report.
- Promote greater interactions between climate modelers, downscalers and end-users to better support impact/adaptation activities and to better communicate the scientific uncertainty inherent in climate projections and downscaled products. An important theme in this activity is to promote greater involvement of scientists from developing countries.
The CORDEX-SAT is expected to report regularly at the JSC and the Working Group on Regional Climate (WGRC) meetings on the progress of its activities. Members are appointed for a 3-year term, with the possibility of 2-year extensions.