Topic Introduction

In this topic, we will introduce how to use ClimateNA and ClimateAP to generated scale-free climate data for specific locations and to produce spatial climate variables at any desired resolution.  We will guide students to the use of both the interactive mode for single locations and the multi-location mode for multiple locations, multiple GCMs, RCPs and periods.  Students will learn how to generate spatial and time-series climate data for historical and future periods.

By the end of the lecture, you should be able to:

• Generate and save climate variables in both interactive and multi-location modes;
• Prepare an input file either in Excel or a text editor, or converted from a DEM file in R;
• Convert a CSV output file to spatial raster files if DEM information is included;
• Generate climate variables for multiple locations for a paleo, a historical or a future period;
• Generate time-series climate data for a historical or a historical period;
• Visualize spatial patterns of climate variables and ecological niche maps.
• Make use of pre-generated climate data from various sources.

Topic Readings

Required Readings

•  None

Optional Readings

• Wang T, Hamann A, Spittlehouse D, Carroll C (2016) Locally Downscaled and Spatially Customizable Climate Data for Historical and Future Periods for North America. PLoS ONE 11(6): e0156720. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0156720
• Wang, T., G. Wang, J. L. Innes, B. Seely and B. Chen, 2017. ClimateAP: an application for dynamic local downscaling of historical and future climate data in Asia Pacific. Front. Agr. Sci. Eng. 4 : 448-458, Open access at: https://doi.org/10.15302/J-FASE-2017172 Links to an external site. 

Fundamental Concepts

Self Check (For certificate learning only)

After reading for this topic, take 5 minutes to take an online self-check quiz for the topic. The main purpose of the quiz is for you to self-check how well you grasp the contents for this topic. It will cover contents of the lecture(s) for the topic. Five attempts are allowed and highest mark will be saved to show your achievement.

When you are ready, click the link Self-check Quiz 3.2 to start taking the quiz.

Activities & Assignments (For certificate learning only)

Online Discussions

Online discussions are much like face-to-face discussions. Students are required preparation and active participation in order to the learning objectives. The online discussion will be asynchronous (i.e., students can participate at different times) and will be closed at the end of the week. This discussion accounts for 2 marks graded based on participation and quality of the posts. Each student is required to have at least one post. Everyone is encouraged to rate each post. The first post account for 70%, the second one for 20% and third one for 10% of the participation, respectively. The first post with at least five sentences is considered as the “first post”. A simply “Yes or No” post is not considered as a post. The quality is graded by both Instructor (50%) and peer rating (50%). 

Discussion Topics:

1. The significance of the GCM ensembles included in ClimateNA and ClimateAP.
2. The potentials of the time-series function for historical and future years.

To participate in the discussion, please go to Online Discussion 3.2 class forum.

Graded Assignments

Module 3 Test

Module 3 Test Due at 23:59pm on Day 7 of this week (PST). See Course Schedule for specific due date. 

Assignment 1

Assignment 1: Generating Climate Data for Test Sites due at 23:59pm on Day 7 of this week. See Course Schedule for specific due date. 

Topic Summary

In this topic, we introduced students on how to use ClimateNA and ClimateAP. With illustrations and videos. We guided students on how to: 1) prepare an input file; 2) process an output file; 3) generate climate variables for multiple locations, GCMs, and RCPs for a single period or for a time series; 4) generate spatial climate variables at desired resolution; and 5) visualize spatial patterns of climate and ecological niche maps. 

Topic Self-review (For self learning)

Please use the reflection questions below as study guide to conduct self-review for the topic:

1. No installation is needed to run ClimateNA and ClimateAP, can you use it without unzipping the package?
2. Do I have to following the format requirements for preparing the input file?
3. Is there an upper limit of the number of locations in the input file?
4. Is it possible to obtain the climate data for a location that I find on the Google Map without knowing the coordinate?