Climate Adaptation Science Investigators (CASI)
Temperature and Precipitation Workgroup
The main objective of the NASA Climate Adaptation Science Investigators Workgroup (CASI) Temperature and Precipitation Workgroup is to provide NASA facilities and Center managers and their regions with annual temperature and precipitation projections up to 2100. This product can create awareness about climate change and aid long-term planning.
These projections are based on climate models, which are a crucial tool for studying climate change and for use in risk management and decision-making. There is no one climate model that is suitable for all applications; rather, CASI utilizes an ensemble of models to better represent the future.
CASI has developed a methodology for utilizing the NASA Earth Exchange Global Daily Downscaled Projections CMIP6 (NEX-GDDP-CMIP6) data to provide projections for NASA Centers from three future greenhouse gas emissions scenarios: low, medium, and high (SSP1-2.6, SSP2-4.5, and SSP3-7.0, respectively).
Projected temperature and precipitation is calculated from the average of 22 climate models, termed the ensemble average. The ensemble average of this 22-model subset aligns closely to assessed global warming of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Sixth Assessment Report (IPCC) (IPCC AR6, Working Group 1, Technical Summary, PDF).
The temperature and precipitation projections from these climate models provide key risk information to the decision-makers at NASA Centers and their regions. Understanding the state of the climate today and how it is projected to change in the future contributes to determining climate-related hazards and creating climate adaptation plans.
Projections
CASI Temperature and Precipitation Workgroup projections for NASA Centers and their surrounding regions may be viewed on the NASA Prediction of Worldwide Energy Resources (POWER) website.
Contact
The point of contact for this workgroup is Nick Pelaccio (nick.pelaccio@nasa.gov).
