News

A three-day training workshop  “Spatial and temporal analysis of climate change using CORDEX regional climate models over South Asia” commenced on 18 February 2025 at the Holiday Inn Express, Kathmandu, Nepal. The Small Earth Nepal (SEN), in collaboration with SEN Services, Water Center 21 Pahal, Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN), Fulbright, IWMI Nepal, Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI), UNESCO Chair in Mountain Water Sustainability and the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) with the support from World Climate Research Program (WCRP)/CORDEX conducted the workshop accommodating both physical and online participants. The training concluded on 20 February.

The workshop aimed at building knowledge and skills necessary for analysing climate change projections using CORDEX regional climate model simulations for professionals, early career researchers and students in South Asia. The workshop was attended by 16 participants in-person and over 45 participants joining online. The workshop accommodated participants from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and the USA.

Dr. Mandira Shrestha, Water Expert from SEN services and Water Center 21 Pahal, provided background and objectives and set the context for the workshop. Chief Guest of the opening session, Professor Suresh Raj Chalise, former dean, Tribhuvan University and Advisor, SEN in his remarks highlighted the importance and complexities of climate models and suggested the participants to take those into consideration.

The workshop included a series of experts-led sessions and interactive discussions on Climate modelling, CORDEX related technical presentations, CORDEX data extraction and management for the analysis and bias correction.

Dr. Mandira Shrestha; Dr. Saurav Pradhanaga (IWMI Nepal); Dr. Dhiraj Pradhananga (Tribhuvan University and UNESCO Chair in Mountain Water Sustainability), Dr. Irene Lake (Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute), Dr. Nir Krakauer (City College of New York, USA), Dr. Ambarish Karmalkar (University of Rhode Island, USA) and Dr. Sabin Thazhe Purayil, Dr. Swapna Panickal & Mr. Sandip Ingle from IITM, India were the expert resource persons of the workshop.

Some photos from the workshop:

The IX Convection Permitting Climate Modeling Workshop (https://care.hkust.edu.hk/CPCMWorkshop2025)

We invite abstract submissions for the 9th CPCM Workshop, which will take place from 5–7 August 2025 at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). This year’s workshop will focus on the theme of “Extreme Precipitation in Coastal Cities.” The event will feature keynote speakers and discussions centered on this topic, highlighting challenges and advancements in understanding, simulating, and adapting and mitigating the impacts of extreme precipitation events in urban coastal regions.

In addition to this central theme, we welcome contributions that leverage high-resolution models and observational data to explore a range of topics, including

• the simulation and observation of extreme events,
• global convection-permitting climate modeling (CPCM),
• physical processes,
• applications of AI in climate science,
• km-scale Earth system models, and
• impact-relevant research.

Submissions showcasing innovative methods, interdisciplinary approaches, and practical applications are particularly encouraged.

The World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) is opening a call for proposals to host the International project office of CORDEX.

The Host Institution will significantly benefit from hosting the CORDEX IPO by having a close interaction with this critical domain of research in support of regional downscaling experiments. It will serve as a great opportunity for the host to help deliver the exciting new goals of CORDEX to the international community.

The CORDEX IPO is currently and since 10 years hosted by the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI) in Norrköping, Sweden and it is now time for someone else to take on this important role. WCRP is seeking applications from institutions willing to host the CORDEX IPO from mid 2025 onward.

More information about the call can be found at the WCRP website.

Extended deadline for proposals 31 March 2025

All communications and enquiries regarding this call should be directed in English to Maureen Wanzala (mwanzala@wmo.int) in the WCRP Secretariat.

Would you like a summary of what happened in CORDEX during 2024? Read the newsletter report!

CORDEX has now launched our new logo that was agreed by the CORDEX Science Advisory Team at the SAT meeting in September 2024.
The new logo has been developed to align with the new WCRP logo and brand identity but still keep the characteristic parts of the CORDEX logo.

The different version of the new logo can be found under Logos. We will continue to roll out the new logo over the next few weeks.
SAT member Melissa Bukovsky designed the logo using the WCRP branding and Narelle Van Der Wel at the WCRP Secretariat has kindly helped with the production.

It is with great sadness that we from the CORDEX community have learned of the passing of Dr. Linda Mearns from the U.S. National Science Foundation’s National Center for Atmospheric Research (NSF NCAR). She was a dedicated geographer and climate scientist who was highly engaged with CORDEX since the beginning. She also led the development of the North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program (NARCCAP), the precursor to North American CORDEX. For many years, Linda served as a Point of Contact for CORDEX North America and worked hard to organize CORDEX-CMIP5 for the region. She also contributed through presentations and valuable discussions at several CORDEX conferences, including a talk on NA regional modeling at the Trieste conference in 2023 (at 8 h 15 min 30 sec).

In April 2024, NSF NCAR honoured Linda with the Mearns Symposium to celebrate the magnitude of her career impact.

Her wit, wisdom, dedication, and mentorship have left a lasting impact on all who had the privilege of knowing her, and she will be missed by many.

If you would like to share your own remembrances of Linda, please feel free to add them to this document over the next week (please note that you will need to first request edit access, but please do not hesitate to do so).  It will be published on the NSF NCAR Colleagues We Will Miss page in the near future.