ENACTS: A New Technical
Innovation to Meet Climate
Information Needs
Tufa Dinku

Outline
I. What is ENACTS?
1. Improving Data Availability
2. Enhancing Access to Climate Information
3. Promoting the Use of Climate Information
II. Major Outputs
III. Next Phase

I. The ENACTS Approach
• ENACTS = Enhancing National Climate Services
• Strives to simultaneously improve availability, access
and use of climate information.
• Works with NMHS to quality-control all available
station data and combine them with satellite and
reanalysis products.
• The main focus of ENACTS is creation of reliable
climate information products for local decision-
making.

The Three Pillars ENACTS
Improve Availability
• Build capacity of NMHS
• Quality Control station
data
• Combine station data
with proxies
• Improve seasonal
forecast
E N A C T S
Enhance Access
• Install IRI Data
Library
•Develop online tools
for data analysis and
visualization
• Create mechanisms
for data sharing
Promote Use
Engage users:
• Raise awareness
• Build capacity of
users to understand
and use climate info
• Involve users in
product development

1. Improving Data Availability
i. Assessing Data Availability
This has helped the NMS look at their data in a completely different way

Improving Data Availability
Assessing Data Availability

Improving Data Availability
ii. Data Quality Control: Identifying erroneous observations

Improving Data Availability
Data Quality Control: Identifying erroneous observations

Reconstructing Climate Time Series
Data Quality Control: Identifying erroneous observations

Improving Data Availability
Data Quality Control: Identifying erroneous observations

Improving Data Availability
Data Quality Control: Identifying inhomogeneities

Improving Data Availability
Data Quality Control: Identifying inhomogeneities

Improving Data Availability
Station Satellite
Combined
Combining station data with proxies: Rainfall

Reconstructing Climate Time Series
Step 1: Downscale
reanalysis product
Combining station data with proxies: Temperature

Reconstructing Climate Time Series
Step 2: Combine
station
observation with
downscales
reanalysis
Combining station data with proxies: Temperature

2. Improving Access: Map Rooms
Data + IRIDL = Information products

Improving Access: Climate Analysis Tool
Monthly mean TMax

Improving Access: Climate Analysis Tool

Improving Access: Climate Monitoring Maproom
From left to right: dekadal rainfall, dekadal rainfall anomaly,
cumulative(since the start of the current season) anomaly, and the
Standard Precipitation Index (SPI)
Dekadal rainfall Dekadal anomaly Cumulative anomaly SPI

Improving Access: Climate Monitoring Maproom
Cumulative anomaly:
Jun to Oct(1st dek), 2015

Improving Access: Climate Monitoring Tool

Improving Access: Climate Forecast Tool
i. Explore potential impacts of ENSO/IOD phases
Probability of wet OND season during El Nino

Improving Access: Climate Forecast Tool
i. Explore potential impacts of different ENSO/IOD
phases on rainfall: Historical ENSO Events
Probability of wet
OND during El Nino

Improving Access: Climate Forecast Tool
ii. Translates seasonal forecast from tercile to
rainfall amounts
+

3. Improving Use
i. Awareness raising
ii. Training
iii. Involving users in
product generation

II. Major Outputs
• Over 30/50-years of climate time series for every 4km
grid across each country:
o Now data available where there are no stations
• Installation of the IRI Data Library at NMHS
o A powerful tool for generating climate information
• Unprecedented online access to information products:
o Satisfies the needs of many users
o Overcomes (partly) the challenges of data access
• Built capacity at NMHS and some user communities

ENACTS Countries
Next:
Kenya
Uganda
Malawi
Mozambique
ENACTS Countries:
Ethiopia
Gambia
Ghana
Madagascar
Mali
Rwanda
Tanzania
Zambia

III. Next phase
1. Generate daily climate time series

Next phase
3. Add sector-specific Maprooms: Agriculture, Water,
Disaster, Health, …
2. Add more climate variables (RH, PET/ET, sunshine…)
4. Improve accuracy and presentation of seasonal
climate prediction
• Evaluate;
• Improve;
• Implement.

Improving presentation of seasonal forecast

Tufa Dinku
tufa@iri.columbia.edu
web: iri.columbia.edu
@climatesociety
…/climatesociety
ThankYou