Climate Information Services (CIS) (or climate services) entail the dissemination of climate data in a way that aids people and organizations in making decisions. CIS helps its users foresee and control the hazards associated with a changing and unpredictable climate. It encompasses a knowledge loop that includes targeted user communities' access to, interpretation of, communication of, and use of pertinent, accurate, and trustworthy climate information, as well as their feedback on that use. Climate information services involve the timely production, translation and delivery of useful climate data, information and knowledge.
Climate services are systems to deliver the best available climate information to end-users in the most usable and accessible formats. They aim to support climate change adaptation, mitigation and risk management decisions. There is a vast range of practices and products for interpreting, analyzing, and communicating climate data. They often combine different sources and different types of knowledge. They aim to fulfil a well-specified need. These climate services mark a shift from supply-driven information products that result from scientific research. Instead they are demand-driven and take greater account of users’ needs and decision-making. To do so they require different types of user–producer engagement, depending on what the service aims to deliver. This type of collaboration is called co-design.
Climate services vary in their structure and objectives. They are set up to help users cope with current climate variability and limit the damage caused by climate-related disasters. They can also serve as an important measure to reduce risks in a particular sector. One example is Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), which provides free and open access to climate data, tools and information used for a variety of purposes. Another example is Participatory Integrated Climate Services for Agriculture (PICSA). This is a participatory approach which combines historical climate data and forecasts with farmers’ local contextual knowledge.
Definition
Climate information (CI) refers to the gathering and analysis of actual weather and climate observations as well as simulations of the climate for the past, the present and the future. Climate information services entail the dissemination of climate data in a way that aids people and organizations in making decisions. CIS helps its users foresee and control the hazards associated with a shifting and unpredictable environment.
Types of climate information
There are three main types of climate information commonly provided through CS. These are forecasts, agrometeorological services, and early warnings.
Forecasts use in farming operations: Several CS projects in the African agriculture sector have applied forecasts of varying timescale in providing risk warning and risk response advisory services to farmers. The five timescale forecasts most widely used in the production of climate risk warnings and risk response advisory services are: (1) Weather forecasts (daily to weekly), (2) Seasonal forecasts (on a timescale of 1–6 months), (3) Short-term forecasts (1–5 years), (4) Intra-decadal/Medium-term forecasts (5–10 years), and (5) Decadal forecasts. The most commonly used among these forecasts are short-term, seasonal, and weather forecasts. Intra-decadal and decadal forecasts are sparingly used in agricultural risk management, even though they may be more useful for making a strategic decision and anticipatory adaptation plans.
Agrometeorological services: Agrometeorological services are the second most common type of climate information provided by the CS. Included in this category is information provided to manage the impact of both climate change and climate variability. This includes advisory information on the scheduling of planting operations, weeding, fertilizer applications, etc. CS is also, in some cases, used to provide information on climate-smart agriculture practices (CSA). The type of CSA information communicated includes conservation farming practices like ridging, minimum tillage, soil conservation practices, etc. The use of CS to communicate agrometeorological services and CSA to farmers is acknowledged as a valuable innovation to assist decision-making and develop farmers’ specific adaptive capacities.