Addressing the challenges that come with climate change requires data availability and dissemination in support of real-world solutions. CMCC has made its latest and most up to date climatological dataset for 2023 available to all interested parties and stakeholders through the Data Delivery System (DDS), as well as the Highlander platform, providing vital tools for all stakeholders seeking to implement adaptation strategies. Highlander is a project coordinated by CINECA.

Data is central to developing more intelligent and sustainable management of natural resources and implementing strategies that help communities adapt to climate change. As our ability to generate and process data continues to grow, a mounting challenge lies in ensuring that high-quality information is widely available not only to researchers and experts but also local professionals and policymakers.

Online data products and services such as HIGHLANDER Data Portal, the open data portal for national climate data hosted in CINECA and developed through the HIGHLANDER project, and CMCC’s DDS portal, which provides a unique, consistent and seamless access point for all data produced and used by CMCC, address the challenge of providing open access to climatological data.

Information contained on these platforms forms the basis for predicting climate impacts, including extreme weather events, rising temperatures and changing precipitation patterns. The platforms also help highlight the importance of cooperation between institutions to address climate change challenges through solutions based on shared data and advanced technologies.

HIGHLANDER data portal. A graphical representation of the different components of the platform as well as the data flows and access points for end users. Source: Bottazzi et al, 2023.

“With increased accessibility, data becomes a valuable tool not only for researchers but also for local administrators and policymakers,” explains Paola Mercogliano, CMCC researcher and co-author of a November 2023 study that looked at how the HIGHLANDER project was able to leverage high-performance computing to enhance land management in Italy, providing an example of how applied technological innovation can more efficiently and effectively support climate change mitigation and adaptation.

HIGHLANDER and CMCC DSS contain a wealth of data that can be used in various sectors for decision-making, such as territorial policies, sustainable agriculture, and natural resource management. Although the HIGHLANDER project ended in January 2023, it helped develop and provide access to high-resolution climate data – including both historical observations and future projections – that are now available through the HIGHLANDER Data Portal and in part (the ones provided by CMCC) are also on CMCC DDS.

Building on the success of the HIGHLANDER project, which provided data covering the period from 1981 to 2020, CMCC has decided to extend the temporal coverage of reanalysis data up to 2023 (starting from 1981) beyond the project’s completion. CMCC will continue to update this data regularly, making it available across various platforms.

CMCC has not only made the 2023 data available but will also update the downscaled reanalysis data on DDS each year, making it freely available to a wide range of users, from experts to local professionals, that require more information to support climate adaptation policies and projects.

“This additional work is due to the high demand for and usage of the data produced thus far, as seen with the numerous downloads already made on both platforms,” says Mercogliano. “Continuing with the data production demonstrates CMCC’s commitment to providing updated and relevant climate information for the entire scientific and stakeholder community in efforts to address critical issues related to climate change.”

By leveraging advanced technologies, such as high-performance computing, CMCC has not only helped develop new and innovative data that is expected to better reproduce climate dynamics over complex territories but also made that data available to all interested parties.

“The availability of high-quality climate data, integrated into tailored decision-making tools, is crucial to helping communities and decision-makers plan more effectively for climate adaptation and marks a significant step forward in using science to tackle real-world challenges,” concludes Mercogliano.

More information:

Find the latest reanalysis data published on CMCC DDS here

HIGHLANDER is a project coordinated by CINECA. Find the latest reanalysis data published on HIGHLANDER Data Portal here

Bottazzi et al, High performance computing to support land, climate, and user-oriented services: The HIGHLANDER Data Portal, 13 March 2024, https://doi.org/10.1002/met.2166

Raffa, M.; Reder, A.; Marras, G.F.; Mancini, M.; Scipione, G.; Santini, M.; Mercogliano, P. VHR-REA_IT Dataset: Very High Resolution Dynamical Downscaling of ERA5 Reanalysis over Italy by COSMO-CLM. Data 2021, 6, 88. https://doi.org/10.3390/data6080088

Adinolfi, M., Raffa, M., Reder, A. et al. Investigation on potential and limitations of ERA5 Reanalysis downscaled on Italy by a convection-permitting model. Clim Dyn 61, 4319–4342 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-023-06803-w