The November presentation of the Sydney Division Water Engineering Panel has been confirmed for the 22nd November 2011, 5:30 for a 6pm start with light refreshments and alcoholic and non-alcohoic beverages available. The presentation is titled Downscaling Climate Projections for Impact and Adaptation Applications in NSW and will be given by Dr Jason Evans of the UNSW Climate Change Research Centre.

The abstract for the presentation is:

Ongoing climate change means that the historical record is no longer sufficient information for future infrastructure planning across multiple sectors. Climate projection information is derived primarily from Global Climate Models that operate at large spatial scales (100s km) that are inappropriate for most impact and adaptation work. Downscaling this information to an appropriate scale can be done using either “statistical” or “dynamical” approaches. In collaboration with the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, the UNSW Climate Change Research Centre is producing dynamically downscaled climate projections as part of the NSW/ACT Regional Climate Modelling (NARCliM) project. This presentation will discuss downscaled climate projections, in particular the NARCliM project and its relevance for future water engineering across multiple scales.

NARCliM is producing climate projections over south-eastern Australia at ~10km spatial resolution, and one to three hourly temporal resolution. In addition to the usual climate variables, NARCliM will be tracking sub-daily precipitation and wind gust extremes down to the maximum 5 minute events. NARCliM outputs cover a wide range of climate variables relevant across many sectors and will provide a basis of climate projection information at scales appropriate for activities ranging from urban flood hydrology up to large water resource reservoirs.

A PDF printable flyer for the event is also available.