3rd NCAR Community Workshop on GIS in Weather, Climate and Impacts
October 27-29, 2008
NCAR Mesa Lab

Boulder, Colorado NCAR GIS Initiative hosted 3rd community workshop on GIS in Weather, Climate and Impacts. The meeting took place at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado on October 27-29, 2008. The workshop brought together leading researchers and practitioners from multiple disciplines to discuss visions, challenges, and research needs in spatial integration of information from social, atmospheric and related sciences.

The first two NCAR GIS workshops addressed integration of GIS with atmospheric data across scales, research directions for GIScience that are relevant for atmospheric applications, and spatial data management challenges. The 3rd workshop reviewed progress in AtmoGIS research, applications and data interoperability, and added another dimension to the discussion: quantitative and qualitative social science data across scales. Society and climate are coevolving in a manner that could place more vulnerable populations at risk from exposure to weather and climate stresses. Understanding risks and vulnerabilities to weather hazards and climate change requires interdisciplinary approach, that includes information about weather, climate, natural and built environment and social processes and characteristics. Because integration of quantitative and qualitative information can strengthen our understanding of societal impacts and vulnerability, one of the workshop goals was to advance GIS-based methods of integrating data from natural and social systems, both quantitative and qualitative.

The workshop included presentations, panel and breakout group discussions, poster session, reception and a GIS training course.

The topics of the sessions and discussions included:
1) Progress in integration of GIS with atmospheric data and models across scales
2) GIS applications in weather and climate impacts research
3) GIS analysis and visualization of quantitative social science data for assessment of impacts, vulnerability and adaptation
4) GIS analysis and visualization of qualitative social science data

In working groups the workshop participants explored:
1) Atmospheric data needs for spatial societal research and applications.
2) Social science data needs for integrative assessments and Earth System modeling;
3) Methodologies for integration of natural and social science data (both quantitative and qualitative) for weather hazards preparedness and climate change adaptation.

A workshop summary will be posted soon.

For workshop-related questions, please contact workshop co-chairs Olga Wilhelmi or Jennifer Boehnert.

The workshop was sponsored by NCAR GIS strategic initiative. NCAR is sponsored by the National Science Foundation.