TENDHIS web application, “Historical precipitation and temperature trends” from SENAMHI, Peru

Multiple Authors
Tendhis web app. Credit: AICCA.

Summary


The TENDHIS web application, “Historical Precipitation and Temperature Trends” from SENAMHI, provides systematized information on historical temperature and precipitation trends at the national Peruvian level. It does so through climate technical sheets useful for decision-making in the formulation of water resource investment projects, climate adaptation, ecosystem recovery, among other uses.

The application was developed in coordination with the National Service of Meteorology and Hydrology (SENAMHI), the Ministry of Environment of Peru (MINAM), and with the support of the Project on Adaptation to the Impacts of Climate Change on Water Resources in the Andes (AICCA).

The application stems from the recognition that one of the major gaps in decision-making for activities related to atmospheric weather and meteorological conditions is the lack of validated and systematized data that allows for the creation of quality information flows to strengthen decision-making in various sectors. With this information, users can identify significant climate change trends in specific regions and use this information directly in the formulation of investment projects. The initial application focus has been to strengthen the formulation and implementation of public investment projects for water resource management and adaptation to climate change and variability.

Overview

Location:
Implementation sites:
  • Single country
  • Single location
Mountain region:
  • Andes

Solution scale:
Area Covered:
  • Whole country
Ecosystem type(s):
Solution type(s):
Sector(s):
Climate impact(s) addressed:
Other climate impact(s) addressed:
  • Lack of meteorological information for decision-making
Climate impact time-scale(s):
Main benefit associated with the solution:
Co-benefit(s) associated with the solution implementation:
Sendai targets:
SDGs:

Solution details

Main beneficiaries & outcomes

The main beneficiaries are decision-makers, formulators, and evaluators of public and private investment projects. The solution is available for the entire Peruvian territory.

TENDHIS main application is the incorporation of precipitation and temperature trend analyses into public investment projects on water resources, climate adaptation, and ecosystem recovery. Having and integrating information on climatic hazards not only allows for better decision-making but can also reduce social, economic, and ecological impacts related to climate. For example, avoiding crop losses derived from extreme events or evaluating areas with possible flood hazards that affect socio-ecological systems and, therefore, the well-being of the population. Finally, this application supports the preparation of enabling conditions for adaptation measures of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) for Water and Agriculture in Peru.

The solution allows to:

  • Formulate actions to reduce hazards related to extreme events.
  • Avoid damage to infrastructure of social importance.
  • Avoid economic losses related to impacts derived from climate variability and change.
Improve decision-making regarding climate-related hazards in strategic ecosystems.
  • Strengthen public investment projects focused on conserving ecosystem services at the national level.

 

Planning and implementation

The planning and implementation process was carried out in coordination with the National Service of Meteorology and Hydrology (SENAMHI) and the Ministry of Environment of Peru (MINAM), with the support of the Project on Adaptation to the Impacts of Climate Change on Water Resources in the Andes (AICCA). It was funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), implemented by the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF), and executed by the Consortium for the Sustainable Development of the Andean Ecoregion (CONDESAN).

The methodology for the construction of the TENDHIS tool was structured in two main phases: initially the systematization of information, and secondly the design and implementation of the application, in accordance with the guidelines established by SENAMHI’s Directorate of Observation and Data Networks (DRD). The main activities developed were:

      • Review of information needs for decision-makers.
      • Collection of climatic information (precipitation, maximum and minimum temperature) from meteorological stations and PISCO (Peruvian Interpolated data of SENAMHI’s Climatological and Hydrological Observations).
      • Exploratory data analysis.
      • Application of statistical tests for data quality control, ensuring they met:
        • Minimum 30 years of continuous data.
        • Homogeneous climate series.
        • Maximum 20% of missing data.
      • Homogenization of data and detection and treatment of data with anomalies.
      • Calculation of accumulated temperature averages and annual precipitation.
      • Estimation of trends using the Theil-Sen estimator.
      • Preparation of the proposed climate information sheet for the application.
      • Review of standards established by SENAMHI, on the prototype of the sheets.
      • Design and implementation of the WEB application.
      • Dissemination of the web application.

The stakeholders are:

      • Ministry of Environment of Peru (MINAM): provided national guidelines.
      • National Service of Meteorology and Hydrology (SENAMHI): generated the technical and technological guidelines for development, both at a conceptual level and for data quality control.
      • AICCA Project: Supported the operational coordination and development of TENDHIS.

Finance

  • The project was funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF). Funding was provided as a grant. The total cost of the solution (technical development of TENDHIS) was $28,800.00 USD. Key expenditure items were:
  • Systematization of climate series information ($6,000.00),
  • Specialized technical support ($10,500.00),
  • Design and implementation of the application ($7,500.00),
  • Administrative support ($2,400.00),
  • Technical support ($2,400.00).

The private sector played a role in the methodological process, for the conceptualization and design of the sheet, a socialization meeting was held with investment project formulators, where the needs identified by this group were integrated.

Innovation

The key innovative aspect of the solution, particularly with respect to CCA in mountains: TENDHIS has an important application in public investment projects related to water resources. Therefore, from the conceptualization of the platform, easily accessible and understandable information has been generated for multiple actors involved in the formulation and evaluation of these types of projects. The technical sheet issued by the application (according to search criteria) easily allows for analysis and visualization of significant trends and variations that may be impacting the study area. Furthermore, public investment projects in Peru require an analysis of the impact of climate change on their implementation and continuity. TENDHIS provides sufficient information to make a first estimate of the climatic hazards a project will face, in order to reduce economic losses linked to risks. Another relevant aspect of this tool is the generation of easily understandable and analyzable output graphs related to different variables: temporal, hydrological period, flood, and dry season.

Long term project sustainability and maintenance

The main maintenance activity is to review the functioning of the application in case of errors. The application is estimated to have a durability of 20-30 years depending on its functioning and the software needs required by eventual update processes. Long term ownership/costs will be assumed by the government through SENAMHI, which institutionalized the application and is responsible for its administration, maintenance, and updates.

Capacities for design and implementation

Knowledge

The base information for the systematization of historical meteorological data came from the records of existing meteorological stations in the national territory, which was digitized and had to undergo quality control using climate spreadsheets. Likewise, information from PISCO was integrated, which was developed to complement the station network and expand the coverage of meteorological data, based on satellite information and calculations with interpolations. As a pilot proposal, a pre-investment study was carried out at the project profile level for the improvement and expansion of the water service for irrigation in two hamlets, Jandón and Palo Blanco, in the Contumaz district and province, Cajamarca department In this regard, historical precipitation and temperature trends were generated, and with the analysis of this information, climatic hazards and possible adaptation measures were evaluated.

Technology

For the design and implementation of the model and the publicly available tool, the following technological tools were used: Data from PISCO, Data from conventional meteorological stations, Guidelines and procedures for interpreting historical trends (SENAMHI).

Political / Legal

One of the reasons for developing TENDHIS is to facilitate the implementation of enabling conditions for the adaptation measures of the NDC Water and Agriculture in Peru, specifically: Water: Implementation of information services for the planning and multi-sectoral management of water resources in basins vulnerable to climate change. Agriculture: Implementation of strategic agro-climatic information services for adaptation to the effects of climate change. Additionally, the application contributes to the implementation of the Regulations of the Framework Law on Climate Change. SENAMHI is the competent authority to generate information on climate change.

Institutional

For the IT development, it was necessary to ensure that the web application followed official quality standards and to unify criteria so that it could be used on other institutional platforms. Technical guidance was provided by SENAMHI. This institutionalization was fundamental to guarantee the permanence of TENDHIS over time.

Socio-cultural

The target audience of TENDHIS is the regional formulation units of public investment projects and decision-makers. During the conceptualization, a workshop was held with a focus group to establish rapid investment decision criteria and support the design process of the climate sheets.

Outlook & Scalability

Barriers and adverse effects

The main challenges identified regarding the design and implementation of TENDHIS are: Ensuring that in areas where there are no meteorological stations, quality data with a lower percentage of error can be interpolated. Ensuring guidelines for the analysis of climate trend information for project formulation units. One of the main challenges was the digitization and quality control of meteorological station records. This was successfully overcome during the implementation process. An important challenge is to have permanent support and communication with users who access the platform and have problems with its functioning.

Transformation and future outlook

With this first version of the TENDHIS application, it was possible to integrate historical trend information that indicates investment priorities for the implementation of adaptation measures. This information can be scaled up by making available and integrating climate change scenario information, which would allow for future projections of temperature and precipitation.

Potential for upscaling and replication

Considering that climate information is fundamental for the design and implementation of public investment projects, it is desirable to expand this solution, taking into account the following aspects and needs:

  • It is desired to expand the application to include climate change scenarios and real-time information.
  • Generate interpretation guidelines for climate trends related to climate hazards.
  • Strengthen thematic information for regions and provinces.
  • Addition of new climate extreme indices. Increase the number of conventional meteorological stations to strengthen the quality of information.
  • Establish a permanent communication channel with users.