The Climate and Ocean: Variability, Predictability and Change (CLIVAR) project is one of WCRP's four core projects. CLIVAR’s mission is to understand the dynamics, the interaction, and the predictability of the coupled ocean-atmosphere system. To this end it facilitates observations, analysis and predictions of changes in the Earth’s climate system, enabling better understanding of climate variability and dynamics, predictability, and change, to the benefit of society and the environment in which we live.
CLIVAR have five capabilities, that are the focus of Panel activities and underpin all CLIVAR science. These are:
- Improving ocean system models
- Improving ocean-observing systems
- Ocean data, synthesis and information systems
- Knowledge transfer and stakeholder feedback
- Education, capacity building and outreach
CLIVAR coordinates workshops, conferences and initiatives each year to meet these capabilities. An important event in 2017 in which CLIVAR plays a key role is the WCRP/IOC Conference on Regional Sea-level Changes and Coastal Impacts to be held this July in New York. All upcoming events are listed on the CLIVAR website.
CLIVAR is organized as a number of Core Panels and Research Foci, overseen by a Scientific Steering Group, aided by the International CLIVAR Project Office.
Of the eight Core Panels listed above, four are regional and four global:
The CLIVAR Scientific Steering Group (SSG) plans and guides the CLIVAR project. For 2017 the CLIVAR SSG is led by co-chairs Annalisa Bracco (Professor and Co-Director, Program Ocean Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, USA) and Detlef Stammer (Professor and Director of the Center for Earth System Research and Sustainability, Universität Hamburg, Germany) and has the following members:
- Krishna AchutaRao - Centre for Atmospheric Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, India
- Nathan Bindoff - Head, Oceans and Cryosphere Program, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), University of Tasmania, Australia
- Pascale Braconnot - Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement, CEA-CNRS, France
- Wenju Cai - Chief Research Scientist, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia
- Clara Deser - Senior Scientist, National Center for Atmospheric Research, USA
- Boris Dewitte - Laboratoire d’Etudes en Géophysique et Océanographie Spatiales (LEGOS), France
- Stephen Griffies - Physical Scientist, Oceans and Climate Group, Geophysical and Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), USA
- Virginie Guemas - Head of the Climate Prediction Group, Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), Spain.
- Ed Hawkins - Associate Professor in Climate Science, University of Reading, UK
- Pedro Monteiro - Chief Oceanographer at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), South Africa
- Lixin Wu - Professor, College of Physical and Environmental Oceanography, Ocean University of China, China
The International CLIVAR Project Office (ICPO) consists of two offices, hosted by the First Institute of Oceanography in China and the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology in India. Overall management and coordination of the ICPO is the responsibility of the ICPO Executive Director, José Santos. He is aided by ICPO Deputy Executive Director Nico Caltabiano and contract staff, who work with WCRP Joint Planning Staff Senior Scientific Officer Michael Sparrow.