CORDEX South Asia

To provide high-resolution, regionally downscaled climate projections tailored to South Asia, enabling more accurate assessment of climate change impacts, variability, and extremes at regional and sub-regional scales

Note: Focused on climate change timescales, not operational forecasting

Developer: World Climate Research Programme, with contributions from global and regional modelling centers including IITM for South Asia

Stage Of Maturity: Operational, Continuously evolving

Coverage: Regional (South Asia)

Climate Timescales Covered: Historical / Baseline, Long-term / Climate Change Projections

Strengths

Captures regional climate processes (e.g., monsoon systems, orographic effects) better than global models
Higher spatial resolution supports sub-national analysis
Strong scientific credibility and standardization
Enables extreme event analysis critical for South Asia
Regional ownership strengthened through IITM and partner institutions
Essential input for impact modelling and adaptation planning

Weaknesses

Not a user-facing DSS (no built-in visualization or advisory outputs)
Requires advanced technical capacity for data processing and interpretation
Uncertainty remains high, especially for precipitation and extremes
Limited accessibility for decision-makers without intermediary translation
Not integrated into operational climate services workflows by default

Synergies

Can be visualized and contextualized using IPCC WGI Interactive Atlas
Can feed into risk platforms like UN ESCAP Risk and Resilience Portal for future risk scenarios
Can be integrated into operational DSSs like Climate Services Toolkit to provide climate change context
Can complement datasets from ICIMOD Regional Database System for mountain and basin-level analysis
Supports development of sector-specific DSSs (e.g., hydrological, agricultural models)

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CORDEX South Asia

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