TRANSLATE

TRANSLATE: One Climate Resource for Ireland

The TRANSLATE project is a Met Éireann lead initiative to standardise future climate projections for Ireland and develop climate services that meet the climate information needs of decision makers. It is a collaborative effort led by climate researchers from University of Galway – Irish Centre for High End Computing (ICHEC), and University College Cork – SFI Research Centre for Energy, Climate and Marine (MaREI), supported by Met Éireann climatologists. TRANSLATE focuses on reviewing existing climate models to produce a national set of standardised climate projections. Climate services are then developed from these standardised climate projections to aid climate risk decision making across multiple sectors (for example, transport, energy, water). Climate services can be described as a set of services that communicate climate science data/information into products (for example, indices, risk assessments, uncertainty estimates) tailored to meet climate sensitive decision makers.

Click on the Storymap below to learn more:

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Next generation projections for Ireland

  • TRANSLATE  provides the first ever standardised and bias-corrected national climate projections for Ireland. The bias correction means that users can use the data directly (which is not always possible).
  • TRANSLATE  is novel in its delivery of Global Warming Level projections. This allows practitioners to view how Ireland’s climate could change as global temperatures increase to 1.5˚C ,2˚C, 2.5˚C, 3˚C or 4˚C.
  • TRANSLATE  works in tandem with decision-makers to co-produce climate services based on the standardised climate projections. This will address existing climate information needs across the Irish adaptation sector.
  • TRANSLATE  projections, information and climate services will be easily accessible to all users.

What does this mean for stakeholders?

These new standardised projections provide the basis for a new suite of tools never before at the disposal of Irish stakeholders and policy-makers. This means that decision-makers can make climate-smart decisions for Ireland’s future.

 

 

 

Keith Lambkin, Head of Climate Services at Met Éireann explains what TRANSLATE is:

 

Translate Results

  • TRANSLATE  provides the first ever standardised and bias-corrected national climate projections for Ireland. The bias correction means that users can use the data directly (which is not always possible).
  • Projections broadly agree with previous projections for Ireland, indicating future increases in temperatures annually, with drier Summers and wetter Winters ahead as the climate continues to change.

 

 

Use our interactive tool below to explore how your County is projected to change in the future under different levels of Global warming.

First, click on a tab to choose your level of global warming. Then click on your county of interest to find out more:

Translate Outputs

  • TRANSLATE  provides the first ever standardised and bias-corrected national climate projections for Ireland. The bias correction means that users can use the data directly (which is not always possible).

 

Links to the fact sheets below:

General Fact Sheet

Heat Fact Sheet

 

Developing Climate services through TRANSLATE

In January 2022, a workshop was held to identify the needs of the Irish adaptation sector and Irish climate service users. Requirements and tools were identified to support sector specific climate adaptation planning (for example, sector relevant climate indicators). The workshop’s outputs included:

A list of climate indicators, especially related to wind, temperature and precipitation, that provide meaningful and actionable information to climate sensitive sectors.

Following the TRANSLATE  workshop, a review of international climate services was conducted which continues to support TRANSLATE’s climate services development. Insights from the workshop and climate services review are being incorporated into the development of relevant climate indicators, metrics and other climate services. Prototype data sets (for example, climate indices, vulnerability and exposure metrics) are currently under development, as are tools that will address stakeholder and cross-sectoral needs for climate risk decision making.

What are Climate Services?

  • Climate services, provided by Met Éireann, are focused on the timely production and provision of high quality data (observational data, gridded data, scientific analysis, etc) and products to decision makers. In order to support Irish society at large and facilitate the development and evaluation of adaptation and mitigation strategies for Ireland.

Follow this link to find out more about Climate Services: Services – Met Éireann – The Irish Meteorological Service

 

 

 

 

Translate and Climate Services

  • TRANSLATE  data is currently being used to develop climate services aimed at addressing future adaptation across various sectors in Ireland including (but not limited to):

 

Building design files: This co-developed climate service product (with NSAI and DHLGH) uses the TRANSLATE data to address overheating in Ireland as a result of a warming climate.

 

 

 

 

Transport Infrastructure Ireland: TRANSLATE data will be used to ‘stress-test’ the rural road drainage system using future surcharge and flooding conditions. This will facilitate adaptation of vulnerable or exposed roads.

 

 

 

 

Climate Vulnerability Index: TRANSLATE  data will be used to create an index of vulnerability to climate change, that will enable the heritage sector of Ireland to make informed decisions around the management of the individual sites that face climate risk impacts.

 

 

 

Translate Results: FAQ

How do I get access to the TRANSLATE data?

Contact the team at Met Eireann: enquiries@met.ie

What file formats does it come in?

TRANSLATE’s native format is NetCDF, however additional formats can be provided on request including: GeoTiff, Shapefile and CSV.

Can I use TRANSLATE Data in ArcGIS/QGIS?

Yes, you can.

I am interested in a particular type of Climate Service: Can anyone help me create that data?

Yes, contact us at enquiries@met.ie to discuss your requirements.

 

References:

Nolan, P. and Flanagan, J., 2021. Research 339: High-resolution climate projections for Ireland. A multi-model ensemble approach.

Climate Change | Environmental Protection Agency (epa.ie)

O’Brien, E. and Nolan, P., 2023. TRANSLATE: standardized climate projections for Ireland. Frontiers in Climate5, p.1166828.

Frontiers | TRANSLATE: standardized climate projections for Ireland (frontiersin.org)