ACCESSING AND USING CLIMATE DATA AND INFORMATION IN FRAGILE, DATA-POOR STATES

The report addresses the critical shortage of local climate data in fragile states, where conflict and weak governance often destroy meteorological infrastructure. It categorizes climate information into historical, current, and prospective data, and provides a directory of satellite-based alternatives and international forecasting centers. The document argues that integrating these data into different humanitarian planning horizons—from immediate relief to long-term strategic planning—is essential for sustainable peacebuilding. It concludes by outlining priorities for rebuilding national meteorological services, using examples from Haiti and Sierra Leone.

• Fragile states experience higher vulnerability to climate variability due to geographic exposure, over-reliance on rain-fed agriculture, and histories of violence and weak governance that undermine resilience.
• Conflict and instability lead to a dramatic collapse of domestic climate data generation; for example, Afghanistan's meteorological archives were burned by the Taliban in 1996, and Rwanda's reporting rain gauge stations dropped from 100 in 1990 to nearly none by 1995.
• Climate information is categorized by timescale: historical data for mapping hazards and seasonality, current data for monitoring active events like droughts, and prospective information (forecasts, projections, and scenarios) for anticipating hazards and planning.
• Satellite-derived data can fill gaps in ground-based observations, though they cannot measure rainfall directly; instead, they use radiation measurements to estimate precipitation.
• The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) manages a global infrastructure for seasonal forecasts involving Global Producing Centres (GPCs), Regional Climate Centres (RCCs), and Regional Climate Outlook Forums (RCOFs) to provide consensus-based regional assessments.
• Peacebuilding practitioners should align climate data use with their planning horizons: short-term weather alerts for immediate relief, medium-term variability outlooks for camp location and livelihood support, and long-term scenarios for infrastructure rehabilitation.
• Rebuilding National Meteorological Services (NMS) in fragile states requires a sequenced approach: site selection based on WMO guidelines, system design (preferably automatic stations), technical training, and installation.
• Specific regional satellite products are recommended for data-poor areas, such as the African Rainfall Estimate (RFE) for high-resolution African precipitation and Land-Surface Temperature (LST) for Africa and South America.

APA

Mason, S., Kruczkiewicz, A., Ceccato, P., & Crawford, A. (2015). ACCESSING AND USING CLIMATE DATA AND INFORMATION IN FRAGILE, DATA-POOR STATES. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/accessing-climate-data-information-fragile-data-poor-states.pdf

Chicago

Mason, Simon, Andrew Kruczkiewicz, Pietro Ceccato, and Alec Crawford. ACCESSING AND USING CLIMATE DATA AND INFORMATION IN FRAGILE, DATA-POOR STATES. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2015. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/accessing-climate-data-information-fragile-data-poor-states.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Mason |first1=Simon |last2=Kruczkiewicz |first2=Andrew |last3=Ceccato |first3=Pietro |last4=Crawford |first4=Alec |title=ACCESSING AND USING CLIMATE DATA AND INFORMATION IN FRAGILE, DATA-POOR STATES |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=May 2015 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/accessing-climate-data-information-fragile-data-poor-states.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{mason2015accessing, author = {Mason, Simon and Kruczkiewicz, Andrew and Ceccato, Pietro and Crawford, Alec}, title = {{ACCESSING AND USING CLIMATE DATA AND INFORMATION IN FRAGILE, DATA-POOR STATES}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2015}, month = may, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/accessing-climate-data-information-fragile-data-poor-states.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }