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A decision support system to aid in the risk evaluation of airborne animal diseases was developed for Ireland. The system's primary objective is to assist in risk evaluation of the airborne spread of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD). The operational system was developed by Met Éireann – the Irish Meteorological Service and CVERA (Centre for Veterinary Epidemiology and Risk Analysis), in co-operation with NOAA-ARL (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – Air Resources Laboratory) and ECMWF (European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts). The infrastructure largely relies on the HYSPLIT dispersion model driven by both ECMWF meteorological forecasts for longer range simulations, and HARMONIE-AROME meteorological forecasts, a high resolution local area meteorological model, ideal for shorter range national emissions. Following on from previous work by the Bureau of Meteorology, Australia as well as the Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, further modifications were made to the HYSPLIT source code to improve the model's characterisation of the Foot and Mouth Disease virus. FMD is a highly infectious disease among cloven hoofed animals that can transmit via airborne means. Biological characteristics related to temperature, humidity, lifespan as well as atmospheric washout were all incorporated either through new or existing functionality of the dispersion model. Combining the model dispersion capabilities of HYSPLIT with a virus emission model and GIS mapping software with farmland zoning, the disease dispersion system becomes a powerful analysis and decision support tool. This airborne animal disease atmospheric dispersion system helps improve emergency preparedness, as well as aid confinement and eradication strategies for relevant Irish authorities, during a disease outbreak.

The tropical Atlantic is home to multiple coupled climate variations covering a wide range of timescales and impacting societally relevant phenomena such as continental rainfall, Atlantic hurricane activity, oceanic biological productivity, and atmospheric circulation in the equatorial Pacific. The tropical Atlantic also connects the southern and northern branches of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation and receives freshwater input from some of the world’s largest rivers. To address these diverse, unique, and interconnected research challenges, a rich network of ocean observations has developed, building on the backbone of the Prediction and Research Moored Array in the Tropical Atlantic (PIRATA). This network has evolved naturally over time and out of necessity in order to address the most important outstanding scientific questions and to improve predictions of tropical Atlantic severe weather and global climate variability and change. The tropical Atlantic observing system is motivated by goals to understand and better predict phenomena such as tropical Atlantic interannual to decadal variability and climate change; multidecadal variability and its links to the meridional overturning circulation; air-sea fluxes of CO2 and their implications for the fate of anthropogenic CO2; the Amazon River plume and its interactions with biogeochemistry, vertical mixing, and hurricanes; the highly productive eastern boundary and equatorial upwelling systems; and oceanic oxygen minimum zones, their impacts on biogeochemical cycles and marine ecosystems, and their feedbacks to climate. Past success of the tropical Atlantic observing system is the result of an international commitment to sustained observations and scientific cooperation, a willingness to evolve with changing research and monitoring needs, and a desire to share data openly with the scientific community and operational centers. The observing system must continue to evolve in order to meet an expanding set of research priorities and operational challenges. This paper discusses the tropical Atlantic observing system, including emerging scientific questions that demand sustained ocean observations, the potential for further integration of the observing system, and the requirements for sustaining and enhancing the tropical Atlantic observing system.

From the French National Adaptation to Climate Change Plan, the "Drias, les futurs du climat" service has been developed to provide easy access to French regional climate projections. This is a major step for the implementation of French Climate Services. The usefulness of this service for the end-users and decision makers involved with adaptation planning at a local scale is investigated. As such, the VIADUC project is: to evaluate and enhance Drias, as well as to imagine future development in support of adaptation. Climate scientists work together with end-users and a service designer. The designer's role is to propose an innovative approach based on the interaction between scientists and citizens. The chosen end-users are three Natural Regional Parks located in the South West of France. The latter parks are administrative entities which gather municipalities having a common natural and cultural heritage. They are also rural areas in which specific economic activities take place, and therefore are concerned and involved in both protecting their environment and setting-up sustainable economic development. The first year of the project has been dedicated to investigation including the questioning of relevant representatives. Three key local economic sectors have been selected: i.e. forestry, pastoral farming and building activities. Working groups were composed of technicians, administrative and maintenance staff, policy makers and climate researchers. The sectors' needs for climate information have been assessed. The lessons learned led to actions which are presented hereinafter.