Geospatial web application to support climate change research in Кazakhstan

Abstract

Climate change modelling data is represented by large datasets that require certain expertise and computational resources for its transformation and adjustment to user needs. Geospatial web applications and geoportals are considered as a solution to this problem in this article. Global web resources do not provide geoinformation services for research on climate change in Kazakhstan due to aggregation or low resolution of the source data coupled with limited functionality for interactive geo-visualization and data analysis. The article describes the web application “Kazakhstan Climate Change” developed by the authors, the purpose of which is aimed at supporting research on spatial-temporal patterns of climate change in Kazakhstan. The data derived from CMIP5 models served as the source data. Based on the initial indicators such as temperature and precipitation, using the developed Python scripts and R Climpact climate script packages, additional indicators such as evapotranspiration, drought indices, heat supply indices and indices of the length of the growing season were calculated in order to determine the impact of climate change on water resources and agriculture. The key advantages of the web application include time-series geo-visualization, interactive generation of diagrams and tables for analysis, in particular for selected units of water management zoning. The geospatial web application “Kazakhstan Climate Change” responds to the challenges of presenting large climate datasets in the easy-to-perceive style and in an easily comprehensible way for geospatial analysis. The functionality of the web application allows users, without GIS skills, to explore climate change scenarios on their own, this opportunity is of practical value for scientific and educational community, for policymakers in the field of climate change and water resources management.