Marine Ecosystems Research Department - jamstec japan agency ...

Japan Marine Science and Technology Center
Frontier Research System for Global Change
Experiment (GAME). A total of participants attended
the workshop, including from overseas. In the
field of research utilizing the regional model, many
participants addressed the subject of Baiu Front of
Japan, Korea, and China, and its inter-annual variations.
The major themes extensively discussed at the
workshop include () Progress and problems in regional
climate model development and regional climate
modeling, () Application of regional climate models
to the study of monsoon systems, () Applications of
regional climate models in climate processes studies,
() Verification of model simulations and validation of
model physics, and () Future research directions and
collaboration as an active community. The following
issues were addressed and decided at the end of the
Workshop: () to compile Workshop proceedings by
the end of April, () to make an effort to publish a special
issue of the Journal of the Meteorological Society
of Japan, () to plan for a comparative study of models
regarding a sensitivity analysis of the models in order
to make a contribution for regional-scale meteorological
forecasts involving IPCC, and () organizing a consortium
of Workshop participants to promote research
on the regional climate model using the Earth
Simulator (ES), and applying for utilizing the ES.
(c) The Second EU-Japan Symposium on Climate
Research
Many FRSGC researchers participated in the above
Symposium, organized by European Commission (EC)
held at Brussels, Belgium, from - March ,
and FRSGC served as the secretariat for the Japan side.
The Symposium was organized under the framework
of the EU-Japan science and technology cooperation
and was a follow-up of the EU-Japan Climate Change
Symposium held in Hakone, Japan in March .
Emerging climate research programs in Japan and
Europe were introduced. Particularly, the progress of
six subjects from research programs "Sustainable
Coexistence of Human, Nature and the Earth" of the
MEXT in Japan were reported. Especially, for climate
modeling using the ES, the overall initial situation in
Japan including development of FRSGC's next generation
model were introduced, and gave a strong impression
to EU participants. In addition, the aforementioned
MEXT Project and "Sustainable Development,
Global Change and Ecosystems" of the EU Framework
were recognized to foster common goals. As a result of
the symposium, the following four research projects
were concretely identified in the joint-statement as
fields for future cooperation.
Climate variations prediction, from seasonal to
decadal scale, (focusing on extreme phenomena and
their effects)
Development of earth system model and advanced
climate model
Joint contribution for the global climate observation
system
Promotion of research utilizing the Earth Simulator
4. Participation in International Events
(a) World Summit on Sustainable Development
(WSSD)
WSSD was held from the end of August to the
beginning of September at Johannesburg, the capital of
the Republic of South Africa. FRSGC introduced our
activities in the booth of the National Space
Development Agency of Japan (NASDA), at the Japan
Pavilion, set up in the exhibition sites of Ubuntu
Village, which is located km away from Sandton,
where the official conference was held. Related presentations
were made during seminars held parallel to the
exhibition. In the "Plan of Implementation", various
items highly related to FRSGC activities were included,
such as water cycle, climate change, ecosystem, atmosphere,
global warming, and international cooperation.
(b) The Third World Water Forum
From March to , , the above Forum was
held in multiple sites of Kyoto, Shiga, and Osaka in
Japan. The Water Forum was established in order to
solve various water-related issues, such as "water con-
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