GAPP: GEWEX Americas Prediction Project

Summary

The Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX) Americas Prediction Project (GAPP) initiative is developing an improved capability to make seasonal to annual forecasts through better land surface and hydrologic modeling. Funded by both NOAA and NASA, this project is expected to continue until 2007.

Objectives:

The GAPP program (GEWEX ?Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment? America Prediction Project) objectives are to make monthly to seasonal predictions of the hydrological cycle and to use these improved predictions for better water resources management. The first objective largely involves improving the land surface, hydrology, and boundary layer representations of models used for climate prediction through improved understanding of the hydrological processes, feedbacks between the land and atmosphere, model transferability, and development of a comprehensive modeling system. The second objective involves scaling the climate model output to make it useful for water resource managers, improved understanding of the links between hydrologic predictions and water resources management, including the use of demonstration projects, and better understanding of the effects of land surface changes on the regional hydrology.