Realising an eScience Platform to Support Climate Change Adaptation in Victoria

Abstract

Our research is focused on developing an ecoinformatics platform to support climate change adaptation in Victoria. A multidisciplinary, cross-organisational approach is taken in developing adaptation strategies to deal with the ‘diabolical’ policy problem of climate change. The platform comprises a number of components including: (i) a metadata discovery tool to support modelling, (ii) a workflow engine for connecting climate change models, (iii) geographical visualisation tools for communicating landscape and farm impacts, (iv) a landscape object library for storing and sharing digital models, and (v) a landscape constructor tool to support participatory decision-making, and (vi) a virtual organisation for collaboration and sharing information. In this paper we will discuss the platform as it has been developed to support collaborative research and to inform stakeholders of the likely impacts of climate change in South West Victoria, Australia. We will discuss some of the drivers for research in developing the ecoinformatics platform and its components. The paper concludes by identifying some future research directions in better connecting researchers and communicating science outcomes associated with climate change impact and adaptation.