Southeast Climate Consortium: Introduction and Background Upton Hatch Professor and Director Auburn University Environmental Institute Alabama Water Resources Research Institute

SECC Background 6 universities from Florida, Alabama and Georgia Florida State University, Jim O’Brien University of Florida, Jim Jones University of Miami, David Letson Auburn University, Upton Hatch University of Alabama Huntsville, Dick McNider University of Georgia, Gerritt Hoogenboom Financial Support National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration US Department of Agriculture Risk Management Agency Cooperative State Research Education and Extension Service

Overview Areas of Specialization Climate Water Agriculture Decision support Extension Linked models Decision support system - AgClimate

Climate Forecasting Florida State – O’Brien and Zierden Climate, not weather El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) El Nino La Nina Neutral 6 month seasonal forecast Monthly forecast in development

Climate Data and Crop Modeling University of Florida - Jones University of Georgia – Hoogenboom and Paz Climate forecast data provided by Florida State on a spatial basis Crop yields forecast for web-based decision support tool – Fraisse Economic data related to climate forecast and yields – Hatch and Novak

AgClimate Developed and managed by University of Florida – Fraisse Climate forecasts Decision aid tools Crops, pasture, livestock and forestry (management adaptations) Simulated yields and economic returns associated with climate forecasts Forest fire risk forecast Commodity outlooks Background information on climate variability and ENSO