Climatology

The Pileus Project

The Pileus Project, funded by the US Environmental Protection Agency, focuses on the potential effects of climate variability and change on two important Great Lakes regional industries which are heavily influenced by climate: agriculture (specifically tart cherries, corn, and wheat) and recreation and tourism. The major objective of the Pileus Project is to address potential impacts of climate variability and change in a form that is operationally useful to stakeholders. The methodologies utilized in the project are integrated in an end-to-end assessment strategy, whereby historical and projected future climate scenarios are sequentially linked to ecological, economic and decision-making models. The individual models operate on a local spatial scale. An important aspect of the methodology is the explicit estimation of the uncertainty surrounding the individual components of the assessment process in order to evaluate the magnitude of the "uncertainty cascade" in end-to-end assessments and its impact on decision making. The output from the model components is incorporated into web-based risk management tools that assist stakeholders in making climate-dependent decisions related to their industries.

For more information please visit the project website at: http://www.pileus.msu.edu/.