Providing Timely and Reliable Weather and Climate Services

Situated one degree north of the equator, Singapore’s tropical climate presents its own unique set of environmental challenges. To prepare for the effects of climate change, NEA’s Meteorological Service Singapore (MSS) provides reliable and responsive weather and climate services to contribute to public safety and a climate resilient economy.

Developing an Enhanced System for Fire Hotspot Detection

Early detection of fires and haze in the region is vital to help agencies plan their operations. Through the application of machine learning techniques to vast amounts of satellite data, the MSS developed a Haze Tracking System and multi-satellite fire-detection product that can assess with higher confidence that a detected hotspot is a fire. This will supplement and improve MSS’ monitoring and early warning of fires and transboundary haze that would adversely affect Singapore and the wider Southeast Asia region.

Improving Delivery of Aviation Weather Data

MSS implemented the latest data exchange XML (Extensible Markup Language)-based formats for aeronautical meteorological observation and forecast reports in line with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO)'s digital transformation to support its Global Air Navigation Plan. For the migration, MSS upgraded its data processing systems to enable the generation and routing of the new message formats. The use of XML in place of the traditional alphanumeric code format allows interoperability across aviation systems, better representation of meteorological information that is reliable and of higher temporal and spatial resolution.

The move aligns with ICAO’s seamless management and exchange of air traffic management information between service providers and aviation users. It also strengthens the role of MSS as an ICAO-designated regional operational meteorological information databank for aviation users in the region.

Strengthening Our Climate Science Research Capabilities

In November 2020, the Climate Science Research Programme Office (CSRPO) was set up under NEA’s Centre for Climate Research Singapore (CCRS) to lead and drive efforts under the National Climate Science Research Masterplan. This helps align climate research areas with national needs and priorities.

The CSRPO will strengthen local research capabilities in key climate impact science areas, such as Sea Level Rise; Water Resource and Flood Management; Biodiversity and Food Security; and the Impact of Warming Trends on Human Health and the Energy Sector.

The CSRPO works with local Institutes of Higher Learning through the award of competitive research grant calls in the various climate impact research areas. The Office also drives and coordinates the overall research direction to systematically build up climate science capabilities across the local research landscape.

About $6.5 million in research grants was awarded to local universities in 2020 and 2021 under the National Sea Level Programme initiated by CCRS to embark on projects aimed at improving the understanding and modelling of the physical mechanisms of sea level rise and variability, with a focus on Singapore and the wider Southeast Asia region. Research findings from the awarded projects will also enhance the international research community’s understanding of climate research on local and regional scales, and contribute to global efforts on evidence-based decisions in adapting to a changing climate.

Going Forward

NEA’s short- and medium-term focus is to strengthen our weather prediction and climate science capabilities. Key initiatives include conducting the Third National Climate Change Study and enhancing our Meteorological Observation Systems. Our goal is to observe and understand the weather and climate affecting Singapore, and to provide services in support of national needs and international co-operation.

Implementing the Third National Climate Change Study

The first of the three Working Group reports that make up the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) was released in August 2021. The report’s findings underscored the urgency for the global community to reduce GHG emissions, while building resilience against the impact of climate change. With climate change progressing at such an alarming rate, it is important to leverage climate science to understand the effects of climate change on Singapore, and press on with efforts to mitigate and adapt to. In 2015, CCRS completed Singapore’s Second National Climate Change Study (V2), which projected that by the end of the century, Singapore could experience higher temperatures, drier months, more intense and frequent heavy rainfall events, with mean sea level rising by around one metre.

Leveraging significant advances in the science of global and regional climate models, and tapping on the high-performance computing resources of the National Supercomputing Centre, the Third National Climate Change Study (V3) is in progress and expected to be completed by end 2022. This latest study will provide the next generation of localised and high-resolution climate change projections up to Year 2100 for Singapore, and further advance our understanding of tropical climate variability and change for Singapore and the surrounding region. The findings will guide the ongoing planning and implementation of adaptation measures to safeguard Singapore against the impact of climate change.