Climate Science for Service Partnership Brazil

The Climate Science for Service Partnership Brazil is a collaborative climate science initiative between research institutes in the UK and Brazil.

What is the Climate Science for Service Partnership Brazil?

Launched in 2016, the Climate Science for Service Partnership Brazil (CSSP Brazil) is a research project that aims to build strong partnerships between research institutes in the UK and Brazil. 

CSSP Brazil produces collaborative science that is fundamental to the development of climate services that support climate-resilient economic development and social welfare. 

The project provides grants to support researchers from the UK climate science community in their work with Brazilian research institutes. CSSP Brazil is part of our Weather and Climate Science for Service Partnership (WCSSP) programme. 

Who is involved in the project?

The project is a collaboration between UK scientific institutes and Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (INPE), National Institute for Amazon Research (INPA) and the National Centre for Monitoring and Early Warning of Natural Disasters(CEMADEN).

UK academic partners include the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, University of Edinburgh, University of Exeter, University of Leeds University of Oxford, and the University of Reading. 

UK research institutes can find out about research calls and how to get involved in the project our fund management page.

An aerial view of the Pantanal wetland photographed in Corumba, Mato Grosso do Sul The Pantanal, the world’s largest tropical wetland, is an important region for monitoring natural methane emissions.

Current research areas

Brazilian ecosystems and the carbon cycle

Brazilian ecosystems absorb and store a significant amount of carbon. CSSP Brazil is improving our understanding of the role of these ecosystems, such as the Amazon rainforest and the Cerrado savannah, in the global carbon and methane cycles. The project is also improving how wildfires, which impact the global carbon cycle, are represented in climate models. 

Climate modelling

Changes in rainfall can have a significant impact on life in Brazil. Droughts can lead to reductions in freshwater availability for people and livestock, and heavy rainfall can result in flooding and landslides. CSSP Brazil research aims to improve predictions of changes in rainfall over Brazil through enhancing climate model capability around processes associated with rainfall.

Climate impacts and disaster risk reduction

Many extreme climate events in Brazil are water related including floods, droughts and fire. These events can have damaging social, economic and environmental impacts and since 1979 there have been an estimated 5,000 deaths due to extreme rainfall events. 

CSSP Brazil is working to understand and predict changes in weather-related risks and impacts due to climate change, as well as improve the predictability and warnings of hydrological extremes. This will help enhance Brazil’s capabilities in Disaster Risk Reduction and protect the economy, infrastructure and lives and across Brazil.

Seasonal fire probability forecasts

As part of the project, scientists from the UK and South America are working together to develop a seasonal fire probability forecasting service. This delivers forecasts of fire probability for South America several months in advance.

Latest forecasts

December 2020 - Fire probability in South American Protected Areas, Brazilian Settlements and Rural Properties in the Brazilian Amazon (December 2020 - February 2021) - English, Spanish, Portuguese

August 2020 - Fire probability in South American Protected Areas (August-October 2020) - English, Spanish, Portuguese

Find out more in this infographic on the seasonal forecasts - English, Spanish, Portuguese

Recent research grants

  • Support for easy access/analysis of complex model data ACCLIMATE-FD, University of Reading
  • Seasonal forecasting of Manaus river maximum – PEACFLOW2, University of Reading
  • Brazilian Ecosystem resilience in next-generation vegetation dynamics scheme, University of Exeter
  • Emergence of sea surface temperatures driving severe rainfall reductions in the Amazon, University of Exeter
  • Analysis of sea surface temperature and teleconnections to Brazil rainfall change and risks of future droughts, University of Exeter
  • Seasonal forecasting of the Manaus river maximum, University of Reading
  • Support for analysis of complex model data, University of Reading
  • Analysing the Amazon fertilisation experiment, University of Exeter
  • Plot based analysis of ecosystem carbon cycling, University of Leeds
  • Ecosystem responses to extremes, University of Exeter
  • Attribution and unprecedented events, University of Oxford
  • Attributing Amazon forest fires from land-use alteration and meteorological extremes, University of Oxford
  • Hydrological modelling, UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
  • Agricultural crop modelling and application, University of Leeds
  • Evaluation of South American Ecosystem Processes, University of Edinburgh
  • Analysis to inform South America’s carbon budget, University of Exeter

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