WISP (Weather impact 'What-If?' Scenario Portal)

The overall aim of this Programme Package is to develop a prototype web-portal (WISP) for mapping likely current and future extreme weather events and their impacts in order to develop and support improved local community resilience; and serve as a connecting activity for the woder CREW programme consortium. WISP will bring together a range of existing models that will be further developed in PP4 and PP4 to provide evidence at the local scale.In the UK, extreme weather events (EWEs) are increasing in frequency and severity. The wider community, ranging from individuals and households through to policy makers, must be aware of their exposure to the effects of EWEs, on the disruption that EWEs can bring, and have in place contingency plans to help an immediate recovery and to secure longer term survival. Consequently, in order to cope effectively with EWEs, evidence on the probability and the impact of the EWEs will need to be provided and delivered in an accessible format and medium (i.e. the internet).This Programme Package provides an integral activity because the mapped output will serve as an essential tool for raising awareness of EWE impacts during and beyond the lifetime of the project; for engaging stakeholders in the wider CREW research programme; and for eventually delivering a tailored, operational tool to meet end-users requirements in preparing for a more resilient community. The development of a web-portal, i.e. specifically using the Internet, for serving and disseminating model output, is being used to satisfy the growing expectation and realisation that the Internet is a powerful medium, and becoming de facto, for information exchange and sharing of knowledge.