An Environmental Watch System for the Andean countries: El Observatorio Andino

An experimental Environmental Watch System, the so-called Observatorio Andino-OA (Observatorio Andino), has been implemented in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Chile over the past two years. The OA is a collaborative and regional network that aims to monitor several environmental variables and develop accurate forecasts based on different scientific tools. Its overall goal is to improve risk assessments, set up Early Warning Systems, support decision-making processes, and provide easily- and intuitively-understandable spatial maps to end-users. The initiative works under the scientific and logistic coordination of the Centro de Modelado Científico (CMC) at Zulia University, Venezuela, and the Centro Internacional para la Investigación del Fenómeno 'El Niño' (CIIFEN), and is operated at a local level by the National Weather Services (NWSs) of the aforementioned six Andean nations. The OA provides several freely-available model outputs including meteorological and hydrological forecasts, droughts, fire and flood indices, ecosystems dynamics, climate and health applications, and five-day high-resolution oceanographic predictions for the Eastern Pacific. This article briefly describes the current products, methodologies and dynamical and statistical modeling outputs provided by the OA. Also, a discussion on how these sets of tools have been put together as a coordinated, scientific watch and forecast system for each country and for the entire region is presented. Our experiences over the past two years suggest that this initiative would significantly improve the current decision-making processes in Andean countries.