Seasonal Forecast Course Package T.O.P.” is a set of online resources whose goal is to enhance knowledge in the theory of seasonal forecasting and operational use of seasonal climate forecasts.
This online training package has been developed by the WMO Regional Training Center (RTC) Italy, Institute of BioEconomy, CNR-National Research Council Rome, Italy (ex CNR-Ibimet).T.O.P. is a joint initiative World Meteorological Organization and CNR-Ibimet, with the collaboration of MeteoSwiss. Seasonal Forecast Course Package T.O.P. is based on the training materials produced during a series of face-to-face-to-face courses from 2014-17.
These training materials, created by acknowledged researchers and scholars for RTC Italy training initiatives, have been reorganised in a new concept structure, partially re-edited, and enriched with videos and other documentation.
The course package has two audiences.
It can be used by national hydro-meteorological service staff members who wish to improve their climate services competencies or to specialise in seasonal forecasting. For this audience, the course package will provide theoretical and practical knowledge on seasonal forecast and predictability models, climate and data analysis, forecast verification, and specific application of seasonal forecast for agriculture and water management.
In order to meet the heterogeneous needs of the learners, each course unit will illustrate the prerequisites and will propose external resources to fill knowledge gaps.
This approach will provide learners with a personalised learning path based on their interaction with learning components, following the idea that it is more effective to take into account different levels and needs rather than “one size fits all”.
