Downscaling
Through surveys and conversations with local communities, insight is gained in people's perceptions of changes in temperature and precipitation over the past decades, see this report on perceptions. This information can be compared to measured data from meteorological stations in the region.
The combined data from GCMs and people’s perceptions is used by the partners in the project and shared with stakeholders in the country, see ADAPTS approach. These stakeholders are for instance government institutions and communities. The information is also used to predict water availability under climate change using hydrological models.
The above information is used in developing adaptation measures with local communities and other stakeholders. These adaptation measures are evaluated by using hydrological models, local knowledge and expert judgement before construction. For an example see this report on climate change and sand dams in Ethiopia.
Climate Models
ADAPTS makes use of information derived from Global Circulation Models (GCM) and knowledge of local communities in assessing current and expected changes in temperature and precipitation.
Scholars make information of the GCMs available for local use, by a method that is named downscaling. See the following report on Ethiopia (Ward & Lasage) as an example of how this is done.