Students from Khasadrapchu Middle Secondary School (MSS) in Thimphu, Bhutan, monitor and record phenological events and their timing such as budburst, flowering, and fruiting yearly using logbooks prescribed by UWICER’s HEROES project (Photo: Khasadrapchu MSS/UWICER)

The Ugyen Wangchuck Institute for Conservation and Environmental Research (UWICER) has made weather data from Bhutan available for public use. This dataset, collected under UWICER’s Himalayan Rhythms Observation and Evaluation System (HEROES) project, consists of daily and monthly temperature and precipitation data for 2015–2020 derived from weather stations installed in 14 schools across Bhutan.

We collaborated with UWICER to make the datasets available for free download from our Regional Database System (RDS) portal – our central data repository for different thematic areas in the HKH region. As a regional knowledge centre, we believe that access to timely and high-quality data is essential to promote and accelerate learning on the challenges facing mountain ecosystems and communities. Therefore, we collaborate with initiatives and institutions in our Regional Member Countries to create enabling environments to facilitate data availability and discoverability in a data-scarce region.

UWICER initiated the HEROES project in 2015 as part of their climate change impact monitoring programme on biodiversity. They selected a total of 17 schools at various elevations and geographic regions as monitoring sites. The weather station in each school logs data such as temperature, precipitation, solar radiation, soil moisture, wind speed, and wind direction every 10 minutes. The project also monitors and records phenological events and their timing such as budburst, flowering, and fruiting throughout the year.

Changa Tshering, UWICER’s Principal Forestry Officer, shared that the datasets from the HEROES project will improve understanding of climate change impacts in Bhutan. UWICER aims to determine how yearly variations in temperature and precipitation affect the phenology of plants and animals and understand how this variation will impact the biodiversity in Bhutan.

Download HEROES data – weather data from Bhutan from our RDS portal here. http://rds.icimod.org/Home/Data?any=UWICER%20&Category=datasets

Utsav Maden

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