Data explorer

Fig. 1. Data explorer

The Data Explorer (Fig. 1) organizes information about climate variables based on geographical hierarchy. The user can easily create his/her own geographical domain with the necessary level of details. The data for each climate variable is kept in a separate Excel file and the descriptive information in a Word file.

Fig. 2. Edit form for a climate variable.

Each variable has four attributes: name, region, season/month, and base period against which the anomalies are calculated (Fig. 2). The data can be presented as a set of numerical values and/or classes (categories), including fuzzy sets, with the corresponding degrees of membership (Fig. 3). The Data Explorer also allows the user to see a list of rules, in which the selected variable is used either as predictand or predictor (Fig. 4). This is a quick and convenient way to estimate the role of the variable in the knowledge domain, which in our case is (ultimately) the entire climate system. It also significantly simplifies the construction of a complex forecasting project with multiple links.

Fig. 3. Data template.

Fig. 4. A list of rules that describe factors affecting the timing and magnitude of ENSO.