Figure 1: Map of Cameron Highlands (source: JUPEM, 2008)
Regional Climate Model Analysis
The Regional Climate Model applied in this
study was the fifth-generation atmospheric
general circulation model (ECHAM5). The model
was developed at the Max Planck Institute for
Meteorology (MPIM; Roeckner et al, 2003). It was
the latest version in a series of ECHAM models
which evolved from the spectral weather prediction
model of the European Centre for Medium Range
Weather Forecasts (ECMWF; Simmons et al,
1989). ECHAM5 was flexible compared with its
predecessors (Roeckner et al, 2003). Tests were
carried out by Roeckner et al, (2003) on various
platforms.
In this study, the Regional Climate Model
projection was conducted for a reference period
of year 1980 to 2069 in the Cameron Highlands.
The projection scenario in this study was based
on scenario A1B which projects a future where
economic growth is sustained and technology is
shared between developed and developing countries
in order to reduce regional economic disparities. Two
main parameters that were being projected namely
precipitation (in mm) and temperature (in °C). The
data was obtained from START Regional Centre,
Chulalongkorn University, Thailand. The climatic data
was downscaled to 25 km resolution using Regional
Climate Model software. For both precipitation and
temperature, mean and median were calculated on
a yearly basis.
In statistics, the average and the median are
two different measures of central tendency and
often give two very different stories about the data,
37