====== CSTool ======

[[https://www.medscope-project.eu/the-project/medscope-platform/|MEDSCOPE]] is developing and distributing a toolbox, CSTools, designed and built to improve the quality of climate forecasts in the Mediterranean region on seasonal to multi-annual scales, along with a number of examples of sectoral applications of relevance for the region. The improved climate prediction information will be achieved both via a better understanding of the Mediterranean climate variability and predictability and on the development of innovative methodologies to extract the information from climate predictions.

THE MEDSCOPE TOOLBOX, CSTools, also includes results of user engagement meetings, instructions for users, examples of sectoral applications, and much other contents.

Find video tutorials for
  * [[https://youtu.be/cm34qT1xhvM|Introduction to CSTools]]
  * [[https://youtu.be/brxrgtvfT5I|Installation]]
  * [[https://youtu.be/71pa6d4Y2ek|Data loading]]
  * [[https://youtu.be/qVXv-6FxDOU|Identify the best system for a region]]
  * [[https://youtu.be/lkkqw467yL4|Calibration]]
  * [[https://youtu.be/YmAfUhxyL7o|Probabilistic forecast]]
  * [[https://youtu.be/v7JElzv1Vm4|Downscaling Precipitation]]
  * [[https://youtu.be/otRai-Y-VTI|Improving forecast skill]]
  * [[https://youtu.be/9fs_1FNnLJM|Creating forecast scenarios]]

CSTools is an R package and a preliminary version is publicly available on CRAN repository https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=CSTools. This tool, thought to assess the skill of Climate forecasts on seasonal-to-decadal timescales, exploits dynamical seasonal forecasts in order to provide information relevant to stakeholders at the seasonal timescale. The package contains process-based methods for forecast calibration, bias correction, statistical and stochastic downscaling, optimal forecast combination and multivariate verification, as well as basic and advanced tools to obtain tailored products (Table 1).

Table 1: Summary of the currently included functions.

{{:tools:cstools.png?600|}}


The package includes the description of each individual function through the typical R channels, including the pdf document and an overview of the package is also available in a poster format here.
While other guidelines on how to use the software are provided in the shape of vignettes* showing how to analyze climate data:

  * [[https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/CSTools/vignettes/RainFARM_vignette.html|Downscaling Precipitation with RainFARM]]
  * [[https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/CSTools/vignettes/MultiModelSkill_vignette.html|Evaluate multi-model scores]]
  * [[https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/CSTools/vignettes/MultivarRMSE_vignette.html|Multi variable RMSE computation]]
  * [[https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/CSTools/vignettes/BestEstimateIndex_vignette.html|Achieving Best Estimate Index]]

*an instructive tutorial demonstrating practical uses of the software with the discussion of the interpretation of the results.

===== How to use it =====


You can start using it by loading it:


        > library(CSTools)


===== How to cite ===== 



Please, cite the package as

Nuria Perez-Zanon, Louis-Philippe Caron, Carmen Alvarez-Castro, Jost von Hardenberg, Llorenç LLedo, Nicolau Manubens, Eroteida Sanchez-Garcia, Bert van Schaeybroeck, Veronica Torralba and Deborah Verfaillie (2019). CSTools: Assessing Skill of Climate Forecasts on Seasonal-to-Decadal Timescales. R package version 2.0.0. https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=CSTools

===== Contact details  =====


For further questions contact the coordinators of the package:

Núria Pérez-Zanón
(Postdoctoral researcher)    
nuria.perez at bsc.es   

Louis-Phillipe Caron 
(Research scientist)
louis-philippe.caron at bsc.es

===== Meetings and Conferences ===== 

The package was recently showcased at the following events:

  * European Meteorological Society (EMS) Annual Meeting, Copenhagen, Denmark, 9-13 September 2019.

  * 14th International Meeting on Statistical Climatology (IMSC), Toulouse, France, 24-28 June 2019.

  * European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly, Vienna, Austria, 8-12 April 2019.


===== Extra =====

Information to add a function to CSTools and how the functions work can be found in this {{ :tools:cstools_functionintegration.pdf | slides}}.