DARWIN project
DARWIN is a research project focused on high-resolution climate analysis of the Galapagos Islands. The project combines field observations with regional climate modeling using WRF.
Main goals
- Characterize seasonal and elevation-dependent hydroclimate patterns.
- Improve process-level understanding of Garua, Occult precipitation, and Precipitation gradients.
- Build a reproducible regional modeling workflow for island-scale climate diagnostics.
Field component
The observational network spans Santa Cruz, San Cristobal, and Isabela across coastal, transition, and highland environments. Public documentation keeps station positions at reduced spatial precision to avoid exposing exact site locations.
Representative site classes:
- Coastal lowlands near sea level (around 0-50 m a.s.l.)
- Mid-elevation garua zone (roughly 300-700 m a.s.l.)
- Highland crest and crater environments (above roughly 700 m a.s.l.)
Modeling component
The modeling workflow is centered on ERA5 forcing and nested WRF domains configured for tropical island conditions (see tropical WRF setup).
Public-facing sensitivity experiments are summarized in:
Outputs and related notes
- Project overview and public framing: DARWIN publication thread
- Main regional climate product: Galapagos refined analysis
- Key site context: Cerro Crocker
- Network context: automated weather station
- Domain note: El Nino and the Galapagos
Recent publication-driven synthesis notes:
See also: MOC DARWIN Workflow and Results, MOC Galapagos Climate System, MOC Projects and Research Threads