diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index b73a88ae21eac9cf482289bd07421a70c7fc03e3..843bacd011a771914898425f8e53f26df5ad6762 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -136,6 +136,9 @@ deploy:
   inherit:
     # do not pass global variables to the downstream pipeline
     variables: false
+  variables:
+    # specify deployment in the downstream repo is TEST
+    ENVIRONMENT: test
   trigger:
     project: sns-hfir-scse/deployments/web-reflectivity-deploy
     # run the downstream pipeline on branch main