World Meteorological Organization Working together in weather, climate and water

WMO

Global Cryosphere Watch (GCW) Solid Precipitation Measurement Intercomparison (SPICE) GCOS-AOPC Geneva, April 25, 2012 Barry Goodison World Meteorological Organization, Geneva, Switzerland

http://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/www/polar/index_en.html

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The Global Cryosphere Watch (GCW)

First GCW Implementation Meeting, Nov 21-25 2011 The 16th WMO Congress (2011) agreed that WMO needs to have a focus on global cryosphere issues to be able to provide authoritative information to meet Members’ responsibilities on regional and global weather, climate, water and related environmental matters, and decided to embark on the development of the Global Cryosphere Watch (GCW), as an IPY Legacy, with a view of an operational GCW. EC-PORS will guide GCW Development

Considerations • NASA/EOS Canadian CRYSYS project • the development of the framework for the Cryosphere Observing System (CryOS) • IPCC WG 1 and 2 • ACIA, ICARPII, SWIPA and SCAR (Antarctic Climate Change and the Environment Report) IPY 2007-2008 was the stimulus to bring all of the pieces together

GCW MISSION and TASKS Mission: GCW will provide authoritative, clear, and useable data, information, and  analyses on the past, current and future state of the cryosphere to meet the needs of  WMO Members and partners in delivering services to users, including the media,  public, decision and policy makers. Operating structure: 1. Observing Systems Working Group (co‐leads: Jeff Key and Wolfgang Schoener) will address capabilities and needs for surface‐based and satellite observations (a) CryoNet Team (b) Requirements and Capabilities Team (c) Infrastructure and Practices Team 2. Products and Services Working Group (co‐leads: Jim Abraham and Walt Meier) will decide which products and services GCW will provide, develop the “clearinghouse” for products and services, develop data policies for GCW. (a) Portal Team (b) Products Team ‐Terminology Sub‐Group (c) Outreach Team A global priority for all time and space scales: weather, climate water and related environmental matters

Observing Systems Working Group (Jeff Key and Wolfgang Schoener) •

will address capabilities and needs for surface-based and satellite observations

CryoNet Team •

establish the surface-based network of reference sites and supersites; define types of surface sites, e.g., supersites, reference sites, and/or tiered site operating a sustained, standardized programme for observing and monitoring cryospheric variables; develop formal procedures for establishing the GCW network, evaluate potential supersites, and determine data availability.

Requirements and Capabilities Team •

will assess user needs; periodically review and update observing system requirements and capabilities and contribute to the WMO Rolling Review of Requirements database; link to the WMO Polar Space Task Group (PSTG).

Infrastructure and Practices Team •

will conduct an inventory of the current network, including infrastructure and practices, compile best practices, guidelines, and standards, determine what should be measured, and facilitate interaction and collaboration between the scientific and operational communities.

Products and Services Working Group (Jim Abraham and Walt Meier) • will decide which products and services GCW will provide, develop the  “clearinghouse” for products and services, develop data policies for GCW. 

Products Team •

will select a set of key GCW datasets; develop inventory of candidate products; includes intercomparison of products to assess quality and ensure an authoritative basis; develop data policies. Terminology sub-group will develop/evaluate glossaries, terminologies, vocabularies, and ontologies.

Portal Team •

will develop the web portal; evaluate candidate products, including meteorological data, and prepare an initial plan for development including linking to data contributors, testing by partners, working with national focal points, and developing documentation for outside use; will work through interoperability issues with data centres and other programmes.

Outreach Team •

will be an authoritative voice on cryosphere issues, to speak to the media and policymakers, develop outreach products, facilitate training of students and early career scientists, work with social media, and issue newsletters.

Feature Comparison

RESPONDING TO USER NEEDS – CONSULTATION, ENGAGEMENT, FEEDBACK Changes Changes in in the the cryosphere cryosphere can can have have significant significant impacts impacts on on water water supply, supply, transportation, transportation, infrastructure, infrastructure, hunting, hunting, fisheries, fisheries, recreation, recreation, ecology ecology over over range range of of time time & & space space scales scales Sea level rise threatens vital infrastructure. Changes in sea‐ice affect access to the polar  oceans and resources, tourism, and security.  Declining summer sea‐ice affects ocean  circulation and weather patterns. Natural hazards such as icebergs,  avalanches and glacier outburst floods  create risks.   Permafrost thawing impacts infrastructure  and is potentially a major source of  methane, a greenhouse gas. Changes in the cryosphere impact water  supply, food production, freshwater  ecosystems, hydropower production, and  the risk of floods and droughts. Retreating sea ice results in a loss of habitat  f l h l b d l

OBSERVATION AND MONITORING Critical Elements of the “Watch”

Concordia

• Contributing to an optimized  cryosphere observing system using  in‐situ and satellite systems  • Developing value added long‐term  Sonnblick standardized observational data and  products to address systems science  • operating in remote, data sparse regions • CryoNet – reference, super sites – develop consortium  and policy questions, initialize and  validate model and satellite derived  of sustained, ground‐based international multi‐ disciplinary observatories, strengthening collaboration cryospheric outputs • role for community‐based monitoring • a 'watch' product is a monitoring  product  (analysis & evaluation) • comprehensive, coordinated cost‐effective, sustainable system of observations &  information

Northern Finland test area Northern Finland test area 300x300 km Sodankylä-Pallas CAL/VAL area 150x150 km Other 0.8 % Open (”barren”) 1.2 % Bog 23.3 % Forest 70.9 % Lakes & rivers 3.7 %

Sodankylä

Challenge: Product Selection WMO

• • • • •

Routine evaluation of products Robust algorithms for climate use Product intercomparisons Products meet user needs Sustainable product development and production • Transfer from research to operations SWE derived from SSM/I for Western Canada

Envisat ASAR mosaic sea ice for September 2007

Ice surface temperature from NPP VIIRS

Challenge: Product Selection, cont. Product intercomparisons and error assessments are important

Challenge: Standardization Cooperation Agreement with ISO (2008): 1. Development of joint ISO/WMO tech standards 2. WMO existing standards can become ISO standards 3. WMO retains primary control of its own standards 4. Underlines authority of WMO standards and enhances international recognition WMO standards ¾ Need for GCW standards to be promoted to ISO standards? Working Arrangements with CIPM (2002): ¾ Ensuring traceability of measurements to SI ¾ Part of MRA: mutual recognition of standards & calibration & measurement certificates ¾ Need for GCW measurements to be traceable to SI?

Challenge: Partnerships It is essential to understand that: GCW is not assuming the mandate of any of the Partners/Collaborators. Instead, GCW enables Partners/Collaborators to exercise their mandate effectively.

WMO

Status

Task Progress •CryoNet: Surface measurement sites are being identified. Many have been “offered”, e.g., Sodankylä, China, Sonnblick, IASOA(S) •Site types are being defined (supersites, reference sites, observation sites) •Inventories of satellite and surface products for GCW are being developed. •A Snow Watch Workshop is being planned •Many partnerships have been confirmed. •A web portal prototype has been developed. An information web site is under construction.

BRINGING USERS AND PROVIDERS TOGETHER ROLE of GCW WEB PORTAL The GCW web portal will provide the ability to exchange cryosphere data,  metadata, information and analyses among a distributed network of providers  and users in support of informed decision‐making.   Facilitating Knowledge to Action Data quality, sharing and access are  fundamental principles • improve access to, and utilization of  observations and products from WMO  and other observing systems and from  national and international data centres • built using the principles developed  for IPY2007‐2008.  • facilitates the interaction between  users and providers of the products METNO

Schematic  of GCW  Web Site

The web site differs  from the METNO  GCW data portal in  that it will contain  more background,  higher‐level  information on the  state of the  cryosphere, news and  “hot topics”, meeting  information, GCW  documents, and  outreach material. It  will link to the  METNO data portal.

DEVELOPING GCW AS A LIVING LEGACY The People, The Commitment The current generation has built the foundation. To go  forward,  we need early career cryosphere scientists with  their knowledge, energy, passion, networking and fresh  ideas to be engaged not just in research, but also in  development of service‐oriented information – from  Knowledge to Action Strengthen interdisciplinary research and engagement of  users and northern peoples from the beginning; develop  community‐based monitoring as part of our networks;  continue to incorporate traditional knowledge Need international funding mechanism for collaborative  international network projects – as the EU does with its  Framework Programme – open to consortiums of  government, university, industry; funders could be  government, business, foundations

GCW can only be successful through collaboration and partnership

Спасибо

Gracias

Thank you

Merci

‫ﺷﻜﺮا‬

谢谢

WMO Solid Precipitation Measurement Intercomparison (SPICE)

SPICE MISSION • To develop a reference using automatic gauges and to provide  guidance on the performance of modern automated sensors,  for: (i) total precipitation amount measurement in cold  climates for all seasons, especially when the precipitation is  solid, (ii) snowfall measurement, and (iii) snow depth  measurement (height of new fallen snow). • To understand and document the differences between  automatic and manual measurements of solid precipitation of  equally sheltered gauges, including their siting and  configuration.

SPICE Plan

The list of host countries will be finalized in April 2012, based on the formal  invitation from each interested participant

WMO-SPICE Objectives …1 • Define and validate one or more field references using automatic instruments  for each parameter being investigated, over a range of temporal resolutions  (daily to minutes). • Assess/characterize automatic systems used in operational applications for  the measurement of Solid Precipitation (i.e. gauges as “black boxes”): o Assess the ability of automatic systems to perform over a range of operating  conditions; o Derive adjustments to be applied to measurements from operational automatic  systems, as a function of variables available at an operational site: e.g., wind,  temp, RH; o Recommend the required ancillary data to enable the derivation of adjustments; o Assess operational data processing and data quality management techniques; o Assess the minimum practicable temporal resolution for reporting a valid solid  precipitation measurement (amount, snowfall, and snow depth on the ground); o Evaluate the ability to detect and measure trace to light precipitation.

• Evaluate new and emerging technology for the measurement of solid  precipitation and their potential for use in operational applications.

WMO-SPICE Objectives …2 • Provide recommendations on best practices and configurations for measurement systems in operational environments: o exposure and siting specific to various types of instruments; o optimal gauge and shield combination for different collection conditions/climates; o instrument specific operational aspects, specific to cold conditions; o Consideration will be given to the needs of remote locations, in particular those  with power and/or communications limitations.

• Assess the achievable uncertainty of the measurement systems included in  WMO‐SPICE and the ability to effectively and accurately report solid precipitation. o sensitivity, uncertainty, bias, repeatability, and response time of automatic systems; o sources and magnitude of errors;

• Configure and collect a comprehensive data set for further data mining or for  specific applications (e.g., radar‐ and/or satellite‐based snowfall estimation).  Enable additional studies on the homogenization of automatic/manual  observations and the traceability of automated measurements to manual  measurements.

SPICE Deliverables • Recommendations of automatic field references systems; • Characterization of the performance of existing, new, and emerging  technologies for measuring solid precipitation; • A comprehensive data set for legacy use, for further data mining. • Guidance to WMO Members on transition to automation from manual  observations of solid precipitation measurements; • Recommendations to manufacturers on instrument improvements. • Update of relevant chapters of the CIMO Guide (WMO No 8) • Timing: – Pre‐SPICE results: summer 2012 – SPICE report: 2015

SPICE Status • Intercomparison Organizing Committee (IOC) approved by WMO  includes representatives from Canada, China, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Russia, Switzerland, USA. • IOC co‐Chairs: Rodica Nitu (Canada), Roy Rasmussen (USA); • Oct 5‐7, 2011: IOC face to face planning meeting in Geneva; defined  objectives and plan; • Formal engagement of WMO Members and HMEI; participating  countries to be “finalized” early May • June 11‐15, 2012: IOC planning meeting in Boulder Colorado; to  finalize experiment design, protocols, data analysis, publication  protocol etc.  

SPICE – the Challenge • issues that are very  relevant to the design of  the  experiment,  • our interpretation and  analysis of the data,             • accuracy of  data being  distributed in real time  (what should be  reported in real‐time?),  • our recommendations  on adjustment for  errors in measurement,  • determination of what  data and the production  of data to be stored in  the climate archive for  future use.

SPICE – Role for GCOS and GCW • Ensure CIMO recognition of GCOS and GCW as important  stakeholders • Promote appropriate participation in SPICE by cryospheric  and climate communities • Ensure recommended improvements in solid precipitation  measurement are implemented – GCOS and GCW are  important bodies in this process • Suggested as a GCW Demonstration Project