WORLD METEOROLOGICAL ORGANIZATION
WMO International Workshop on Climate Services Information System Operations and Coordination
Nanjing, China, March 21 – 24, 2017
CONCEPT NOTE
Background
For delivering climate information effectively it is imperative that appropriate operational institutional mechanisms are in place to generate, exchange, and disseminate information globally, regionally and nationally. The Climate Services Information System (CSIS), established by WMO under the World Climate Services Programme (WCSP), is the principal mechanism that will routinely collate, store and process information about past, present and future climates. The CSIS, also one of the five pillars of the Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS), will comprise a physical infrastructure of institutes, centres, and computer/information technology capabilities that, together with professional human resources, will develop, generate, and distribute a wide range of climate information products and services to inform complex decision-making processes across a wide range of climate-sensitive activities and enterprises. It is the means by which research advances and technological developments are transformed into improved operational climate information.
The CSIS, whose evolution began with World Climate Conference‐3 (WCC‐3) in 2009 that established the GFCS, is considered to be the operational core of the GFCS. The report of the High Level Taskforce on GFCS (2012) gave important guidance on CSIS structures, methods and outcomes. It is also recognized that several elements of the CSIS already exist within the WMO infrastructure. The Sixteenth World Meteorological Congress (Cg‐16) further highlighted CSIS (Cg‐16 Resolution 17), and identified a central role for the WMO Commission of Climatology (CCL) in GFCS implementation. The CCl formed CSIS Implementation Coordination Team (ICT-CSIS) in 2014 to coordinate the implementation of CSIS. CSIS ICT held a technical meeting in November 2015 and organized international community of Subject matter Experts (SMEs) on climate data, products and tools relevant to implementation of GFCS at global, regional, and local levels. Specifically, during December 6 – 8, 2017, WMO will host the Developers Meeting on GFCS-Relevant Climate Data, Products, and Tools that will identify the best tools, available in public domain, which can be shared with WMO Member-countries as best practices for climate data management, monitoring, prediction, projection, and tailoring climate information for various user groups.
The CSIS Concept
The CSIS comprises a physical infrastructure of institutions, computer/information technology capabilities, tools and operational practices. Operated by professionally competent human resources, it develops, generates and distributes a wide range of basic to value-added climate information products and services accessible and usable at the global, regional and national scales. It needs to be operated within a policy environment that promotes the unrestricted flow of climate data, while respecting national and international data policies. In practice, the many existing centres that will form CSIS infrastructure already carry out these functions to varying degrees, but there is need to expand, coordinate and standardize operations, products and services. The CSIS infrastructure needs to be strengthened with a special focus to support national climate information providers in countries currently capable of providing only the most basic climate services (or even none at all) and also provide tailored climate information for GFCS priority areas such as health, water resources, disaster risk reduction, energy and food security.
The implementation strategy of the CSIS is based on a three-tiered structure of collaborating institutions (CSIS ‘entities’) that will ensure that climate information and products are generated, exchanged and disseminated:
a) Globally through a range of advanced centres such as Global Producing Centres of Long Range Forecasts (GPCLRFs);
b) Regionally through a network of entities with regional responsibilities such as Regional Climate Centres (RCCs);
c) Nationally and locally by National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) and, through national institutional arrangements, with partners.
The immediate task of the CSIS implementation is to consolidate existing climate data, products, tools, and research findings. For this purpose, CSIS will undertake a set of initial, high priority minimum functions: (i) climate data rescue, management and mining; (ii) climate analysis and monitoring; (iii) climate prediction; (iv) climate projection; and, (v) tailoring information to specific user needs. These functions comprise processes of data retrieval, analysis and assessment, re-analysis, diagnostics, interpretation, assessment, attribution, generation and verification of predictions, generation of projections, estimation of uncertainties and communication (including exchange/ dissemination of data and products) that will be carried out over a global-regional-national system of inter-linked producers and providers. Formalized structures and procedures governing CSIS entities and functions are essential for standardization, sustainability, reliability, and adherence to established policies and procedures. WMO’s Global Data Processing and Forecasting System (GDPFS), an integral part of WMO Technical Regulations which already defines the functions and roles of GPCLRFs and RCCs, can be a good pathway to lay down the formal definitions of CSIS structures and procedures. Making these core climate services products available for users is an essential prerequisite for further widespread tailoring of additional products for decision-making. WMO Information System (WIS) compliance of CSIS operational products will facilitate access to the wider community in an inter-operable environment. CSIS development and evolution will draw on user requirements and understanding how users apply climate information through engagement with the GFCS User Interface Platform (UIP) pillar. CSIS will also work closely with the Observations and Monitoring (O&M) and Research, Modelling and Prediction (RM&P) pillars to obtain the inputs required for its operations. Much of the infrastructural, institutional, procedural and human resources capacities required for the CSIS are pursued through the Capacity Development (CD) pillar of the GFCS.
The CSIS Planned Activities
CSIS will build on the existing infrastructure, mechanisms and resources of climate services providers such as GPCLRFs, RCCs, Regional Climate Outlook Forums (RCOFs), NMHSs, National Climate Outlook Forums (NCOFs), and other relevant WMO centers comprising the CSIS backbone in terms of who is responsible for which of the above mentioned CSIS core products and how to standardize them and make them available, using WIS, so that users do not have to have intimate knowledge of the entire institutional architecture to find them. The CSIS will have to consolidate the existing structures in relationship to the current WMO systems including the GDPFS. CSIS will have to be flexible enough in order to integrate evolving information from partners and organizations, which may contribute to the CSIS through the production and co-production processes including any routinely provided information and services that might go beyond the traditional scope of operational climate services.
The following activities have been identified for CSIS implementation, in the GFCS Implementation Plan approved by the Intergovernmental Board on Climate Services (IBCS):
· Define, build and make available a Climate Services Toolkit (CST) to all countries
· Establish and coordinate operational support for Frameworks for Climate Services at the national level in developing countries
· Establish modern Climate System Monitoring based on improved operational monitoring products
· Implement a Climate Watch System
· Use WMO Information System (WIS) to standardize the discovery of operational CSIS products
· Facilitate the effective use of GPC and other global climate products by regional and national providers (e.g. RCCs and NMHSs), including the operational provision of a Global Seasonal Climate Update
· Strengthen regional systems for providing climate services
· Expand and sustain National Climate Outlook Forums and National Climate Framework operations
The WMO International Workshop
To facilitate the CSIS implementation process, WMO is organizing a Workshop on “Climate Services Information System Operations and Coordination” at CITY, China, during March 21 – 24, 2017.
This four-day international workshop is being organized under auspices of CCL ICT-CSIS, and will focus on developing the CSIS core capabilities and achieving coordinated plan of actions among the GPCLRFs, RCCs, NMHSs and GFCS partners involved in CSIS implementation. The workshop will further advance the finding of WMO previous CCL meetings such as Developers Meeting on GFCS-Relevant Climate Data, Products, and Tools to be held during December 6-8, 2016. Specifically, the workshop will define a seamless WIS-powered process for data exchange between CSIS entities and for accessing a standardized set of the climate products and services for all countries and stakeholders. The workshop will focus on the implementation of CSIS activities, best practices on CSIS user engagement, and coordination of CSIS development with progress made in implementation of other GFCS pillars.
Participants
The workshop will bring together climate service providers, users, and other stakeholders to identify an agreeable path for building collaborative relationships in the generation and provision of science-based and actionable climate information for climate services at global, regional, national and local levels. The workshop participants will include climate services CSIS partners and stakeholders (Figure 1). CSIS stakeholders include representatives from RCC, RCOFs and potential users from GFCS priority areas of health, energy, water resources, water, agriculture and food security, and disaster risk reduction as well as GFCS priority developing countries. CSIS Partners include WMO staff, representative form WMO Commissions, and Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), who contribute the CSIS development process. Participation in the workshop will be by invitation only.
Objectives of the Workshop
The workshop will consist of plenary presentations, panel discussions, and facilitated breakout sessions. The workshop will identify near- and long- term opportunities for sharing available data sets, software, capacity development resources and guidance to accelerate climate services development and sustained progress in all countries. Specifically the workshop will:
1. Evaluate and accelerate development of the following CSIS activities at the global, regional, and national levels
· Climate Services Toolkit
· Regional systems for providing climate services (RCCs and RCOFs)
· Climate Watch System
· NCOF/NCF operations
· Usability of GPC and other global climate products by regional and national providers (e.g. RCCs and NMHSs)
2. Produce CSIS Implementation Plan
· Coordinate CSIS implementation activities with GFCS Operational and Resource Plan for 2016 - 2018
· Specify gaps in existing climate services including data, products, and tools
· Examine existing WMO guidance and select appropriate documents needed for successful development of climate services at national and regional levels
· Scope CSIS Technical Reference Manual components
3. Harmonize the process of CSIS development with progress made in development of other GFCS pillars and integrated information systems, specifically the User Interface Platform and Capacity Development
· Stimulate collaboration with GFCS priority sectors for climate support areas
· Produce the outline for a Guidance Document for development of frameworks for climate services at the national level in developing countries
· Set a path and requirements (quality control, evaluation) for selecting from the many available tools those that should be included in the Climate Services Toolkit and thus used in CSIS
· Set best practices for the tailoring of climate products and their usage in GFCS priority sectors.
Expected Outcomes of the Workshop
The workshop is expected to deliver a set of recommendation which should help enhancing the resources for climate service delivery through CSIS operations. The workshop outcomes will include:
· Recommended plan for CSIS near- and long-term activities
· Refined scope and components of CSIS implementation approach
· Recommended approach to ensure CSIS long-term sustainability
· Validated requirements on tailoring of climate information to meet the needs of downstream CSIS entities such as RCCs and NMHSs or wider groups of targeted CSIS users
· Produced statement of needs for training events supporting the deployment of the Climate Services Toolkit as well as accelerated usability of information provided by the CSIS.
Agenda Outline of the Workshop
Day 1 – CSIS Scope, Target Entities, and Strategy
Day 2 – Climate Services Collaboration and Partnership
Day 3 – Climate Services Toolkit Development, Deployment, and Evaluation
Day 4 – Path Forward for CSIS Implementation
Contact
For further details, please contact:
Dr Rupa Kumar Kolli
Chief, World Climate Applications & Services Division
WMO Secretariat, Geneva
Email:
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