ICG-WIGOS-4/Doc. 9.1, Appendix II, p. 1
WIGOS Regional Centres
WIGOS Project Office (draft), 9 February 2015
1. Introduction
Following the successful implementation of the global framework of WIGOS in the 2012-2015 Financial Period, the focus will shift toward regional and national implementation activities in the 2016-2019 WIGOS Pre-Operational Phase. In contrast to the WMO Global Observing System (GOS) which tends to be squarely anchored within the NMHSs of the WMO Members, WIGOS spans across a diverse range of application areas and scientific disciplines, which in turn at the national level involves a number of different ministries and agencies beyond the direct control of the NMHS. Due to this breadth of scope of WIGOS in both a scientific and political sense, a network of WIGOS Regional Centres is needed to assist the WMO Members and the Secretariat in their endeavour to successfully implement WIGOS at the national and regional levels.
The following sections provide details on the role, functionality, interaction, and review and accreditation process for the WIGOS Regional Centres.
2. Role of WIGOS Regional Centres (WRC)
WIGOS Regional Centres will play a critical role for the successful implementation of WIGOS as an operational system. A general role of WRCs will be to provide support and assistance to Members and Regions for their national and regional WIGOS implementation. WRCs will provide a link between the WIGOS Project Office and the individual WMO Members, recognizing that many Members are requesting support for the implementation efforts.
The WRCs will also work closely with their respective WMO Regional Office to ensure efficient and effective implementation of WIGOS during the Pre-Operational Phase (2016-2019).
The WRCs will liaise with the respective existing WMO Centres, in particular with the Regional Instrument Centres (RICs) and Regional Training Centres (RTCs) in a coordinated way regarding all WIGOS related activities in the Region.
At least one WRC should be established in each WMO Region.
The responsibilities of a WRC should encompass any or all of the following areas:
• Regional performance monitoring of WIGOS networks (data availability).
• Regional monitoring of observational data quality, especially for those observations not used for global NWP (climate, atmospheric composition, hydrology, etc.).
• Incident management in the Region to address any issues identified by the regional monitoring system and follow-up with the data providers involved.
• Coordination of design and implementation of regional observing networks.
• Regional monitoring and reporting on WIGOS implementation activities and projects.
• Supporting and assisting Members in response to specific requests (subject to availability of resources/funds) in coordination with the WIGOS PO and the respective WMO Regional Office and other relevant WMO Regional Centres.
• WIGOS related Capacity Development activities in the Region, in coordination with RICs, RTCs, etc.
All areas of support listed above are expected to be covered in all WMO Regions. However, this may be accomplished via several WRCs with complementary areas of expertise rather than through a single WRC covering all areas.
A WRC may be established by a single WMO Member, or it may be formed as a Virtual Center, in which the responsibility for fulfilling the tasks of the Center is shared by two or more WMO Members in the Region, under a Memorandum of Agreement.
Existing WMO centres, e.g. Regional Climate Centres, Regional Instrument Centres, Regional Training Centres, WIS Centres, etc. with responsibilities closely aligned with the goals of the WIGOS may propose to become recognized as WIGOS Regional Centres.
3. Governance
The WRC should act under the overall guidance provided by its Regional Task Team (or Working Group) on WIGOS/Infrastructure (R-TT-WIGOS), and it should provide support to all WMO Members in the Region or designated sub-Region.
The activities of the WRC should be reported annually to the R-TT-WIGOS and the RA Management Group.
Ongoing technical support for the work of the WRC and as the response to their requests (subject to availability of resources/funds) will be provided by the WIGOS Project Office in close coordination and collaboration with DRA, the respective WMO Regional Office and respective technical commissions.
4. Establishment, Review and Accreditation
Due to their critical role in the implementation and ongoing operation of WIGOS, the implementation of a WIGOS Regional Center should be subject to a formal review and approval process, and the process should include provisions for removing or suspending their credentials in case of non-performance.
Following a proposal to establish of a WRC put forth by one or more WMO Members in the Region, the Center may be established in a provisional mode for a period of two years. Before the end of the provisional period the functionality and performance of the WRC will be formally reviewed (audited) by the respective R-TT-WIGOS in collaboration with the WIGOS Project Office. Following the audit results, R-TT-WIGOS will submit its recommendation to the respective Regional Association Management Group.
Note: The process for establishing a WIGOS Regional Center is illustrated in Figure 1:
i) A proposal to establish a WIGOS Regional Center is submitted by a Member, or group of Members, to the respective RA Management Group;
ii) The Regional TT-WIGOS evaluates the proposal;
iii) Based on the advice from RA-TT-WIGOS the RA Management Group submits a draft decision to the RA Management Group;
iv) The RA-MG decides whether or not to establish the proposed WRC, informs the respective Member(s) of their decision, and reports to ICG-WIGOS;
Any proposal to establish a WRC or to declare a WRC operational should include:
• A description of the infrastructure, facilities and resources provided by the Center in accordance with its planned capabilities,
• The proposed strategy/plan to ensure sustainable resources to guarantee long-term performance of the WRC.
At the end of the two-year provisional period, the WRC may propose to become operational. At that point, R-TT-WIGOS will, again supported by the WIGOS Project Office, review the performance of the WRC and recommend to the RA-MG on whether or not to declare the Center operational.
The duration of the operational phase has not set limits. During the operational period, the WRC performance will be reviewed at least on a bi-annual basis by the respective R-TT-WIGOS. In case of non-performance, the issue will be brought to the attention of the respective PRA and Regional Management Group by R-TT-WIGOS.
The responsibility for the implementation of the process and procedures to approve a WRC, to declare it operational and to suspend or remove its credentials resides with the respective Regional Association.