Proposal:

Develop statements of guidance for identified application areas[1] which would support decisions regarding observing programs in the Arctic, and enable data exchange.

Lead: Rodica Nitu, WMO

Goal: develop statements of guidance which will identify themost important gaps between user requirements and observing system capabilities, in the context of selected applications of interest in Arctic regions.

Approach:

Identify 1-2 applications recommended in the International Arctic Observations Assessment Framework report prepared by STPI, of broad relevance and:

  1. Review observation needs to fully support the applications selected, by consulting with users of application outputs. The review needs to be technology free (independent of the observing system capabilities available at the time of the evaluation), i.e. the requirements do not take into account the available technology for making the observations, whether it is surface-based or space-based.
  2. For the identified variables, identify common platforms which could enable the free exchange of data and metadata by defining associated metadata vocabularies and data exchange formats which could be used with minimum additional investment by a broad range of organizations running observing programs. This could be run in collaboration with Arctic Data Committee (and potentially GEOCRI)
  3. Conduct reviews and consultations regarding the capabilities of existingand planned observing systems/platforms, both surface- and space-based relative to the observing needs identified;
  4. Conduct a Critical Review, which will result in an report identifying to which extent the existing technology could meet the user requirements.
  5. Invite application specific experts to contribute to the development of “Statements of Guidance” which, are, essentially, a gap analysis with recommendations on how to address the gaps, e.g. whether new systems should be planned and implemented, and whether research and development is needed to meet unfulfilled aspects of the user requirements.

Milestones:

  1. Report on the observation needs to support the selected application(s):
  2. Deadline: Q4, 2017
  3. Recommendations for metadata vocabularies and data formats for exchange;
  4. Deadline Q1: 2018
  5. Report on the status of technology (in-situ and space based) relative to the observing needs identified in #1.
  6. Deadline: Q2 2018
  7. Report on the Critical Review of capabilities versus needs.
  8. Deadline Q2 2018
  9. Statement of Guidance for the selected application(s)
  10. Deadline: Q4 2018

[1]An application area describes a homogeneous activity for which it is possible to compile a consistent set of observational user requirements agreed by community experts working operationally in this area.