Our ref: W/SY/T.5-FWISGENEVA, 24 March 2004
Annexes: 5
Subject: Further development of FWIS and related matters
Action required:
(a)Provide replies to the questionnaire on your programme(s) information
exchange requirements, preferably before 1 September 2004;
(b)Designate (a) focal point(s) on WMO metadata standards for your relevant programmes, preferably before 1 June 2004.
Dear Sir/Madam,
I should like to refer to the Fourteenth Congress decisions on the development of the Future WMO Information System (FWIS). For ease of reference, relevant extracts from the abridged final report of Fourteenth Congress are given in Annex 1. Congress requested to pursue the further development of the FWIS and noted that, since all WMO Programmes stood to benefit, each should actively participate and contribute its own expertise and resources in all phases of the development of the FWIS. In this regard, I noted that the presidents of Technical Commissions, at their recent meeting (Geneva, February 2004), expressed that they were keen to continue and bring to fruition the development and implementation of the FWIS within WMO. They felt that a strong, high-level coordination and collaboration mechanism spanning across the technical commissions would be more effective for achieving this challenging task than the current inter-programme collaboration mechanisms within a CBS expert team. They invited the Secretary-General to propose to EC-LVI the establishment of an Inter-Commission Group on FWIS, and I am pleased to inform you that a draft resolution is being submitted to EC-LVI in this respect.
The FWIS concept was developed by the CBS Inter-programme Task Team on the Future WMO Information System (ITT-FWIS), with the participation of experts from several Technical Commissions (see Annex 2). At its fifth meeting (Kuala-Lumpur, Malaysia, October 2003), the ITT-FWIS developed the consolidated FWIS concept as given in Annex 3. As emphasized by Congress, the comprehensive information exchange requirements of all WMO Programmes need to be taken into account to consolidate the FWIS concept and to develop design and implementation plans. In order to assess the data exchange requirements of WMO Programmes and their integration into a common system, the team developed a questionnaire (see Annex 4) seeking information from WMO Technical Commissions about their respective WMO Programmes requirements and systems, at present and for the foreseeable future.
To presidents and vice-presidents of Technical Commissions (PTC- )
- 2 -
Fourteenth Congress also requested all WMO Programmes to join their efforts in the further development of detailed WMO metadata standard, noting the crucial importance of metadata for the Future WMO Information System. The CBS Expert Team on Integrated Data Management (Geneva, December 2003) agreed that there was an urgent need to develop a mechanism to involve relevant WMO and related programmes in the further development of detailed WMO metadata standard. The meeting recommended the designation of focal points on WMO metadata standard for these programmes to promote and facilitate the coordinated development of the WMO metadata standard. The focal points are expected to:
Compile and share information on the experiences gained in the use of the draft WMO metadata standard within their programmes;
Co-ordinate proposals for the amendments to the WMO standard, i.e. amendments to the core WMO metadata standard and development/amendments to the extension of the WMO metadata standard specific to their programmes, and submit these proposals to the other focal points;
Consolidate proposals with a view to the extension of the WMO metadata standard.
In view of the above, I should like to invite you to consider at your earliest convenience:
(a)Providing information in response to the questionnaire given in Annex 4 (preferably before 1September 2004);
(b)Designating (a) focal point(s) on WMO metadata standard (see Annex 5) for the relevant programmes and activities of your Commission (preferably before 1 June 2004).
(Note: an electronic form of this letter and annexes will be e-mailed to you for ease of reference)
Yours faithfully,
(Hong Yan)
for the Secretary-General
Annex 1
Extracts from the abridged final report of Fourteenth World Meteorological Congress
Future WMO information system
3.1.2.7Congress noted that the current WMO information systems had been developed to meet a diverse set of requirements. The principal system was the GTS along with the related data management functions that had been developed to serve the WWW for the exchange of real-time high-priority data. Other information systems had been developed to meet the needs of other Programmes and Commissions. Congress recognized that the multiplicity of systems operated for different Programmes had, however, resulted in incompatibilities, inefficiencies, duplication of effort and higher overall costs for Members. A further uncoordinated development would exacerbate those problems and would isolate the WMO Programmes from the wider environmental community.
3.1.2.8Congress supported the views and conclusions of CBS that an overarching approach was required: a single coordinated global infrastructure, the Future WMO Information System (FWIS). The FWIS would be used for the collection and sharing of information for all WMO and related international programmes. The FWIS vision provided a common roadmap to guide the orderly evolution of the information system functions performed by current WMO Programmes into an integrated system that met efficiently all of the requirements of Members for the relevant international environmental information. Congress noted that the FWIS concept was consistent with the WWW structure, and would identify the global, regional and national levels. It also noted that the information and communication responsibilities of existing WWW and other WMO Programme centres could be mapped into the corresponding functions within the FWIS. Noting that NMHSs spanned a range of responsibilities and capabilities, the FWIS would provide a flexible and extensible structure that would allow NMHSs to enhance their capabilities as their national and international responsibilities grew.
3.1.2.9Congress emphasized that the implementation of FWIS should build upon the most successful components of existing WMO information systems in an evolutionary process. It stressed that the FWIS development should pay special attention to a smooth and coordinated transition. In particular, the FWIS would build upon the GTS with respect to the requirements for highly reliable delivery of time-critical data and products, and the Improved MTN would be the basis for the core communication network. Taking into account that information systems technology was evolving rapidly, and strengthening further the current trend of the current GTS development, FWIS should utilize international industry standards for protocols, hardware and software. Use of those standards should reduce costs and would facilitate capacity building and allow exploitation of the wide range of modern data-communication services, including the ubiquitous Internet and Web services. Pilot projects and prototypes would play an essential role in the further development of the FWIS. Congress noted with appreciation the development of the Virtual GISC prototype being undertaken by RTHs Bracknell, Offenbach and Toulouse in association with the ECMWF and EUMETSAT; the outcome of related studies would be shared on dedicated Web pages, that would be notified through the CBS Newsletter.
3.1.2.10Congress emphasized that, as the objectives of the FWIS was to support the information exchange requirements of all WMO Programmes, the comprehensive requirements as regarded information types and volumes, timeliness, sources and users, security, etc., needed to be taken into account to consolidate the FWIS concept, and to develop design and implementation plans. Congress requested CBS to pursue the further development of the FWIS towards the refinement and consolidation of the concept and then the design and implementation planning phases. It noted that, since all WMO Programmes stood to benefit, each should actively participate and contribute its own expertise and resources in all phases of the development of the FWIS. Congress emphasized that the support and involvement of many members of the WMO community, including especially regional associations and technical commissions, was needed, as early as possible, in all phases of the FWIS development in order to ensure a full and shared ownership of the project, and its effective implementation. Congress also emphasized that the forthcoming World Summit on the Information Society (Geneva, December 2003 and Tunis, 2005) would be an important opportunity for strengthening information and communication development of interest for NMHSs and WMO (see agenda item 9.1).
3.1.2.11 Congress considered the outcome of the study on policy-level implications of the FWIS that had been requested by the Executive Council. Congress noted the impact on Members' responsibilities and resources and other policy aspects that were identified by the study, as summarized in Annex xxx to this paragraph. In conclusion, Congress agreed that the impact of the FWIS on Members' responsibilities and resources appeared to be commensurable with the development that would be anyhow needed to face the general evolution of information and communication technologies and of Members' requirements. Congress was of the opinion that the benefit expected from the FWIS should outweigh the efforts and resources needed for its development and implementation. It requested the Executive Council and CBS as well as the other technical commissions involved in the FWIS development to give particular attention to the impact on Members' responsibilities and resources and the policy aspects, with a view to optimizing the overall FWIS functionality and efficiency.
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WWW Data Management
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3.1.2.13 Congress noted with appreciation that CBS developed a WMO core metadata standard, based on the ISO standard for geographic metadata, with a view to describing data exchanged by all WMO Programmes in an unambiguous way. Noting the crucial importance of metadata for the Future WMO information System, Congress requested all WMO Programmes to join their efforts in the further development of detailed WMO metadata standards.
Annex 2 - Membership of the Inter-programme Task Team on Future WMO Information System
Geerd-Ruediger Hoffmann, Chairman, (Germany)
Robert Stanek (Germany)
Hiroyuki Ichijo (Japan)
Yap Kok Seng (Malaysia)
Kevin Alder (New Zealand)
Alexander V.Besprozvannykh (Russian Federation)
Tom Potgieter (South Africa)
Ted Tsui (USA)
Byong-Lyol Lee (Republic of Korea), representing CAgM
John Shortridge (Australia), representing CCl
Marc Morell (France), representing CHy
David Thomas (Australia), representing JCOMM
Representative ofCAS (to be designated)
Representative of CAeM (to be designated)
Experts invited in the fifth meeting of the ITT-FWIS (Kuala-Lumpur, Malaysia, October 2003):
Dong-Il Lee (Republic of Korea)
Gil Ross (United Kingdom)
Al Kellie (USA)
Annex 3 - The Future WMO Information System concept
1.INTRODUCTION
1.1The current WMO information systems have been developed to meet a diverse set of requirements. The principal system is the GTS along with the related data processing and management functions that have been developed to serve the World Weather Watch (WWW). The GTS has a number of significant strengths: it is an operational private network that mainly provides for the exchange of real-time high-priority data, it is mature, well tested and operated according to well-defined procedures and shared responsibilities.
1.2Other information systems that have been developed to meet the needs of other programmes and Commissions have their own advantages. Given the diversity of these systems it is difficult to provide a concise summary. However, most share a common strength: they have been developed by individual programmes to meet their specific requirements. Thus, the systems are generally focused in their approach and do not suffer from compromises and inefficiencies that can sometimes result from development of generalised systems.
1.3Considering the current state of the WMO Information System and the overall vision of a future system, some of the key points are:
There is now limited utilisation of the Internet for operational store and forward applications
There is limited connectivity between applications developed to serve the needs of the different Commissions
There are a large number of different applications whose development has not been coordinated making integration of data sets technically challenging
Multidisciplinary application of meteorological, hydrological and oceanographic data is hampered by lack of agreed standards needed to effectively identify, acquire and use all of the relevant data
1.4The multiplicity of systems operated for different Programmes has resulted in incompatibilities, inefficiencies, duplication of effort and higher overall costs for Members. Continuing to develop systems in this uncoordinated manner will exacerbate these problems and will further isolate the WMO Programmes from each other and from the wider environmental community. It will increase the difficulty in sharing information between programmes, which is essential for them to fulfil their requirements. As a consequence, other organizations, environmental programmes or commercial concerns might assume responsibility for providing essential data and services and WMO would thus lose its leadership role.
1.5One option to address these problems might be to enhance the GTS in such a way as to generalize the services to all Programmes. However, the GTS would still suffer from inherent deficiencies, some of which are listed below:
Use of proprietary high-level protocols that are not supported by the marketplace.
Volume restrictions preclude the transmission of satellite imagery, as well as video and other high volume data sets (in the order of gigabytes or terabytes).
Lack of support for a request/reply system providing ad-hoc access to the data and products available for international exchange.
Inability to facilitate information insertion and distribution to programmes and public and other clients beyond the meteorological community.
Inability to rapidly (i.e. routinely near-real-time) identify where data losses are occurring and undertake remedial action.
Inability to easily accommodate requirements that include short periods of high volume traffic followed by lengthy periods of low or no traffic.
Inadequate product identification and metadata leading to duplication and uncertainty of content.
1.6Therefore, an alternative approach is proposed: a single coordinated global infrastructure, the Future WMO Information System (FWIS). It is envisioned that FWIS would be used for the collection and sharing of information for all WMO and related international programmes. The relationship between functions performed by FWIS and similar functions performed by current WMO Programmes is illustrated in Figure 1 below. The FWIS vision provides a common roadmap to guide the orderly
evolution of these systems into an integrated system that efficiently meets all of the international environmental information requirements of Members.
Figure 1. FWIS relationship to WMO Programmes
1.7FWIS should provide an integrated approach to meeting the requirements of:
Routine collection and automated dissemination of observed data and products (“push”).
Timely delivery of data and products (appropriate to requirements)
Ad-hoc requests for data and products (“pull”)
FWIS should be:
Reliable
Cost effective and affordable for developing as well as developed Members
Technologically sustainable and appropriate to local expertise
Modular and scalable
Flexible and extensible - able to adjust to changing requirements and allow dissemination of products from diverse data sources and allow participants to collaborate at levels appropriate to their responsibilities and budgetary resources
FWIS should also support:
Different user groups and access policies, such as WMO Resolutions 40/25
Data as well as network security
Integration of diverse datasets
1.8Taking into account that information systems technology is evolving rapidly, FWIS should utilize industry standards for protocols, hardware and software. Use of these standards will reduce costs and allow exploitation of the ubiquitous Internet and web services.
1.9The ultimate implementation of FWIS would build upon the most successful components of existing WMO information systems. It would continue to rely upon the WMO communication system (initially the GTS) to provide highly reliable delivery of time-critical data and products. Currently, this requires a private network but this is likely to change as public communications services evolve.
1.10Executive Council has noted that a window of opportunity exists now to arrive at an agreed standard for FWIS.
2.FUNCTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
2.1To clarify the concept of FWIS, three functional components are defined: National Centres (NC), Data Collection or Product Centres (DCPC) and Global Information System Centres (GISC). It should be noted that this is a functional description defining responsibilities for data and product exchange. One physical centre could perform the functions of one or more of these components. Likewise, several physical centres could cooperate to perform the functions of a single functional centre.
National Centres
2.2FWIS NCs would serve data and product needs of their country. For this purpose, each country will implement and maintain an appropriate infrastructure, being the national component of FWIS. Most NCs would be part of an NMHS. However, there might be others within the same country having national responsibility for functions falling within WMO Programmes but located outside of the NMHS. The participation of the centres would be coordinated through the national Permanent Representative to WMO. NCs would:
a.Collect observational data from within their country
b.Provide observations and products intended for global dissemination to their responsible GISC (possibly via a DCPC)
c.Provide observations and products intended for regional or specialised distribution to the responsible DCPC
d.Collect, generate and disseminate products for national use.
e.Participate in monitoring the performance of the system.