RA III and RA IV WIGOS Workshop, p. 14
WORLD METEOROLOGICAL ORGANIZATION
REGIONAL ASSOCIATIONS III (SOUTH AMERICA) AND REGIONAL ASSOCIATION IV (NORTH AMERICA CENTRAL AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN)
RA III Working Group on Infrastructure and Technological Development
and
RA IV Task Team on Regional WIGOS Implementation
RA III and RA IV Workshop on
Regional WIGOS Implementation Plan
San José, Costa Rica, 26-30 November 2012
FINAL REPORT
Participants in the RA III and RA IV Workshop on Regional WIGOS Implementation Plan at the Radisson Europa Hotel
(San Jose, Costa Rica, 26 November 2012)
RA III and RA IV WIGOS Workshop, p. 14
RA III and RA IV Workshop on Regional WIGOS Implementation Plan
(San Jose, Costa Rica, 26-30 November 2012)
1. Opening
1.1 The Regional Associations III (South America) and the Regional Association IV (North America, Central America and the Caribbean) Workshop on Regional WMO Integrated Global Observing System (WIGOS) Implementation Plan (R-WIP) was held at the Radisson Europa Hotel in San Jose, Costa Rica from 26 to 30 November 2012. The list of participants and the agenda of the workshop are given in Annex I and Annex II, respectively.
1.2 Mr. Juan Carlos Fallas, vice president of RA IV and Permanent Representative of Costa Rica with WMO, welcomed all the participants to Costa Rica. He started by indicating that science and technology, like never before, have reached such a degree of development that we cannot ignore the need to apply that knowledge to the everyday activities of Member countries and in their different sectors. He highlighted the importance of WIGOS for both Regions III and IV and also that it is one of the five priorities of WMO during the sixteenth financial period (2012-2015). He thanked the chairperson of the RA III Working Group on Infrastructure and Technological Development (WG-ITD) and the co-chair of the RA IV Task Team on WIGOS for all their efforts in taking a leading role in developing the Regional WIGOS Implementation Plan (R-WIP) for RA III and IV. He informed the workshop that the draft R-WIP-IV will be reviewed by the RA IV Management Group (MG) at its tenth session to be held in early January 2013 in Austin, Texas, United States of America and similar arrangements will be made by RA III MG in May 2013. Finally, he wished all participants a successful meeting.
1.3 On behalf of the Secretary-General of WMO, Dr Wenjian Zhang, Director of the Observing and Information Systems Department, welcomed all the participants in the workshop and expressed his gratitude to the Instituto Meteorologico Nacional (IMN) for hosting the workshop and providing local arrangements. He stressed the importance of the development of R-WIP in response to the decision by the Sixteenth Congress (2011). He wished a constructive and productive workshop and assured the participants of the support of the Secretariat staff along with the local host.
1.4 Mr Zhang briefed the meeting on the background of the workshop and also informed that, more specifically, the goals of the workshop were to:
§ Raise the awareness and understanding of the WIGOS Framework Implementation Plan (WIP) and the expected contributions from and benefits to both RA III and RA IV, particularly amongst the experts contributing to the RA III Sub-group on integrated observing systems and the co-chair of the RA IV Task Team on WIGOS.
§ Develop a first draft version of the R-WIP-III/IV, taking into account a range of stakeholder’s input to identify priority actions for the Region.
2. Implementation of WIGOS
2.1 Dr Jack Hayes delivered a presentation entitled “What needs to be done” in which emphasis was placed on issues related to WIGOS such as:
a) Data delivery,
b) Quality management including monitoring and standardization,
c) Planning and optimization of observing systems,
d) Capacity building, and
e) Communications and outreach.
2.2 He indicated that major challenges were to:
a) Evolve all WMO observing systems to ensure interoperability,
b) Develop Regional WIGOS Implementation Plan,
c) Coordinate WIGOS implementation activities with WIS in Regional Operating Plan and Work Programme,
d) Promote capacity building and outreach activities to assist Members,
e) Evolve NMHS observing systems to become a national component of WIGOS.
2.3 He finished by indicating that in the way forward, the process must be:
a) Kept simple, succinct and understandable, and
b) Focused on developing regional goals and supporting activities.
2.4 Dr Susan Barrell, the chair of the ICG-WIGOS, delivered a presentation entitled “Building WIGOS” in which she started by indicating that with regards to constituencies in WIGOS:
a) They were global, regional and national,
b) NMHS can share their systems and also take advantage of systems from other partners,
c) Everyone will benefit from WIGOS,
d) Capacity building and outreach activities will assist Members in WIGOS Implementation,
e) Emphasis on a regional perspective.
2.5 She also indicated that major challenges associated with this issue were:
a) Workable Regional implementation plans,
b) Linkage with WIS implementation
c) Regional network design and optimization
d) Design and evolution of WIGOS following the Implementation Plan for the Evolution of WIGOS and the Vision of GOS 2025
e) Mapping/implementing GAW, HYCOS, GCW and the WMO contributions to co-sponsored systems (e.g., GCOS, GOOS, GTOS) into regional plans, and
f) Identify regional needs that support synergies.
2.6 Dr Miroslav Ondráš (WMO) delivered a presentation entitled “WIGOS Framework Implementation Plan”. He reviewed the relevant decision of Cg, EC and ICG-WIGOS in the development and implementation of WIGOS. He highlighted that Regional Associations were requested to:
i) Develop their R-WIPs,
ii) Coordinate WIGOS implementation activities with the WIS in their operating plans and work programmes,
iii) Promote capacity-building and outreach activities to assist Members in the implementation of WIGOS, and
iv) Coordinate and manage the WIGOS implementation in their Region.
2.7 Dr Ondráš noted the follow-up actions taken by the relevant bodies including the Executive Council, the Inter-Commission Group for WIGOS (ICG-WIGOS) and the Commission for Basic Systems (CBS) regarding the WIGOS Implementation.
2.8 Dr Ondráš introduced the WIGOS framework Implementation Plan (WIP[1]) that was adopted recently by the Executive Council at its 64th session, and highlighting two aspects:
i) The ten Key Activity Areas that need to be addressed in order to implement the WIGOS framework; and
ii) The table of WIGOS Implementation Activities, which lists specific work to be done in each of the ten Key Activity Areas. Some of the work needs to be done at a Regional and/or National level.
3. The Regional Associations III and IV Context
3.1 Participants at the workshop discussed regional issues and priorities that will be taken into account when developing WIGOS Regional Implementation Plans. Firstly, some brief comments were made about current observing systems which provide the baseline for implementation of WIGOS.
3.2 Emphasis was placed in the discussion on cross-regional projects and synergies.
3.3 Finally, it was proposed that there also needs to be consideration given to the alignment of Regional WIP plans with national activities and harmonized aid-funded projects.
4. Drafting Regional WIGOS Implementation Plan for RA III and IV
4.1 The meeting was organized in such a way as to have joint RA III and RA IV meetings during the first and last days of the workshop and individual regional meetings in parallel in the rest of the days. The template for the R-WIP that had been circulated prior to the workshop was considered in detail. While progressing through the plan, discussion was undertaken on regional and sub-regional priorities, issues and gaps in the current observing systems, identification of partners and joint projects. The agreement on the above has lead to formulation of the WIGOS Implementation Activities to be included in the R-WIPs.
4.2 The WIGOS Implementation Activities were formulated for the following ten (10) Key Activity Areas:
i) Management of WIGOS Implementation in Region III and IV
ii) Collaboration with WMO and co-sponsored observing systems
iii) Design, planning and optimized evolution of WIGOS and its regional, sub-regional and national observing components
iv) Integrated Observing System Operation and Maintenance
v) Integrated Quality Management
vi) Standardization, System Interoperability and Data Compatibility
vii) The WIGOS Information Resource (WIR)
viii) Data discovery, accessibility and retrieval
ix) Capacity development
x) Communication and outreach
4.3 The RA III and RA IV WIGOS Implementation Activities are presented in the Annex III and Annex IV, respectively.
4.4 Further work will need to be completed by the RA III WG on ITD and the RA IV Task Team on WIGOS, respectively, to (i) refine the table of activities by adding some relevant information in the resources column, cross-checking against other observing system plans and priorities relevant to both regions, and considering how to make some of the actions more specific, and (ii) refine the text in the template in order to develop a complete first draft of each R-WIP.
4.5 The workshop also noted that further steps would be needed:
· Review of the tables by workshop participants before inclusion in the report of the workshop,
· Review of the first draft RWIP by stakeholders including:
- Members of RA III and RA IV (NMHSs and others)
- Regional organizations
- Relevant experts working within RA III and RA IV and in expert teams of technical commissions and of ICG-WIGOS
- WMO Secretariat including the WIGOS Project Office
· Revision of the draft R-WIP-III and R-WIP-IV
· Finalization of the draft R-WIP-III and R-WIP-IV, ready for review/endorsement by the respective Management Groups and the adoption by the presidents of both RA III and RAIV.
· Ultimately there will need to be coordination to undertake the identified activities in order to implement the WIGOS framework in both regions.
5. Roadmap for RA III and RA IV R-WIPs
5.1 The roadmap for the R-WIP-III is as follows:
5.1.1 WG-I&TD (San Jose, Costa Rica, 26 November 2012) developed the 1st draft of R-WIP,
5.1.2 Consultation with RA Members between Nov.2012 and Feb.2013 will lead to the 2nd draft of R-WIP,
5.1.3 ICG-WIGOS (Geneva, 18-22 March 2013) will be requested for advice on the 2nd draft of R-WIP,
5.1.4 The WIGOS/WIS Workshop will be organized in RA III (end of April 2013) to review the 2nd draft and this will lead to the 3rd draft of R-WIP,
5.1.5 The RA-III-MG (Geneva, May 2013) will review the 3rd draft. And will approval (preliminary) the R-WIP, which will lead to (preliminary) Final R-WIP,
5.1.6 EC-65 (May 2013) will be informed on the (preliminary) Final R-WIP,
5.1.7 The period from May to October 2013 will be devoted to the intensive WIGOS implementation, including the two main Regional projects (i) Regional AWS network, and (ii) Regional radar network, that will eventually become a part of the Regional WIGOS Basic Network. Progress reports will be provided to RA III MG and ICG-WIGOS,
5.1.8 One day workshop will be organized for the Permanent Representative before the Ibero-American conference (October 2013) to review the progress in WIGOS implementation,
5.1.9 The period from October 2013 to March 2014 will be devoted to the intensive WIGOS implementation, including the two main Regional projects (i) Regional AWS network, and (ii) Regional radar network. Progress reports will be provided to RA III MG and ICG-WIGOS,
5.1.10 WG-I&TD (March 2014) will review the progress in WIGOS implementation and will prepare the report to the RA III MG and ICG-WIGOS,
5.1.11 ICG-WIGOS (March 2014) will review of progress in WIGOS implementation in the Region and will report to EC-66,
5.1.12 RA-III-MG (May 2014) will review the progress in WIGOS implementation and will report to EC-66 (May 2014),
5.1.13 XVI-RA-III Session (September 2014) will review the (preliminary) Final R-WIP and the status of implementation and will update the R-WIP, as appropriate.
5.2 The roadmap for the R-WIP-IV is as follows:
5.2.1 The President of RA IV write to the Permanent Representatives of the Region for them to have in their possession an inventory of the country’s existing national observing systems as stated in Section 1.5 of Table 1, of the Draft Regional WIGOS Implementation Plan (RWIP), when attending the Sixteenth Meeting of RA IV from 1219April 2013.
5.2.2 The WMO Office for North America, Central America and the Caribbean in Costa Rica schedule a side meeting during the Sixteenth Meeting of RA IV, on WIGOS before the substantive meeting document is presented and discussion held.
5.2.3 The Management Group of the Regional Association initiate a survey on the status of quality control procedures and processes implemented by Members, within two to three years of acceptance of the Draft RWIP by the Regional Association, using the Quality Management Framework of WIGOS.
5.2.4 …
6. Closure
6.1 The participants and the representative of WMO expressed their appreciation to Mr Juan Carlos Fallas and his staff for the successful hosting of the meeting and for the warm hospitality and excellent arrangements made.
6.2 The workshop closed at xx:xx hours on 30 November 2012.
______
RA III and RA IV WIGOS Workshop, p. 14
Annex I
List of Participants
ANTIGUA & BARBUDAKeithley Meade
Antigua & Barbuda
Director of Meteorology and Permanent Representative with WMO
P.O. Box 1051, St Johns Antigua
phone: 1 268 4624606/7642139
fax; 1 268 4624606
ARGENTINA
Dora Goniadzki
Instituto Nacional del Agua
Directora
Juramento 3170,
Buenos Aires CP1428
phone: 5411 44809174
José Luis Gianni
Argentina
Encargado Técnico CRT Buenos Aires
25 de Mayo 658-CABA-
phone: 5411 51676702
fax: 5411 51676709
AUSTRALIA
Dr Susan Lesley Barrell
Bureau of Meteorology
Assistant Director (Observations & Engineering)
GPO Box 1289K, Melbourne, VIC 3001, Australia
phone: 61 419945320
fax: 61396694194
BAHAMAS
Pedro Miller
Bahamas
Meteorological Officer III
P.O. Box N8330
Nassau, Bahamas
phone: 242 3563734/6/8
fax: 242 356 3739
BARBADOS
Sabu Best
Barbados
Meteorologist
Grantley Adams International Airport
St. Michael
phone: 246 4289834
BRAZIL
José Mauro de Rezende
Brazil
Instituto Nacional de Meteorología- INMET
Eixo Monumental SUL-VIA S1 Brasilia DF
Coordinator for Communications System
phone: 55 61 21014621
fax: 55 61 21024650
José Arimatea De Sousa Brito
Brasil
Instituto Nacional de Meteorología Eixo
Monumental VIA S1 BRASILIA, DF
INMET DIRECTOR'S ASSISTANT
phone: 5562 30993865
CANADA
Michael Manore
Environment Canada
Director
Monitorial Strategies and Data Management
351 St Joseph Bvld, Gatineau
Quebec, Canada K1A 0H3
phone: +1 8199345478
Alexander Zucconi
Environment Canada
A/Manager-Strategies, Planning & Performance Section
4905 Dufferin Street
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M3H 5T4
phone: 416 7395765
fax: 416 7394261
CHILE
Gastón Torres Araneda
Chile
Jefe de Climatología
Av. Portales 3450, Estación Central
Santiago, Chile
phone: 56 224364519
COSTA RICA
Werner R. Stolz
Instituto Meteorológico Nacional IMN
Frente a Admisiones del Hospital Calderón Guardia
calle 9, avenida 17, Barrio Aranjuez
San José, Costa Rica
phone: 506 83576886
fax: 506 22576886
Oscar Arango
Costa Rica
Representative
World Meteorological Organization
Tercer piso del Instituto Meteorológico Nacional
Frente a Admisiones del Hospital Calderón Guardia
Avenida 9 calle 17, Barrio Aranuez
San José, Costa Rica
phone: 506 22582370
fax: 506 22568240
Juan Carlos Fallas Sojo
Costa Rica
Instituto Meteorológico Nacional
Frente a Admisiones del Hospital Calderón Guardia
Avenida 9, calle 17, Barrio Aranjuez
San José, Costa Rica
phone: 506 22225616
fax: 506 21231837
CUBA
Eduardo Planos Gutiérrez
Cuba
Investigador Titular
Instituto de Meteorología
Casa Blanca Regla
phone: 8686672
fax: 8668010
CURACAO
Haime Pieter
Curacao Meteorological Department
Head of Technical & IT Department
Seru Mahuma z/n
Willemstad, Curacao
phone: 5999 8393374
fax: 5999 8692699
ECUADOR
Rodney Martínez Guingiva
CIIFEN
Scientific Coordinator
Escobedo 1204 y 9 de Octubre
Fundación El Universo I Piso
phone: 593 4 2514770
fax: 593 4 2514771
MEXICO
Moisés Michel Rosengaus Moshinsky
Mexico
WMO Consultant to the National Meteorological Service of Mexico
Bosque de Zapopan 20 La Herradura, Huixquilucan
Estado de Mexico 52784, Mexico
phone: 5255 55899213
fax: 5255 52940715
PARAGUAY
Julián Báez Benitez
Dirección de Meteorología e Hidrología DINAC
Director de Meteorología e Hidrología
Presidente AR III
Mariscal López y 22 de setiembre
6to Piso Edificio MDN
Asunción, Paraguay
phone: 595 21201950
fax: 595 21222139
Miguel Angel Rabiolo
Organización Meteorológica Mundial
Director Oficina Regional para las Américas
phone: 295 21212058
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
Tyrone Sutherland
British Caribbean Territories
Permanent Representative of the BCT with WMO
EC Focal Point for KG WIGOS in AR IV
C/O Caribbean Meteorological Organization
27 O'Connor ST, Wood Brook, P.O. Box 461
Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago
phone: 1 868 6224711
fax: 1 868 622 0277
Glendell De Souza
British Caribbean Territories
Science and Technology Officer
P.O. Box 461, Port of Spain
Trinidad
phone: 868 6224711
fax: 868 6220277
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
John Hayes L.
USA
Retired Former PR from USA with WMO
17930 Stoneleigh Drive
Round Hill, VA 20141
phone: 703 5376418
Fred Branski
USA
International Requirement Divission
1325 East-West High way room 17454
Silver Spring, MD 20910
USA
phone: 301 7133538 ext. 121
fax: 301 7139450
WMO Secretariat