TT-WDP-1/Doc. 5.2,p. 1

World Meteorological Organization / TT-WDP-1/Doc.5.2
INTER-COMMISSION COORDINATION GROUP ON WIGOS / TASK TEAM ON WIGOS DATA AND PARTNERSHIPS (ICG-WIGOS/TT-WDP-1)) / Submitted by: / Secretariat
Date: / 5. VIII. 2016
First SESSION
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
29-31 August 2016 / Original Language: / English
Agenda Item: / 5.2

WIGOS IMPLEMENTATION AT A NATIONAL LEVEL

(Submitted by Secretariat)

Summary and purpose of document
The document provides the initial draft guidance on the national WIGOS implementation.

ACTION PROPOSED

The session will be invited to consider and further develop the Guidance.

TT-WDP-1/Doc. 5.2,p. 1

WIGOS IMPLEMENTATION AT A NATIONAL LEVEL

(Initial guidance on the national WIGOS implementation)

(Version 0.1,2016-06-24)

National WIGOS Implementation

For WIGOS to deliver on its vision for "an integrated, coordinated and comprehensive observing system to satisfy, in a cost-effective and sustained manner, the evolving observing requirements of Members in delivering their weather, climate, water and related environmental services", commitments and actions are required at the global, regional and national levels.

Members are expected to become the key integrators at the national level, both by strengthening their own observing systems according to the guidance provided by the WIGOS framework, and by building national partnerships and providing national leadership based on their experience in the acquisition, processing and dissemination of observational data for environmental monitoring and prediction purposes.

The leadership role of NMHSs in integrated observing systems and the engagement with national partners are central to the success of WIGOS implementation. WIGOS provides an opportunity to strengthen the role of NMHSs in all aspects of their national mandates, from national coordination and exchange of observations across all relevant domains (weather, climate, hydrology, space weather, ocean, atmospheric composition, cryosphere, environment, etc.) to reinforcing their status as the national meteorological and hydrological service provider of choice.

Building on the achievements of WIGOS to date, Members should develop their National WIGOS Implementation Plans (N-WIP) that help them:

  • To establish appropriate governance and coordination systems,
  • To build the relationships and partnerships that will help expand and share their national and regional observations to meet needs across relevant disciplines and communities,
  • To implement quality monitoring systems that enable them to respond promptly and effectively to feedback on data availability and quality; and
  • To implement modern data lifecycle management and practices to ensure they extract full value from their national observing systems.

National WIGOS plansshould reflectMembers national situation, in terms of the mandate of their NMHS, the requirements of their user community and the need to reach out to partners to develop a comprehensive integrated observing system to meet national service needs. Each plan will be different, both in content and style.

In developing their national WIGOS implementation plans, Members should be guided by the Key Activity Areas (KAA's) of the WIGOS framework Implementation Plan (WIP)that comprise the building blocks of the WIGOS framework as well as by the Regional WIGOS Implementation Plan of the respective regional association.

To help Members better understandWIGOS, their readiness for it and the challenges ahead of them, but especially to recognise that WIGOS is a natural progress, Members are encouraged to draw on the WIGOS National Self-assessment Checklist;some completed examples are available at:

A wide range of other materials already exist to guide Members in relation to WIGOS, including EGOS-IP and relevant plans for GAW, GCW, GCOS, WHOS, etc. Together, these assist in identifying national priorities and gaps in observations, systems, processes, capabilities, etc., and provide the basis for developing an achievable national WIGOS plan.

Alignment of WIGOS plans with national planning for GFCS, DRR, WIS and other WMO priorities is an important opportunity:

  • to ensure that their specific observations requirements are factored in as effectively as possible;
  • to capture efficiencies and synergies and avoid duplication of effort and potential conflict;
  • to optimise and align capacity development and project opportunities; and
  • to demonstrate to stakeholders and donors the professionalism and joined-up approach of the NMHS.

Members by Cg-18 (2019) should reach the “WIGOS Ready” level.It is the lowest level of a national readiness that should include:

1)OSCAR/Surface: completedWIGOS metadata of all observing stations across all WIGOS components for which observations are exchanged internationally;

2)WIGOS metadata compliance achieved;

3)WIGOS Station Identifiers: implemented;

4)WDQMS: national process for acting on quality problem information received from the WDQMS in place;

5)Embracing all NMHS-operated observing systemsand willing partners;

6)National WIGOS governance, coordination and implementation mechanisms established;

7)Nominate national WIGOS focal points and OSCAR FPs;

8)WIGOS implementation coordinated with the implementation of WIS and other WMO key priorities.

Further expected outcomesabove the minimum levelcan be as follows:

(a)Enhanced national integrated observing system delivering better, and better documented observational input to support national service needsin a more cost-effective way;

(b)Increased integration and open sharing of observations from WMO and non-WMO sources across national and regional boundaries;

(c)Progressively improved availability and quality of WIGOS observational data and metadata;

(d)Increased visibility and strengthened role of NMHSs at their national level;

(e)Enhanced cooperation with partners at the national and regional levels;

(f)Enhanced culture of compliance with the Technical Regulations (WMO-No. 49), Volume I, Part I – WIGOS and Manual on the WMO Integrated Global Observing System (WMO-No. 1160), at least with standards (i.e. “Members shall …”) as a minimum.

(g)Improved human and technical capacity of Members for planning, implementation and operation of WIGOS.

To achieve that, the following activities are envisaged to take place at a national level:

  1. Development of a National Observing Strategy (the example can be found at:
  2. Development of a National WIGOS Implementation Plan (N-WIP), building on the National Observing Strategy, and specifying expected deliverablesand outcomes, priorities, activities, timeline, resources, responsibilities, etc. needed for:

(a)Establishment of national WIGOS governance, coordination and implementation mechanisms and team;

(b)Development of national partnerships;

(c)Identification and mitigation of critical gaps in the WIGOS component observing systems (national RRR process implementation);

(d)Sustained and standardized operation of national observing networks/systems;

(e)Operational implementation of WIGOS Metadata Standard through populating the OSCAR/Surface database and keeping its content up-to-date;

(f)Monitoring availability and quality of their observations through the WDQMS and taking corrective actions as necessary;

(g)Capacity development of staff managing and operating national observing networks/systems.

to achieve at least the “the lowest level of a national readiness”as defined above.

RESOURCES

WIGOS implementation at a national level will require investment.This investment should be a significant component of the N-WIP.

The NMHS needs to recognize the principle that WIGOS activities are within the responsibility of WMO Members themselves and should be borne by national resources. It will require planning, priority setting and committed effort over a considerable number of years. It has been learned fromMembers experiences that substantial changes in the national observing system depend on substantial adjustments to resource commitments. Such adjustments are not easy without planning and priority setting with a long lead time.

The success of the WIGOS implementation will depend critically upon protecting adequate resources for both technical programme management and specific network needs. Data/metadata acquisition, processing and management systems that facilitate access, processing, monitoring, use, and interpretation of the data with a help of associated metadata have crucial importance.

(Instead of) CONCLUSION

Establishing a comprehensive ‘system of systems’ that meets the observational needs of multiple users and applications areas takes considerably more effort, and each Member will need to assess the size of that challenge and weigh up the costs and benefits. Through engagement of non-NMHS organisations in a national ‘system of systems’, the NMHS may use it as an opportunity to consolidate its own role as the national meteorological authority, especially in areas where they may be some challenge to that, for example in climate monitoring and delivery of climate services.Integration does not mean that ‘one size fits all’. Where opportunities do exist to serve multiple needs with a single solution, then real efficiencies can be delivered, but as a rule, integration is more about finding an optimum balance between needs and solutions.

As the integration process moves forward, gaps and shortcomings, incompatibilities, deficiencies in national observing system capabilities and duplications of efforts will be identified and addressed. This is the most cost effective and efficient way to make better use of existing infrastructure and improve the timeliness, quality and utilization of observational information for enhanced services and decision making.

ASSISTANCE PROVIDED BY THE WMO SECRETARIAT

Within the WMO Secretariat, the WIGOS Project Office of the Observing and Information Systems Department (OBS) provides the necessary support toMembers when implementing WIGOS at a national level.Any WIGOS related inquiry andrequest for assistanceshould be sent to the Secretariat to the following address: .

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