World Meteorological Organization
EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
EC-LXII/INF. 3.4(4)
Submitted by:
Date:
Original Language:
Agenda Item:
SIXTY-SECOND SESSION
Geneva, 8 to 18 June 2010
Secretary-General
10.V.2010
Expected Result: 4
INTEGRATION OF WMO OBSERVING SYSTEMS
Strategic Thrust: Science and Technology Development and
Implementation
REFERENCES:


EC-LXII/Doc. 3.4 Integration of WMO Observing Systems
Final Report of the third session of the EC Working Group on WIGOS and WIS, Geneva,
24-26 March 2010, http://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/www/WIGOS-WIS/reports.html
CONTENT OF DOCUMENT:
Appendix: The WIGOS Imperative
English
3.4
EC-LXII/INF 3.4 (4), APPENDIX
The WIGOS Imperative
Since its establishment as a UN Specialized Agency 60 years ago WMO, through its Members,
has advanced the observing and monitoring of the Earth’s weather, water and climate systems.
This has led to better understanding of the Earth’s environmental system and resulted in the
delivery of improved and expanded services such as weather, hydrological and air quality
forecasts, and climate outlooks as well as expanded advice and services to society at large.
These services extend across timescales ranging from severe weather warnings through weekly
forecasts to seasonal climate predictions, with broad applications across social and economic
sectors.
The challenge drives the need for change: An increasingly complex society and sophisticated
user community, reflected by rapid economic and industrial development, coupled with the
changing Earth’s climate has resulted in greater vulnerability of society to extreme weather events
and climate change. This, in turn, has resulted in the need for more extensive and advanced
information for WMO Members so that they can continue to improve service quality and service
delivery. To meet the demands of the future, WMO Members must continue their legacy of
contributions by taking full advantage of advances in observation and telecommunication
technologies while increasing our science based understanding of the Earth and its environment:
the end result being better prediction and assessment of potential impacts of weather and climate
related events to provide the required information for the public and policy and decision makers.
The WMO Integrated Global Observing System (WIGOS) endorsed by the Fifteenth WMO
Congress is one of the Organization’s major contributions to this challenge insofar as the Congress
stated that the enhanced integration of the WMO observing system should be pursued as a
strategic objective and identified this as a major expected result within the WMO strategic plan.
Vision: WMO will establish an integrated, comprehensive and coordinated observing system,
WIGOS, to meet, in a cost-effective and sustained manner, the evolving observing requirements of
WMO Members; it will in addition enhance coordination of WMO observing systems with systems
run by partner organizations for the benefit of all. This will allow access to an expanded set of
environmental data and products resulting in a cost-effective increase in knowledge and enhanced
services.
Scope: WIGOS will
 Build upon the existing observing components of WWW GOS, GAW, and WHYCOS, and
will capitalize on existing, new and emerging technologies;
 Improve access to and utilization of surface-based observations and products from cosponsored systems such as GTOS, GOOS and GCOS through enhanced coordination with
partner organizations;
 Improve its space-based component by enhanced collaboration through partnerships such
as the Coordination Group for Meteorological Satellites (CGMS) and the Committee on
Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS);
 Enhance integration between its surface- and space-based components;
 Provide a mechanism to meet the new observational requirements of its Members;
 Make a major and unique contribution to United Nations agencies focusing on
environmental stewardship as well as to GEOSS.
Benefits: With improved and more cost-effective observing capabilities, service delivery will also
improve, for the following reasons:
 WIGOS will enable the evolution and integration of WMO observing systems and enhance
collaboration with its partner organizations: this will allow access to an expanded set of
environmental data and products resulting in cost-effective increased knowledge and
enhanced services.
 WIGOS will better allow WMO Members to fulfil expanding national mandates and achieve
higher national visibility alongside other environment related agencies. In so doing, WMO
Members will be able to better respond to natural hazards, improve environmental
EC-LXII/INF 3.4 (4), APPENDIX, p. 2


monitoring, and adapt to climate change and man-made environmental impacts. In this
regard, WIGOS together with WIS will greatly enhance the operational components of
WMO Programs, especially in developing and least developed countries.
WIGOS will provide a mechanism for enhanced integration between surface and space
based components.
Integration will lead to efficiency gains and cost savings, thereby allowing for new
investment to remedy deficiencies and gaps identified in the observing system, and for the
subsequent improved utilization of existing and emerging observational capabilities.
Imperative:
WIGOS is a necessary prerequisite for WMO Members to implement the
Organization’s strategic thrusts:
 Improve service quality and service delivery
 Advance scientific research and application as well as development and implementation of
technology
 Strengthen capacity building
 Build and enhance partnerships and cooperation
 Strengthen good governance
The following sections, ordered according to the WMO Strategic Thrust areas, show how WMO
can build upon existing capabilities and partnerships to implement the WIGOS concept.
Integration however is not a novel idea, and a number of past achievements1 have been
mentioned to illustrate the benefits it may bring, and thereby help contextualize WIGOS. By
learning from the past, as well as from current precursor activities to WIGOS such as the WIGOS
Demonstration and Pilot Projects, WMO and its partners will be in a position to build a more
effective, robust, sustainable and cost-effective integrated observing system, i.e. WIGOS.
An overarching example of successful integration: Across the globe, NMHSs today benefit
from the output of Numerical Weather prediction models. Model forecasting skills have improved
dramatically over recent decades; today’s model forecasts for the southern hemisphere have
become as accurate as those from the more data rich northern hemisphere. The key to good
forecasting lies in observations and their assimilation; and NWP on time scales from 1 to 14 days
requires observations from all parts of the globe. These observations are provided by a Global
Observing System bringing together a variety of in-situ and satellite observations, in a constantly
evolving system where all data is equally valuable. The successful integration of data from
sophisticated space-based observations with data from in-situ systems, made possible by
advanced data assimilation techniques, is what ultimately led to this breakthrough. Satellites do not
directly measure geophysical parameters such as temperature and pressure but rather observe
radiances. When satellite data was first used in NWP it was formalized, quite understandably, in
such a way as to resemble the other geophysical variables the model was designed to use, i.e.
vertical profiles of temperature and moisture. This assimilation of satellite data using the optimal
interpolation schemes of the 1980s resulted in satellite data having little, or even negative impact
on NWP forecasts, so much so that in the late 1980s satellite retrievals were simply not used by
many NWP centres. In the 1990s variation analysis techniques were introduced into data
assimilation systems by many of the larger NWP centres, and by the end of the 20th century direct
satellite radiance assimilation dramatically raised the significance of satellite data for NWP.
Advances in NWP and general science also played a major role in this breakthrough, but it was the
successful integration of satellite and in-situ observations through advanced assimilation that
yielded success.
Into the future: Enhanced NWP capability, from a data integration point of view, clearly lies in the
area of assimilation. Every few years WMO sponsors a Workshop on the Impacts of Various
Observation Systems on NWP. These workshops are attended by leading experts from the NWP
and observation communities and look into the impacts of various observing systems through
1
The achievements mentioned do not make up a comprehensive list, and are only meant to serve as
examples; omissions should by no means be understood as reflecting judgments on relative priorities or
contributions.
EC-LXII/INF 3.4 (4), APPENDIX, p. 3
Observing System Experiments (OSEs) and Observing System Simulation Experiments (OSSEs).
They subsequently provide advice to WMO Members on ways forward. For example, while
satellite data integration has provided for major advances in NWP forecast capability challenges
remain to improve data utilization; these challenges, as identified at the Impact Workshops, are
being addressed on a priority basis by NWP centres. Furthermore, results from experiments such
as WMO’s THORPEX and AMMA are providing insights into the value of targeted observational
strategies and observing system considerations that are important to the evolution of WIGOS. In
the future, as seasonal-to-interannual forecasts improve, integration of information from oceans
and land will take on ever-increasing importance, as pointed out in a WMO statement of guidance
for seasonal-to-interannual forecasting “The time and space scales associated with seasonal-tointerannual variability suggest the key information for forecasts will derive mostly from the slow
parts of the climate system, in particular the ocean, but also the land surface. When considering
impacts such as rainfall deficiencies or increased temperatures over land, however, there are very
good reasons for considering variables associated with the land surface conditions. In particular,
land surface moisture and vegetation should be specified and predicted. The models should also
include up-to-date radiative forcing (e.g., greenhouse forcing), which are important for maximizing
skill in forecasts of land-surface air temperature anomalies relative to recent historical referencenormal periods.”
Clearly the demands of climate modelling require an integrated and
comprehensive environmental observing system that can only be provided by WMO and its
partners.
STRATEGIC THRUST: Improving Service Quality and Service Delivery
Common goal:
1. Enhanced capabilities of Members to deliver and improve access to high quality weather,
climate and water and related environmental predictions, information and services in response
to users’ needs and to enable their use in decision-making by all relevant societal sectors;
2. Enhanced capabilities of Members to reduce risks and potential impacts of hazards caused by
weather, climate and water and related environmental elements.
Successful integration: The Severe Weather Forecasting Demonstration Project. While NMHSs
in more advanced countries have benefited from observation integration through advanced
assimilation into NWP, developing and least developed countries have lagged behind.
Recognizing the benefits of integration and its products in improving forecasting capabilities, in
2006 WMO initiated the Severe Weather Forecast Demonstration Project (SWFDP) in six southern
African countries highly impacted by Indian Ocean tropical cyclones. This highly successful project
encompassed specialized training. It was underpinned by the Global Data-Processing and
Forecasting System through improved access to, and effective use of outputs of numerical weather
prediction products from advanced NWP centres, and was undertaken in collaboration with the
Public Weather Services to improve the delivery of warning services. Tangible results included
more reliable warnings and improved relationships between NMHSs and disaster managers and
the media. In the context of the SWFDP, EC-LXI noted “… that in the SWFDP in southern Africa,
in addition to the expansion into all sixteen countries of the region, RSMC Pretoria intended to
extend its regional guidance role to include marine forecasting and to consider future incorporation
of additional aspects, such as for aviation and flood forecasting, and a Web-based system for
exchange and display of warnings in the region.”
Into the future: The first regional project, which started in 2006, is being expanded to include all
16 countries of southern Africa and will span all seasons. One next step is to identify gaps in the
observing system to improve warnings verification. Another project, currently in the early stages of
implementation, focuses on the South Pacific Islands and will address heavy rains, strong winds
and damaging waves. No doubt others will follow along similar lines in other regions. In the future
similar projects are likely to extend across the major WMO applications areas served by the CBS’s
Rolling Review of Requirements: climate monitoring, global NWP, regional NWP, synoptic
meteorology, nowcasting and very short range forecasting, seasonal to inter-annual forecasts,
EC-LXII/INF 3.4 (4), APPENDIX, p. 4
aeronautical meteorology, atmospheric chemistry, ocean applications, agricultural meteorology and
hydrology. Indeed, the Rolling Review of Requirements process, when viewed in the context of
WIGOS and coupled with information gathered through the WIGOS Demonstration and Pilot
Projects, will help identify gaps in WIGOS. These will then be filled cost-effectively, assimilated
and provided to WMO Members to further improve services. Common demands across the
applications areas also require an integrated and comprehensive environmental observing system
that can only be provided by WMO and its partners. For WMO Members, WIGOS is the foundation
of an end-to-end process ranging from observing through to service delivery.
STRATEGIC THRUST: Advancing Scientific Research and Application as well as
Development and Implementation of Technology
Common goal:
1. Enhanced capabilities of NMHSs to produce better weather, climate, and water and related
environmental information, predictions and warnings to support in particular climate impact
and adaptation strategies;
2. Enhanced capabilities of Members to access, develop, implement and use integrated and
inter-operable Earth- and space-based systems for weather, climate and hydrological
observations, based on world standards set by WMO, as well as related environmental
observations;
3. Enhanced capabilities of Members to contribute to and draw benefits from the global
research capacity for weather, climate, water and environment science and technology
development.
WIGOS implementation will largely occur through this strategic thrust, under three levels of
integration: a) Standardization of observation instruments and methods; b) WIS information
infrastructure; and, c) end-product quality assurance.
Successful integration: the following examples will be considered: 1) instrument integration;
2) observing system optimization; 3) integrated satellite systems; and, 4) atmospheric chemistry.
Advances in instrumentation: Bringing a level of standardization in instrumentation is a major
WMO accomplishment that has fostered integration at a number of levels. It would be difficult to
imagine a network for meteorological and hydrological purposes that did not strive to meet the
WMO guidelines for platform and instrument specifications, siting, measurement techniques and
quality assurance and management of observing systems. Technological advancements have led
to improvements both in sensor and system capability to withstand severe climate and
environmental conditions, and in sensor capability to accurately measure the whole range of
meteorological, climatological, hydrological and environmental variables with high precision and
reproducibility. These factors have significantly improved observation reliability and availability and
resulted in more sustainable and robust WMO observing systems that provide data in all weather,
climate and environmental conditions in accordance with users’ requirements. Over the past
25 years, advances in micro-processing and communications technology, coupled with advances
in instrumentation and standardization have helped automate many measurements and remotecontrolled acquisition systems, thus introducing cost-effectiveness into GOS. Today AWSs are
located in remote locations to fill gaps in the surface based observing system. While significant
improvements have been made, much remains to be done.
Into the future: Five areas need to be addressed: standardization, automation, testing, networking
and assimilation. The first key area to be addressed is standardization of best practices including
quality control, metadata and data formats for new and emerging technologies. Standardization is
required for all data so that measurements from individual systems can be integrated into accurate
and coherent data sets for the development of unbiased long term trends. Automation will enable
growth at reduced cost by allowing for increases in data frequency and consistency while avoiding
EC-LXII/INF 3.4 (4), APPENDIX, p. 5
concurrent increases in labour costs. Further development of integrated ground-based remote
sensing systems will provide data on key atmospheric variables such as clouds, winds,
temperature and humidity. These systems will operate at high time resolutions, providing
observations of atmospheric processes relevant to climate and weather. Long term testing at
instrument “testbeds” will be used to assess design, effectiveness and cost-efficiency for full
integration into WIGOS. Thanks to developments in data assimilation techniques, the observations
will be fully exploited in numerical models in an integrated manner. Assimilation will provide the
means for cohesive and scientific data combination, along the lines of what was achieved for NWP,
with data used as part of an integrated observing system and mutual benefits derived from
complementarity.
Cost-effective composite networks:
Imagine an evolving optimized observing network
within a region leading to a shared workload for participating NMHSs along with enhanced
capabilities and fair cost allocation. Actually, one need look no further than the EUCOS
(EUMETNET Composite Observing System) Program which focuses on developments in the
terrestrial component of the European observing system required to improve regional numerical
weather prediction in the 24 to 72 hour period. EUCOS helped eliminate duplications of effort in the
upper air and surface observing components operated by NMHSs, with a Quality Monitoring Portal
ensuring that the quality of all data delivered by the EUCOS networks was maintained at a high
level. The EUCOS Operational Program has brought significantly enhanced capability to the
European NMHSs that they would not have been able to deliver on an individual, uncoordinated
national basis. The tangible benefits are:


Delivering more observations over the ocean, optimizing aircraft measurements over
Europe and procuring new data from European wind profiler systems and Weather Radar
wind profiles;
Delivering a centralized quality monitoring service with increased network performance and
improved efficiency and cost-effectiveness through a centralized QM service allowing
EUCOS Members to reduce their national quality monitoring efforts.
EUCOS, through the E-SURFMAR buoy program, has worked to optimize ocean observations by
re-evaluating needs through integration with space-based observations. The E-SURFMAR buoy
program is coordinated with WMO and IOC via JCOMM and the Data Buoy Cooperation Panel.
E-SURFMAR provides the link to GOOS and EURO-GOOS, where network design activities are
coordinated. While high quality wind data for Regional NWP can be provided by the space
segment, this does not work for air pressure data: the program therefore decided to rely on the
space segment for sea surface winds and deploy drifting buoys with only air pressure and sea
surface temperature measuring capabilities. At the beginning of the project, in 2003, there were
52 buoys with an annual system cost of around 474,000 €/year. In 2010 there will be 110 drifting
buoys with a cost of 366,000 €/year: increased observing capability has come at a lower cost
through integration as 1) the unit cost per buoy dropped with the decision to stop deploying buoys
with wind measurement capabilities; and, 2) communications costs were significantly reduced.
Into the future: Developing cooperative networks within regions and with WMO and its partners.
Activities with respect to WIGOS will show some commonality across WMO, although users,
requirements, capabilities and services vary from WMO region to region as well as within regions.
Developing WIGOS cost-effectively will require Regional WIGOS Implementation Strategies as
well as strategies on how Members within regions can most effectively work together. At the
regional level, cooperation programs such as EUCOS, which allow for the testing of new observing
and optimization strategies should be developed. Lessons learnt from the ocean buoy program
are also very important, insofar as WMO and IOC Members worked together to coordinate a more
robust and cost-effective observing system. While integration of more conventional networks and
observing systems is underway in developed countries as well as in some developing countries,
this is not the case across all WMO. In other developing and least developed countries observing
capabilities have diminished over time. This must be addressed as part of the WIGOS strategy.
EC-LXII/INF 3.4 (4), APPENDIX, p. 6
Integrated satellite systems: From a modest start almost 50 years ago when satellite images
were uncalibrated photographs of clouds and the Earth, remote sensing technology and computer
capabilities have led to the high resolution, multi-spectral digital renderings we have today.
Operating from both polar and geostationary orbits, meteorological and oceanographic satellites
are now used by WMO Members for a variety of applications that span scales from nowcasting to
climate, and include land, ocean, atmosphere and ecological applications. Simultaneously, new
instruments on research satellites have provided insights into future satellite systems, while
selected data from those instruments is used on a routine basis for operational purposes by WMO
Members. Historically winds over oceans, sea level altimetry and ocean colour (health) have been
the remit of research satellites and have been provided in a transparent manner to WMO.
Hyperspectral sounding data from the research Atmospheric InfraRed Spectrometer (AIRS) was
the first of its type to be used in operational NWP. Today meteorological satellites provide
essential data for weather forecasting to NMHSs across the globe; it would be difficult to find a
single area of operational meteorology that has not been positively affected by meteorological
satellites.
Into the future: The next two decades will present exceptional challenges for WMO Members
with respect to satellites, their data and the use thereof. Over the next ten years, Members will
experience a transformation in space-based observing that is massive and unparalleled. Research
satellite data will become available to WMO Members at a time when every operational space
system of the past decades is undergoing major upgrades: data volumes are about to increase
dramatically. This will offer unprecedented opportunities for the development of a variety of
sophisticated products and services. But as the capabilities of data and product providers evolve,
receiving all such data and products all the time will make little sense, insofar as delivery systems
will be constrained and users will run the risk of information overload. Availability of data and
products must be based on user requirements. As these trends develop, marked changes will
occur in the ways data handling, scientific research, product development, training and utilization
are approached. Preparing for the daunting task of monitoring and understanding the earthatmosphere system on the basis of the new data, and ensuring its full utilization, will require the
development of global scientific and operational partnerships.
Atmospheric Chemistry:
Aerosols, ozone and longer-lived greenhouse gases are now
considered to be essential climate variables. The significance of including their impact in model
projections and analyses of future climate change on time scales ranging from decadal to
centennial has now clearly been acknowledged by the scientific community. WMO’s GAW
coordinates the Integrated Global Greenhouse Gas Observing System as part of the Integrated
Carbon Observing System. Since 1975 WMO has promoted systematic and reliable observation of
greenhouse gases on a global scale by establishing a world benchmark and ensuring that
observations and their attendant meta-data are traceable and meet data quality standards.
Requirements are updated biennially using the rolling review process. Data on mixing ratios of
greenhouse and related reactive gases in the atmosphere and oceans are collected and distributed
by the World Data Center for Greenhouse Gases in Japan. These measurements have played a
critical role in the work of groups such as IPCC examining climate change and climate adaptation.
The effect of aerosols, because of their role in direct radiative forcing and precipitation formation,
must be included in regional and global NWP models. Aerosol distribution in the troposphere is
highly variable in time and space, with typical residence times of 3 to 14 days, and cannot be
represented by climatological distributions.
Into the future: Over the coming decade demands for accurate data by the climate community
will continue to grow. In addition, integrating aerosols and ozone in next generation operational
weather analysis and forecasting systems will place increased demands on real time data
distribution. With the inclusion of aerosols and chemical variables in advanced modelling systems,
new products and services such as air quality predictions and sand and dust forecasts are likely to
become available. Recognizing this future trend, WMO has developed a WIGOS pilot project to
improve the availability of ozone, Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD), and surface Particulate Matter
(PM) observations to the user community via WIS, and to prepare documentation in order to help
other communities make their observing practices compatible. The data will be used for ingestion
EC-LXII/INF 3.4 (4), APPENDIX, p. 7
into assimilation systems for atmospheric modelling; it will further support improved forecasts of
weather, surface ultraviolet radiation and air quality as well as model verification. A rolling review
of requirements will help determine the need for dissemination on application-appropriate
timescales. An important activity within this WIGOS pilot project will include support for training
and capacity building, as necessary.
STRATEGIC THRUST: Strengthening Capacity Building
Common goal:
1.
Enhanced capabilities of NMHSs, in particular in developing and least developed countries,
to fulfil their mandates.
Successful integration: A recent example of a holistic approach to capacity development is the
Mozambique aid project set up in the wake of the 2000 devastating floods. The project provided
infrastructure (radars, AWSs), forecast systems to improve services, and training to ensure that
equipment was properly used and maintained. The Severe Weather Forecast Demonstration
Project (SWFDP) is another excellent example of what can happen when capacity building is
undertaken under an end-to-end approach ranging from observations and their assimilation at
DPFSs through to user services. In a different vein (but with some interesting overlaps with
SWFDP) WMO and its space partners developed a Virtual Laboratory for Satellite Training and
Data Utilization (VL), designed to enhance Members’ ability to utilize satellite data and products.
The VL is a collaborative effort bringing together major operational satellite operators with WMO
“centres of excellence” (COEs) in satellite meteorology. The COEs serve as a satellite-focused
training resource for WMO Members, and there is now at least one COE serving each WMO
official language. Sharing resources and training materials and using modern communications
technology has made it possible to set up VL training in all WMO Regions on a routine basis. In
addition, several COEs have formed Regional Focus Groups (RFGs) where a COE and the WMO
Members it serves enter into routine discussions on real-time satellite data, using the Internet for
both communications and satellite data and product display. The RFG in Central America has
been very active and in one instance, when hurricane Wilma was threatening Central America, it
met four times to provide insight into the storm’s strength and rainfall potential as one member of
the RFG was particularly concerned about whether or not to advise the water resources
department of their country to empty a water storage reservoir, in light of the potential trade-off
between loss of water and potential reservoir breach, with likely flooding and loss of life. After
consulting the RFG, a decision was made not to empty the reservoir, thereby saving millions of
gallons of water while not putting the local population at risk.
Into the future: Capacity building for developing and least developed countries is addressed in the
Implementation Plan for the Evolution of the GOS, WMO-TD 1267. Areas focused on in that
document are equally important for WIGOS. They include public infrastructure, upgrading and
restoring of equipment and capabilities, sustainability, the use of new technologies, and human
resources.
The Virtual Lab will continue to grow and help all WMO Members make the most of available
satellite data. Similarly, WMO will encourage other major application areas (global and regional
NWP for example) to emulate the VL experience, with major NWP centers sponsoring centers of
excellence at WMO Regional Training Centers. Essentially this involves expanding mechanisms
used in the SWFDP project, where major NWP centers interacted with a RSMC, which in turn
coordinated with Members in the region. The project would link NWP centers with the RSMC and
the local training provider(s) to take full advantage of various WMO partnerships.
EC-LXII/INF 3.4 (4), APPENDIX, p. 8
STRATEGIC THRUST: Building and Enhancing Partnerships and Cooperation
Common goal:
1.
New and strengthened partnerships and cooperation activities to improve NMHSs’
performance in delivering services and to increase the value of contributions of WMO within
the UN System, relevant international conventions and national strategies.
Successful integration: WMO has on many an occasion successfully collaborated with its
partners to improve its ability to monitor the Earth’s environment. The GCOS climate monitoring
principles have thus been developed through coordination between WMO, CEOS, CGMS, IOC,
UNEP, ICSU, and international conventions (UNFCCC). Ocean observation abilities have
increased dramatically over the past 25 years, through developments in the Global Ocean
Observing System, thanks to the joint efforts of its sponsors, i.e. WMO, UNESCO’s IOC, UNEP
and ICSU. GOOS serves as a platform for international cooperation in the field of sustained ocean
observation, generation of oceanographic products and services, and interaction between the
research, operational, and user communities. Oceanographic researchers, coastal managers,
parties to international conventions, national meteorological and oceanographic agencies,
hydrographic offices, marine and coastal industries, policy makers and the interested general
public have all benefited from GOOS.
Into the future: Some future work orientations have been outlined in the WIGOS Pilot Project for
Marine Observations, which focuses on the integration of in-situ and space-based ocean observing
systems. These orientations will be implemented and sustained by WMO and IOC Members
through JCOMM, in order to make appropriate data sets available in real-time and delayed modes
to WMO and IOC applications, through interoperability arrangements with the WMO Information
System. The data sets will be produced according to agreed-upon standards and the quality
control procedures documented according to Quality Management Standard principles. This
integration will enhance data set coherence and consistency as well as relevant
instrument/platform metadata availability. It will furthermore lead to more timely and better data,
and less duplication. Information from a variety of conventional observing systems will prove as
essential to enhanced marine observation as space-based observations. An example of this has
been the hydrological community making its rainfall runoff data available through the Global Runoff
Data Center, as a part of WIS. This information can be used for a number of applications,
including salinity modelling, and in conjunction with remote sensing data, can help improve ocean
colour products. Other specialist fields such as marine biology can also access selected
observations and products through the WIGOS interoperability layer of WIS.
Successful integration: WMO’s space-based sub-system serves a range of activities that extend
into all areas of environmental monitoring. In the early days of WWW major space agencies had
set up the Coordination Group for Geostationary Meteorological Satellites, which later dropped
“geostationary” from its name to become today’s CGMS. Initially, the group’s primary function was
backup in the geostationary orbit, and this contingency planning activity, together with the good will
of all major operators, did indeed help WMO Members get backup on at least three occasions, so
as to avoid losing geostationary orbit coverage over given WMO Regions. In addition, at the
request of WMO, intervening through CGMS, EUMETSAT has been operating a spare
METEOSAT to provide enhanced coverage over the Indian Ocean and NESDIS has been
operating a spare GOES from 60 West to provide coverage over South America. CGMS, along
with WMO, has also established three scientific working groups to deal with winds (atmospheric
motion vectors (AMVs)), precipitation and sounding. Through these working groups, quality
standards and formats have been adopted for AMVs, multi-satellite and multi-sensor algorithms
have been developed for estimating precipitation, and advanced atmospheric sounding derivation
packages have been made available for use by WMO Members. It should be noted that all three
working groups both advise and provide assistance at various levels within WMO through the VL
and the major data assimilation centers. The satellite agencies in CEOS have worked with WMO
to investigate various topics, including carbon and oceans, and have furthermore defined a CEOS
constellation concept where satellite and surface-based observation systems address various
CEOS topics.
EC-LXII/INF 3.4 (4), APPENDIX, p. 9
Into the future: Building partnerships and enhancing cooperation involves taking into account the
interests of all collaborating partners. In the case of WMO and space agencies, enhanced
cooperation has provided a forum for testing satellite concepts, providing examples of successful
integration of space agency data and helping define future needs for the space based portion of
GOS. Existing mechanisms will easily help shift this activity to WIGOS. WMO has greatly
benefited from enhanced access to satellite data and the advanced products and services thus
made available. With JCOMM, similar mutual benefits have helped forge a positive relationship.
These experiences show how WMO can strengthen its interaction with its co-sponsored observing
system partners so as to provide a cohesive environmental data interface for United Nations
Agencies focusing on environmental stewardship as well as for GEOSS. Network integration
across disciplines will need to be undertaken by WMO and its future partners in order to meet the
challenge of climate service provision, which will require enhanced observation integration, as
pointed out in the GFCS. The potentially devastating impacts of climate change, and the
complexity of the issues involve are per se a rationale for a coherent WIGOS.
Strategic Thrust: Strengthening Good Governance
Common goal:
1.
An effective and efficient Organization
WIGOS has been designed to consolidate WMO observing systems. It must however clearly be
understood that WIGOS does not purport to consolidate WMO partner observing systems. It is to
operate as a general framework in which WMO and its partners will reach agreements concerning
observing systems’ contributions and remits.
Successful integration: Within the WIGOS framework, governance issues will have to be
addressed at a number of levels. EUCOS governance operates regionally, through agreements
between participating Members and, as mentioned earlier, the E-SURFMAR buoy program is
coordinated by WMO and IOC via JCOMM and the Data Buoy Cooperation Panel, which links to
GOOS and EURO-GOOS.
Into the future: Integration is a complex undertaking, covering both policy and technical issues,
and stretching over several years: as such, it will require the full support of all Members to be
successful. The integration process will actively involve the technical commissions, regional
associations and steering committees of the Global Climate Observing System, Global Ocean
Observing System, Global Terrestrial Observing System and the Joint Scientific Committee of the
World Climate Research Program: ultimately it will depend on these bodies’ consensus. It will
furthermore require the approval of the Executive Council, and eventually of Congress, for major
phases.
Within WMO: Steering and implementing the WIGOS initiative will require an effective and
efficient governance system, through scientific and technical advisory mechanisms aimed at
developing, monitoring and evaluating WIGOS, in addition to appropriate WMO Program and
Secretariat support structures. Developing a truly integrated WMO global observing system will
involve adjustments to WMO Technical Regulations; it is likely to also require changes in the
WMO’s Program structure, the Technical Commission’s working structure and mandate, and the
Organization’s Secretariat.
Partners and data policy: Moving towards enhanced integration and interoperability of WMO
observing systems will require close consultation with the partner organizations that co-sponsor
some of these systems with WMO. Cases in point are the following:


The joint WMO-IOC-UNEP-ICSU Global Climate Observing System (GCOS);
The WMO contribution to the joint IOC-UNEP-WMO-ICSU Global Ocean Observing System
(GOOS); and
EC-LXII/INF 3.4 (4), APPENDIX, p. 10

The terrestrial/hydrological observing systems that are part of the FAO-UNEP-WMO-ICSU
Global Terrestrial Observing System (GTOS).
Ownership and data-sharing policies of all observing components and partner organizations will
need to be complied with and guaranteed. It is however essential that WMO and its partners
review their respective data policies with regard to emergencies deriving from climate change and
climate monitoring, that they look into the potential for new and improved services to society
provided by enlightened data sharing policies and agreements, and that they fully realize that
unavailability of data within need-defined timeframes may lead to loss of opportunity, in terms of
service to society and policy-makers.
______________