WORLD METEOROLOGICAL ORGANIZATION
EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
PANEL OF EXPERTS ON POLAR AND HIGH MOUNTAIN
OBSERVATIONS, RESEARCH AND SERVICES
Sixth session
EC-PHORS-6/Doc.3.3
Submitted by: A. Devaris/
H. Tangen
Date: 01.08.15
Reykjavik, Iceland, 8-11 September 2015
AGENDA ITEM: 3.3
SERVICES
SUMMARY
ISSUES TO BE DISCUSSED:
1. To provide further direction on the completion of the Services White Paper
2. To review analysis completed by WMO Secretariat of survey on the development of an
Regional Climate Centre (RCC) implementation strategy for the Polar Regions
DECISIONS/ACTIONS REQUIRED:
1. To agree to invite one or more Permanent Representatives of the Arctic Council to be a
member of EC-PHORS and assigned to the Services Task Team.
2. To agree on a more formal linkage between the Services Task Team and the new GCW
Information and Services Working Group.
3. To agree on a more formal linkage between the Services Task Team and the WWRP
Polar Prediction Project (PPP) Societal and Economic Research and Applications
(SERA) subcommittee/subgroup.
4. To agree on the need for a services-focused workshop that will highlight services “best
practices” and lead to the development of an Action Plan for improved services; to
identify host country; to secure resources from Trust Fund
5. Provide direction to agenda for the November PRCC scoping workshop in Geneva and
be prepared to speak to a commitment/decision on Subject Matter Expertise who will be
nominated to attend
REFERENCES:
1. Draft Services Task Team White Paper
2. Concept Note for Scoping Workshop, Climate Services for Polar Regions: Establishing
Polar Regional Climate Centres, Toward Implementing an Arctic PRCC-Network
EC-PHORS-6/Doc. 3.3, p. 2
PROGRESS ON ACTIONS BY SERVICES TASK TEAM SINCE EC PORS 5
The Services Task Team (STT) has held regular telecons every six weeks to discuss the
actions that came out of EC-PORS 5 in Wellington, New Zealand. There were seven (7) action
items assigned to the STT:
1. Outreach to indigenous groups, such as the ICC: This has been an action item for the STT
since EC-PORS-1. While there are no formal outreach mechanisms by any of the STT
members to any of the nationally recognized indigenous groups, decision-support services and
products are widely disseminated to many users across the Polar and High Mountain Regions.
The STT recognizes there are considerable indigenous populations that may have unique
service requirements for information to support their subsistence activities. Furthermore, during
Congress 17, WMO acknowledged the strengthened cooperation of Executive Council with
international organizations and bodies active in Polar Regions. However, such collaboration
does not appear to extend to indigenous groups, such as the six Permanent Participants of the
Arctic Council. Given that WMO considers the polar regions as one of its seven highest
priorities, consideration should be taken by EC-PHORS members on whether or not to invite
one or more of the Permanent Participants of the Arctic Council to be a formal member of ECPHORS. The Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) represents the Inuit communities in Greenland/
Denmark, Canada, Alaska/USA, and Chukotka/Russia and, thus, provides a broader national
representation than the other Permanent Participants.
2. Outreach to policy makers (e.g., Arctic Council, ATCM):
In late August 2014, WMO EC-PHORS member, Steve Pendlebury, on behalf of Miroslav
Ondráš, gave presentations at the COMNAP annual general meeting and SCAR Delegates
meeting of the Antarctic-related work of WMO, in particular the work of WMO’s EC-PORS. Scott
Carpentier (STT member from Australia) presented on the service delivery challenge for the
Antarctic during a workshop in Hobart in May that is looking at the Antarctic sea-ice challenge.
This workshop was convened by the Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs
(COMNAP). Furthermore, COMNAP responded to a slightly modified Antarctic version of the
SIDARUS survey, where there were 19 responses from the program managers out of a possible
28 member nations, which is sufficient to evaluate user requirements. During that workshop,
Scott presented what EC-PHORS is trying to do as well as on the service delivery component
and was able to mention the Polar Regional Climate Center (PRCC) initiative.
Vasily Smolyanitsky (Russian Federation), Chair, JCOMM Expert Team on Sea Ice (ETSI), has
being providing linkages with national and JCOMM polar activities including identification of
formal requirements for ice services. The ETSI maintains a special WMO publication No.574
“Sea-Ice Information Services in the World”, which is a general ‘white paper’ for customers of
the national ice services. The latest additions to the publication were provided at the ETSI-V
session in March 2014. A new aspect of requirements to the ice services is set up by the latest
WMO, IHO, and IMO resolutions including the Polar Code and GMDSS. The ETSI works in
tandem with the International Ice Charting Working Group (IICWG) – a technical forum of the
national ice services. Meeting annually in October, the IICWG has a growing audience of
customers. It is logical to maintain cross-linkages between the related JCOMM technical
publications including the Commission input to the WMO Rolling Review of Requirements
(RRR), the IICWG material, and the SST White Paper. Vasily also represented JCOMM in the
first meetings of the ad hoc TTs on Monitoring and Evaluation and on Operational and Resource
plan for the GFCS for the period 2015 – 2018 in April 2015. The meetings were aimed to “(1)
EC-PHORS-6/Doc. 3.3, p. 3
refine and finalize the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) criteria and process for the GFCS and
(2) finalize the operational and resource plan for the period 2015-2018. Resulting work is
summarized in the “Monitoring and Evaluation Working Document (last draft 18 June, 2015).
Vasily has also been nominated as the Russian focal point for the International Polar
Partnership Initiative (IPPI).
3. Liaise with Arctic and Antarctic Task Teams:
Johan Stander (STT member from South Africa) is a co-lead with Steve Colwell of the Antarctic
Task Team (ATT). While there have been no specific meetings of the ATT, Johan mentioned
potential involvement of the UK (British Antarctic Survey) in the STT and will further take this up
with the co-chair of AntON at EC-PHORS-6. Johan is also on the Observation Task Team
(OTT) and was recently nominated by South Arica to be on the GCW Steering Group.
Aimee Devaris (US) and Vasily Smolyanitsky (Russian Federation) are also on the GCW
Steering Group and participated in the CryoNet meeting and Steering Group meeting that took
place in Copenhagen, Denmark, in January 2015. Under the new GCW structure, there are
Working Groups for Observations, Integrated Products, and Information and Services. It is
recommended that a more formal linkage be established between the latter group and the STT.
While there is no formal linkage by the STT with the Research Task Team (RTT), Renee
Tatusko (US) participated in the Polar Prediction Project (PPP) Year of Polar Prediction (YOPP)
Summit, which took place at WMO Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the week of July 13.
The PPP constitutes the hours-to-seasonal research component of the emerging WMO Global
Integrated Polar Prediction System (GIPPS). Dr. Thomas Jung is the Chair of the PPP Steering
Group (PPP SG) and he is also the Co-Chair of the RTT. The PPP SG has recognized the
need to ensure that research investments and time spent on YOPP projects are relevant in an
operational setting for service delivery. Thus, NOAA was invited to present on the new NOAA
Arctic Test Bed (ATB), which is being set up in Alaska, to facilitate research to operations
(R2O). The PPP SG also formally endorsed a Societal and Economic Research and
Applications (SERA) subgroup, led by Canada, which has the goal of translating science
success into societal value. At its inaugural meeting in Ottawa in May, SERA participants
acknowledged the importance of clearly identifying in detail the many actors involved in the
polar regions as an important contribution to the PPP and a basic step in any
social science research activity. At the PPP SG meeting following the YOPP Summit, Renee
pointed out the clear linkage that SERA can provide to the efforts of the STT. Thus, it is
recommended that a more formal relationship be established between the STT and the SERA
subgroup.
4. Ensure consistency with the WMO Service Strategy Implementation Plan:
The WMO Service Strategy and Implementation Plan (IP) were officially published in 2014. The
IP lays out a very distinct framework for service implementation and devising service
improvements. Thus, the STT has further developed the White Paper to try and map this
against the Service Delivery Progress Model that is outlined in the IP. This framework is
relevant to the discreet areas where service improvements are being planned, whether it’s water
service, cryosphere, sea ice, etc. See Annex 1 “draft White Paper” as reference.
It is difficult to make concrete progress and coordinate this effort across many time zones.
Thus, the STT recommends that the EC-PHORS agree to support a services-focused workshop
EC-PHORS-6/Doc. 3.3, p. 4
that will highlight services “best practices,” which, in turn, will lead to the development of an
Action Plan for improved services. The STT requests that the EC-PHORS members identify a
host country for this workshop as well as discuss the availability of resources from the Trust
Fund to support full participation from, especially, members in the southern hemisphere and
high mountain regions.
5. Further develop and focus the White Paper and engage with other teams on the GIPPS
perspective:
See #3 above.
6. Develop the architecture for PCOFS / PRCC:
Under the auspices of the WMO Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS) and with a
contribution by the Government of Canada, the WMO will be hosting a Scoping Workshop on
Climate Services for the Polar Regions, which will take place in Geneva, Switzerland, from
November 17-19, 2015. See Annex 2 “Concept Note” as reference. The key result of this
GFCS project is to develop an improved climate services framework across the Arctic Polar
Region and establish a Polar Regional Climate Centre (PRCC) or network thereof. Both
Congress-17 and Executive Council-67 emphasized the importance of RCCs and Regional
Climate Outlook Forums (RCOFs) and acknowledged the efforts made to develop a
collaborative mechanism for creating sustained, practical, and operational products and
services in Polar Regions. The STT has been coordinating the consultations on the
implementation strategy for the PRCC.
In February 2015, a survey was completed by many EC-PHORS members, and WMO is
completing an analysis of the responses which will form an important basis for developing a
suitable RCC implementation strategy for the Polar Regions. This analysis is to be presented at
EC-PHORS-6, and members are invited to provide direction to the development of the agenda
for the November PRCC scoping workshop and be prepared to speak to their commitments to
this process in the spirit of regional and inter-regional cooperation to facilitate PRCC
implementation. EC-PHORS members are also invited to identify Subject Matter Experts
(SMEs) they intend to nominate to attend the scoping workshop.
EC-PHORS members are also invited to consider planning for a successor workshop on an
Antarctic PRCC-Network and ultimately one for the Third Pole and other High Mountain
Regions.
7. Investigate the possibility of supporting the IICWG request for an analyst to produce some
experimental seasonal ice forecast products:
At the last IICWG meeting in October, Helge Tangen (Norway) indicated that an offer from
Australia has been received to finance half of a Ph.D. Helge is working with the Norwegian Ice
Service to identify if additional resources can be secured for other half.
A COMNAP Sea Ice Challenges Workshop took place in Hobart, Australia, in May 2015. The
need for improved sea ice services in Antarctic waters was discussed, and Scott Carpentier
suggested that current service-providing organisations collaborate to define best practice in the
science and implement quality management principles in both their training and product delivery
systems so as to ensure that the highest-quality service could be offered to all Antarctic
operators.
EC-PHORS-6/Doc. 3.3, p. 5
Service capacity could be built up at the National and International level through co-investment,
commercial development, and improved coordination to minimise duplication of effort and
maximise on skill and resource sharing. Scott suggested that the World Meteorological
Organisation, associated agencies and the Antarctic Treaty system provide an unparalleled
framework for coordinating such international collaboration.
The COMNAP delegates were somewhat reluctant to the idea of establishing dedicated
service(s) with costs to be covered by relevant countries.