WORLD METEOROLOGICAL ORGANIZATION
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JOINT WMO/IOC TECHNICAL COMMISSION FOR
OCEANOGRAPHY AND MARINE METEOROLOGY (JCOMM)
SERVICES COORDINATION GROUP
THIRD SESSION
EXETER, UNITED KINGDOM, 7 TO 10 NOVEMBER 2006
INTERGOVERNMENTAL OCEANOGRAPHIC
COMMISSION (OF UNESCO)
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SCG-III/Doc. 8.1, 8.2, 8.3
(30.X.2006)
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ITEM 8.1, 8.2, 8.3
Original: ENGLISH
CAPACITY BUILDING STRATEGY FOR THE SPA
(Submitted by Dr Craig Donlon, SPA Coordinator)
Summary and Purpose of Document
This document provides background information on possible options for Capacity
Building in SPA.
ACTION PROPOSED
The Services Coordination Group is invited to:
(a) Note and comment on the information provided as appropriate;
(b) Advise the CB rapporteur on actions required within the Cross-cutting Team;
(c) Define a CB strategy for SPA.
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SCG-III/Doc. 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, p. 2
1. At the top level, JCOMM assists countries to enhance their capacities in marine data collection, data management and provision of marine meteorological and oceanographic services. Building capacity is a high priority activity directed at ensuring that maritime nations cannot only contribute meaningfully to JCOMM's various programmes but also gain optimum benefits from the global system.
The capacity building activity, in direct consultation and cooperation with the three JCOMM Programme
Areas, has the mandate to coordinate the delivery of training, facilitate the transfer of technology, assist in providing equipment and work closely with the capacity building programmes of donor countries and other UN Agencies. In structural terms, the JCOMM Capacity Building activity is supported by and delivered through three Capacity Building rapporteurs, attached to each of the three Programme Areas, and reporting to the Management Committee through a single designated representative.
2. At present, capacity building work is concentrated in two areas:
 Specialized training; and
 Regional cooperative development projects.
3. Within the JCOMM-II/III intersessional period, it is proposed to organize a scientific/technical workshop on storm surge, October 2007 in Korea. The proposed scientific workshop will complement other international efforts including the series of capacity building workshops on storm surge and wave forecasting organized by JCOMM and the WMO Tropical Cyclone Programme, and JCOMM efforts into developing marine-related hazards warning systems. The focus of the workshop will be similar to the very successful JCOMM scientific workshops in other related fields, including the International
Workshop on Wave Hindcasting and Forecasting and the CLIMAR Workshop on Advances in Marine
Climatology.
4. The objectives of the workshop would be:
 To provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and information related to storm surge forecasting and hindcasting;
 To develop appropriate input for the dynamic part of the WMO Guide to Storm Surge
Forecasting, emphasizing new developments;
 To provide guidance/technical support for National Meteorological Services;
 To discuss priorities for future research and development.
5. The Capacity Building rapporteur for the SPA must be informed of the developments and requirements for enhanced capacity within the remit of the ETs. A particular requirement is to ensure access to met-ocean services and products and provide adequate training in their application and interpretation by Members/Member states that currently have no capacity to provide these services for the safety of its Citizens working in the marine environment and the management of the marine environment itself.
6. In recognizing the importance of capacity building and of the need to enhance coordination and cooperation in capacity building activities, a JCOMM Capacity Building Strategy has been prepared and published. Recalling the role of the Task Team on Resources (TTR) and the difficulties to formulate and make such a team function, the Management Committee (Geneva, October 2006) established an ad hoc Working Group to identify and setup a mechanism for raising CB resources. A rigorous CB strategic plan would be developed within three months for MAN’s review and finalized within six months. This would provide a coherent framework for all future JCOMM capacity building projects, compatible with similar work under other programmes of WMO and IOC; substantial capacity building activities of direct relevance to JCOMM are undertaken under a number of other WMO and IOC programmes, including GOOS, GCOS, IOC TEMA and IODE; and the WMO Education and Training,
Technical Cooperation, Voluntary Cooperation and Satellite Programmes.
7. Several discussions have been held with the JCOMM Cross-cutting rapporteur for Capacity
Building. In the case of met-ocean services, capacity needs to be developed appropriately for each

SCG-III/Doc. 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, p. 3
Member state in a manner that eventually results a fully functioning suite of met-ocean services satisfying national, regional and international needs. Three stages of development can be defined for which the capacity building needs are very different: a) Stage I: Countries/Regions with little or no services, limited resources, who recognize their needs; b) Stage II: Countries/Regions with some infrastructure, resources and good knowledge of met-ocean requirements and limitations. These Countries/Regions are capable of implementing SPA systems; c) Stage III: Countries/Regions that have high-level infrastructures, resources and research and development activities. Capable of developing the next generation of JCOMM services and products through innovations (e.g. graphic products, ecosystem models, etc.)
9. In each stage, the most appropriate specialised training and regional cooperative projects will be different. Fore example, Stage III countries may require advanced training workshops (such as the
GODAE International Summer School of Oceanography, "An integrated view of oceanography: ocean weather forecasting in the 21st century"). In contrast, it may be more appropriate to develop an initial capacity to use apply met-ocean products and services provided by other Member States in countries that do not yet have operational services in place (Stage I). Importantly, while resources must be dedicated to building capacity across all Member States, priority to regions developing new met-ocean capability where there is otherwise none, must be given. However as appropriate, the JCOMM SPA must support initiatives at all three stages of development to ensure that sufficient capacity to deliver the JCOMM work plan. Collaboration with proven distance education and training projects (e.g., the
IOC/IODE OceanTeacher Virtual Laboratory; the WMO Virtual Laboratory for Education and Training in
Satellite Meteorology; the International Ocean Institute (IOI)) is encouraged. The Management
Committee noted with interest ongoing cooperation between WMO and IOC/IODE on integration of training materials related to marine meteorology in OceanTeacher. The Committee recommended that the OceanTeacher training system should also cover remote sensing and encouraged such development as soon as possible.
10. The IOC/UNESCO Bilko programme (see http://www.bilko.org
) is a complete system for learning and teaching remote sensing image analysis skills. Its primary aim is to make remote sensing training materials accessible to those without specialist resources at their disposal and to promote good teaching practice by tapping the diverse skills and expertise of an expert community. Considerable resources have been generated by the project including an intuitive image processing software package. Pedagogical materials include short self-study lessons focused on a particular remote sensing technique, oceanographic phenomenon or sensor that students can work through on their own time. The project currently serves many users located in over 70 countries and has supported international workshops and training courses. Several networks have been developed that are monitored by the Bilko Steering Committee including a network dedicated to Bilko lesson authors and another for Bilko users. These lessons together with the Bilko introductory tutorial, accompanying satellite and ocean model data, and Bilko software provide an excellent resource for teaching oceanography and satellite remote sensing.
11. The Bilko system can be used to demonstrate more than just remote sensing data. Recently a new set of Bilko lessons and resources were developed that focus on the use of ocean forecast output systems that have proved extremely successful with graduate and post-graduate students. Once developed, these resources could be used at different training workshops; and because the Bilko project is focused on Distance Learning, the lessons and software could be used in a self-study mode.
Within the framework of the JCOMM SPA, it is proposed to develop new lessons, in collaboration with
GOOS and GODAE, that teach the application of satellite observations and ocean model output for wind waves, storm surges, sea ice, MAES (HAB, oil spills, SAR), MSS (ship routing, structure design etc.) and marine climatology. Collaboration with the IOC IODE project and integration of Bilko within the OceanTeacher system is in discussion, and will provide a framework in which this work could be

SCG-III/Doc. 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, p. 4 undertaken. In this way the SPA will develop materials that can be used for outreach and training, greatly facilitating the development of JCOMM workshops and training courses.
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