National Implementation of CSIS Core Functions: [Dominica Meteorological Service (DMS)] [Name of presenter] WMO International Workshop on CSIS Operations & Coordination, Nanjing, China, 21-24 March 2017

Current Status of Climate Services [List three illustrative examples of climate services currently provided by your NMHS to specific sectors in your country; identify the sector and specify the product/service] Issuance of bulletins The ‘Monthly Agro-Meteorological Bulletin” has been produced since April 2012 (http://www.weather.gov.dm/bulletins/agro-meteorological-bulletin) –Tailored specifically to the agricultural community. It contains meteorological information of the month both detailing any weather phenomena which affected the island during the month and there impacts and the monthly averages for various parameters for the two stations manned by the service. This is followed by the impacts in the farming community and any other activities which occurred during the month. The seasonal outlook for the following 3 months looking at precipitation, temperature, wet days, wet spells and drought. The climate for the following month is given and a farmer’s outlook providing the farmers with guidelines on best farming practices based on the outlook. “The quarterly Meteorological Bulletin” has been produced from January 2016 (http://www.weather.gov.dm/bulletins/dominica-meteorological-bulletin)- Unlike the Agro-Met Bulletin, this bulletin is not tailored to any specific sector. Instead it is more generalised and can be used by all sectors. It contains significant weather information for e.g. ENSO updates and its expected impacts on our climate in the coming months. Previous 3 months weather averages and following 3 months climate data. The seasonal outlook and to a some extends expected impacts. Both bulletins are distributed both electronically and hard copies.

2. Seasonal Outlook This outlook is done monthly and uploaded to the service’s website.(http://www.weather.gov.dm/forecast/seasonal-outlook). It looks at influencing factors like ENSO and their recent observations, forecast and expected impacts. In additions the outlook for the island as it relates to rainfall, wet days, wet spells, drought alert and temperature. In the latest update a look back at the previous season was included. 3. Forum The climate service upon request is open to hosting forums to all sectors. In recent years the Ministry of Agriculture makes request for forums for their farmers and school children across the island. General meteorological information is given to include weather instruments, hurricane information, terms to know, climate information and seasonal outlooks. Open discussions are always part of the forums where individual ask questions and give suggestions.

Requirements in Climate Services [List two to three examples of climate services required to be implemented in your country] Sectoral bulletin Climatic data covering a wider spatial scale. Currently there are 2 stations manned by the service. These stations are housed at the airports one located on the north eastern coast and the other on the south western coast. Due to Dominica’s microclimates where the central mountainous range receives twice as much rainfall and lower temperatures than the coastal areas, these two stations don’t portray a complete image of Dominica’s climate. Additional reliable stations are needed to obtain better representation. Sectoral vs Climatic Indices

Data Requirements [Which data are needed to generate the aforementioned required climate services; specify global, regional, national and sectoral data service requirements as appropriate] Regional : Continued collaboration with CIMH by sharing stored national historical data especially sub-daily data. Seasonal Outlook Products National : National meteorological data looking at various parameters to include rainfall, temperature, relative humidity, wind, sunshine, evaporation, heat index, solar radiation, apparent temperature covering a wider area across the island. Sectoral : Would like to have access to more sectoral data to be able to show correlation with climatic indices over the years. Especially in agriculture, health and water

Health needs; Enhance the integration of climate services into health decision-making. Improve data collection methods and enhance environmental monitoring. Develop Early Warning Systems for climate-sensitive health risks utilizing forecast information from the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology. Continue studies on the impact of climate on vector-borne, water-borne and foodborne diseases and on food insecurity including analyses of weather, vector and epidemiologic data. Develop a national electronic database for health, food, vector, water, weather and climate data that is accessible by all relevant stakeholders.

Establish mechanisms for the routine flow of information (from weather, climate, vector, water and disease surveillance systems) between key departments (e.g. EHD, NPTC, Dominica Meteorological Services, HIU, Division of Agriculture, DOWASCO) Conduct routine analyses of weather, vector and epidemiologic data and distribute findings in a bulletin to relevant stakeholders

Agriculture needs: Effective pest and disease forecasting User-friendly weather and climate information. Farmers Forums Increased interactions and capacity between the meteorological services, and agriculture. Risk knowledge Monitoring and warning service Tools and technologies for monitoring Capacity to analyze information Capacity for reliable prediction Dissemination and Communication Response Capacities

Water needs: Precipitation level forecasts which would advise on water availability as it is important for selection of potential water sources for abstraction as well as water supply planning during drought. Likelihood of increase in frequency/ intensity of extreme events, such as floods and hurricanes. Impacts can determine the nature of water systems design and protection measures for critical infrastructure such as intakes and pipelines along river banks, etc. Climate services will help justify requests for budget increases for building/retrofitting of systems to be more robust or climate resilient or investment into back-up systems/alternative water sources.

Global/Regional Products [Indicate products/services you will require from (i) Global Centres (e.g., GPCLRF, LC-LRFMME, etc.) and (ii) Regional Centres (e.g., RCCs, CORDEX nodes, etc.) to implement the aforementioned services at country level] Seasonal outlooks are already being produced by CIMH. Its continuation and the further development of this products would continue to be of great assistance to smaller country state who rely on them and don’t have the level of expertise or human resource. Make available new software to better assist in product development. E.g.. pest and disease forecasting. Training especially in the use of modern tools/ software used across the world to be able to enhance national sectoral products like the Agro-Meteorological Bulletin .

Institutional Capacity [List current institutional strengths and weaknesses (organisational and administrative aspects, mandates etc.) of your NMHS relevant to the provision of the aforementioned required climate services] Strengths Expansion of the service in the coming years under a World Bank Project. This will make for the provision of a Meteorological building, administrative and technical staff. Climatological technicians undergo continuous training over the past years. (e.g CariCOF)

Weaknesses The Dominica Meteorological Service is not structured to allow staff to work and focus in their area of specialization as every officer is required to work on a shift basis as observers. The job description does not make provision for use and payment of specialized officers. All officers are scaled as Meteorological assistant and follow the same pay scale despite further training and specialization. More positions need to be created allowing for additional staff. Lack of trained staff in Climatology. Currently one at work, one on study leave (forecaster training at CIMH) No Climatologist / degree level Despite these limitations the service tries to always meet the end users needs.

Infrastructural Capacity [List current infrastructural strengths and weaknesses (including IT environment, hardware, software etc.) of your NMHS relevant to the provision of the aforementioned required climate services; specify for climate data, climate monitoring, climate prediction and climate projection domains as appropriate] Climate data : The service don’t have a database system. Over the years it has relied on excel spreadsheets to store and analyze data. A CLFORM programme developed by CIMH has been used for over 10yrs to store hourly weather data has since become outdated and began malfunction in 2015 resulting in the erasing of data stored. Uses Climpact2 to calculate indices like SPI

Strides have since been made to obtaining a new programme from the Antigua Met. Service. In progress. New Hydro-meteorological Stations to be installed across the island creating a wider coverage of data. A new database will also be provided along with IT personnel . Specific data from end users to provide more tailored products Support information from stakeholders to provide climate products in a timely manner

Climate monitoring: there are two stations manned by the DMS with over 30yrs of data. This data observing trends and pattern are currently done using excel output charts. Other modern tools for monitoring has not been utilized either due to lack of knowledge or availability. Climate prediction: In collaboration with CIMH (CariCOF) Seasonal outlooks are available. (Rainfall, wet days/ spells, drought alert and temperature – new heat wave)

Staff Capacity [List current staff-related strengths and weaknesses (number of staff, competencies, skills etc.) of your NMHS relevant to the provision of the aforementioned required climate services] 11 meteorological assistant all trained at the CIMH in the various available courses. Forecasting –2 (one more currently on training) Applied meteorology– 2 ( both mid level. One currently on forecasting training as mentioned above) Instrumentation – 2 Hydrology– 2 (one at mid level the other currently pursuing diploma) Observer level—4 (1 more completing entry level training)

General expectations from CSIS [How can the Climate Services Information System assist efficiently in enabling effective climate service provision at the national level; specify for: Climate Data aspects – more training in climatic data and statistical management Climate Monitoring aspects- make available, train and or create greater awareness of available tools that can be utilized Climate Prediction aspects & Climate Projection aspects – currently the CIMH only provides training at mid level for Applied Meteorology and senior levels for forecasting and Hydrology . The need for a degree or diploma in Applied Meteorology targeting Climatology, Agro-Meteorology etc. within the Caribbean region would be an asset to many countries. Thus broadening the knowledge and expertise of officers at comfortable distances in areas as mentioned above. User engagement aspects- user engagement is always significant as one need to know the user needs to better satisfy them. Continued support from regional agencies like CIMH would be a plus.

Climate Services Toolkit [Please review the Climate Services Toolkit (CST) initial prototype (access expected to be provided by 10 March 2017 at the latest) and provide your feedback on its principle relevance for climate service provision in your country, including gaps and challenges; specify Data access- Having data into the tool will create ease of access and analyses. Also the data gets to be quality check and homogenized something that has been lacking. Guidance material – Having materials in one location saves time. It brings awareness of available materials. Software tools/packages- Software for analyses would be of significant benefit to the DMS. Training material – There is the need for further training in the DMS to enable the service to match up to the developing world. The tool is seen as a plus. It will surely enhance products made by the service bringing better satisfaction to its users.

Thank you Merci