World Meteorological Organization Working together in weather, climate and water WMO POLAR ACTIVITIES Meeting of Presidents of Technical Commissions (Geneva, ) David Grimes and Greg Ayers Co-chairs, EC-PORS WMO/OBSwww.wmo.int WMO

Historical perspective WMO Executive Council (EC-LX) in June, 2008 established the EC-PORS to provide oversight of WMO Polar activities: –Driven by the International Polar Year (IPY ); –Focus on integrating programs in Polar regions; –Program coordination for Antarctica; –Entry point to all WMO Programmes and to external partners seeking to collaborate with WMO on polar activities; and –Development of Implementation Strategy for Global Cryosphere Watch (GCW) Maximize the value of investments in Polar Regions

Historical perspective Cg-XVI provided direction to WMO Polar Activities through six resolutions: Res. 55 (Cg-XVI) established integrated Antarctic Observing Network AntON (integrating Synoptic, climatological and GAW stations) Res. 56 (Cg-XVI) amended the Manual on GOS, Volume II – Antarctic observing practices Res. 57 (Cg-XVI) launched a decadal endeavour towards GIPPS - Concept Paper for a scalable, detailed strategic plan for GIPPS Res. 58 (Cg-XVI) defined scope of WMO Polar Activities Res. 59 (Cg-XVI) WMO position on International Polar Decade / develop a concept Res. 60 (Cg-XVI) Development of GCW Implementation Plan, GCW Implementation Strategy EC-PORS re-established by EC-LXIII

Mode of Operation Active Co-chairs, secretariat and continuous interaction Two 3-day sessions since inception: Ottawa, Canada (13-15 October, 2009) Hobart, Australia (18-20 October, 2010) Third session planned in Sodankylä, Finland (6-8 February 2012) Task Teams: Antarctic – operational responsibilities: AntON, practices, monitoring Observations – GCW Implementation, PSTG, standardization Research – Polar Prediction System: Concept & Impl. Plan Services – White paper to define needs, Polar user survey Membership: Currently 32 experts from 21 WMO Members; new members from Rep. of Korea, India, Russian Fed. and Sweden joined the Panel in 2011 Resources: Extra-budgetary contributions from Australia, Canada, Norway, Sweden, United States In-kind support from Australia, Canada and Finland

Operating Principles Collaboration/Engagement is essential for Polar regions to develop sound and sustainable activities. Essential links to: –WMO Technical Commissions, Regional Associations, WMO Programmes (e.g. WWW, WIS/WIGOS) & co-sponsored programmes (e.g. WCRP, GCOS) –Intergovernmental Organizations (e.g. UNESCO/IOC, Arctic Council, ATCM, GEO etc.) –Coordinating bodies (e.g. IAATO, COMNAP, FARO, AMOMWF etc.) –Scientific Bodies (e.g. SCAR, IASC, IPA, APECS, IASSA) –International Initiatives (e.g. GFCS, GEOSS, SAON, Arctic-HYDRA /HYCOS) Services anchor the Panels work and require an interface with users including research community, northern peoples, economic sectors Key outcomes –Antarctic Coordination –Global Cryosphere Watch Implementation –Global Integrated Polar Prediction System –User Interface

Antarctic Coordination Integration of all Antarctic observing stations into the Antarctic Observing Network (AntON): –WMO Congress adopted the EC-PORS recommendation to integrate all WMO Antarctic networks (surface and upper-air stations and including all GCOS (GSN and GUAN) and GAW stations) into an Antarctic Observing Network (AntON) that will comprise all operational stations, all producing climate messages. –Follows WIGOS principles for integration of WMO Observing systems Updated Manual on GOS, Vol. II - Regional Aspects - The Antarctic Promoting WIS for dissemination of data also from research stations Requirements for Satellite User Communication Forum to address data collection from remote locations

Services Initial survey of weather, water, and climate products and services with user/customer perspectives on additional or emerging service requirements wide variety of services and products being offered over most time and spatial scales, especially for weather, marine, hydrology and aviation relatively small number of climate products and services Regional Polar Climate Centre / Polar Climate Outlook Forums could fill this gap how to integrate its activities with the GFCS Recent survey on Marine Arctic Users – especially focussing on sea ice and weather services ß version white paper to define and validate needs for services – will also serve as a basis for GIPPS

Polar Network of Networks IABP RBSN/RBCN AMDAR AWS AntOn Joint Programmes GAW WCRP Arctic HYCOS GCOS (GOOS, GTN-P, GTN-G) IPA Sea Ice

Polar Observations Polar Space Task Group (PSTG) – 1 st mtg 13 – 14 Oct space agencies and WMO Space Programme focus on polar observations from space User requirements, new technologies, updated standards Identify and close observation gaps (e.g. oceans and land); promote interoperability Global Cryosphere Watch (GCW) – 1st implementation mtg Nov.2011) Elaborated further GCW Implementation Strategy oinclude 3rd Pole (Tibetan Plateau Himalaya-Karakorum-Pamir) osuggested tentative working structure to be discussed at EC-PORS: Observing WG: capabilities and needs for surface-based and satellite observations oCryoNet Team: Reference Sites-Supersites for multidisciplinary, integrated environ monitoring oRQ & Capabilities Team: UR & OS capabilities oInfrastructure and Practices Team: Inventories, best practices, standards Products & Services WG: clearinghouse for products and services oThe Portal Team: Data &Information Portal development – MetNo - WIS compliant oTerminology Team: identify current cryo glossaries, and develop/evaluate terminologies, glossaries, vocabularies oOutreach Team: will be an authoritative voice on cryo issues, guidance for outreach products

GCW A Basis for Supersites in the north? WMO

Polar Observations CIMO led Solid Precipitation InterComparison Experiment (SPICE) include snowfall and snow-depth measurements (1 st mtg 5-7 Oct. 2011) Sustaining Arctic Observing Networks (SAON) – Arctic Council and IASC initiative; 1st Board mtg ; WMO has permanent seat; EC-PORS represents WMO on SAON Participation in the Arctic Council development of the Arctic Change Assessment (ACA)

Research Global Integrated Polar Prediction System (GIPPS) A major decadal initiative drawing upon research and operational elements of WMO, related agencies, national modeling centres and polar science organizations as a unifying focus WWRP - Improvement of Weather and Environmental Prediction in Polar Regions Joint Polar Prediction Project – Steering Group chaired by Thomas Jung (AWI) WCRP Polar Predictability Initiative GIPPS elements: Earth System approach, hours / seasonal / decadal timescales Provide forecasts, predictions, projections and related information as a contribution to the Global Framework for Climate Services Partnerships: AMPS, AMOMWF, SCAR, IASC, ICPM, WMO Global Producing Centres (e.g. ECMWF, NCEP)

New Polar Long-Term Initiative – IPY Follow-on EC-PORS, IASC/SCAR, JSC – IPY, COMNAP, WMO Congress discussed the potential of initiating an International Polar Decade (IPD) Common recognition that GIPPS, GCW, PSTG activities would be the WMO contributions Effective coordination would be essential for coordination of participating entities - SAON, WIS and WIGOS, GAW, iAOOS, SOOS, space-based observations Scientific efforts must be aligned to meeting broad societal needs Steering Group established to develop a draft Concept Document (SG co-chairs: D.Hik, J-G. Winther; D.Grimes represents WMO in the SG) Concept Document to be reviewed by EC-PORS-3 The Arctic Science Summit Week and IPY Conference From Knowledge to Action, April, Montreal: Panel discussion on WMO Polar Activities Draft Concept Document for a decadal science campaign to study, monitor and predict changes in Polar regions (including cryosphere) Draft Concept Document will be provided to TCs for their considerations

Polar Activities & GFCS Polar initiatives align with GFCS: Services - focused to meet users needs improve coverage, quality and access to climate observations, research and services in Polar Regions engage GIPPS and GCW as fundamental contributions to the pillars develop cross-regional Polar Region Climate Centres and Polar Climate Outlook Forums enhance partnerships with other organizations, agencies, scientific societies, academia within and beyond Polar Regions

ObsData MgmtServicesR&D CBS GOS/WIGOS GCW GTS/WIS GDPFS PWS OSSEs CIMO Standards; extreme Wx solid precip CHy Arctic HYCOS GCW Arctic HYDRA JCOMM Buoys ice JCOMMOPS GDSIDB; Ice Logistics Portal GMDSS Ice services CClClimate data mgmt PCOF GFCS Climate/health Climate predictability CASGAW WGNE; THORPEX-IPY; Modelling CAeMSpace weather Climate impacts of polar flights CAgM Fisheries tundra/taiga WCRP CliC, SPARC, GEWEX, CLIVAR, WOAP,GCW, IPAB CliC GEWEX (GRDC,GPCC) Modelling (WGCM, WGNE, Seasonal), CliC, SPARC, CLIVAR GCOSECVs, GSN, GRUAN, GCW, GOSICECVs

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