1. The WMO/(GEO) Sand and Dust Storm Warning Advisory and Assessment System ESIP FEDERATION Environmental Decision Making 8 - 9 July 2009 Santa Barbara, CA http://www.atmo.arizona.edu/faculty/research/dust/dust.html William A. Sprigg (Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Arizona) Slobodan Nickovic & Leonard Barrie (World Meteorological Organization) wsprigg@u.arizona.edu LBarrie@wmo.int SNickovic@wmo.int wsprigg@u.arizona.edu LBarrie@wmo.int SNickovic@wmo.intwsprigg@u.arizona.eduLBarrie@wmo.intSNickovic@wmo.intwsprigg@u.arizona.eduLBarrie@wmo.intSNickovic@wmo.int

2. The WMO GEO Sand & Dust Storm Warning Advisory & Assessment System NEW TOOLS Assisting World Wide Public Health, Transportation Safety, Food Security, Environmental Protection … Who Cares? Why Bother? What is the Objective? What is the Plan? Sprigg, Barrie, Nickovic

3. Who Cares? 2 billion people live in the arid 34 percent of Earth’s land surface. Local exposure to the region’s airborne dust increases risk of cardiovascular and respiratory disease. Phoenix dust storm – 7 June 2006 Photo by Robb Schumacher Arizona Republic Sprigg, Barrie, Nickovic

4. Who Cares? People a continent or ocean away are exposed to these dusts, along with hitchhiking molds, spores, bacteria …. Air and land transportation safety, human and veterinary health, food and water security …. threatened --- and linked to the global economy. --- and linked to the global economy. Sprigg, Barrie, Nickovic

5. Who Cares? Weather and climate are affected by the 1500 billion tons of dust suspended in our atmosphere at any given time Satellite-derived Aerosol Optical Depth Several Days in April 2001 (a NASA composite) Sprigg, Barrie, Nickovic

6. MORE THAN 40 NATIONS URGE WMO ACTION TO: better understand dust storms, dust entrainment & dispersion operate a world-wide system to detect, monitor and predict sand & dust storms Sprigg, Barrie, Nickovic

7. Abstract An Implementation Plan for an International Sand and Dust Storm Warning Advisory and Assessment System is under review at WMO. The Plan calls for research, observations, and advisories to support national weather services and others worldwide. A federated system of regional centres form the core of the SDS-WAS, providing nodes for state-of-the-science information on sand and dust storms around the globe. http://www.wmo.int/sdswas http://www.wmo.int/sdswas http://www.wmo.int/sdswas Sprigg, Barrie, Nickovic

8. Objective: Deliver products useful in reducing adverse effects of sand and dust storms _____________________________ World-Wide Sand & Dust Storm DetectionWorld-Wide Sand & Dust Storm Detection Model-Based Simulations & ForecastsModel-Based Simulations & Forecasts Verification: Models, Measurements & MonitoringVerification: Models, Measurements & Monitoring Source Characteristics: Mapping & MonitoringSource Characteristics: Mapping & Monitoring Information Access & DisseminationInformation Access & Dissemination Training & Technology TransferTraining & Technology Transfer Sprigg, Barrie, Nickovic

9. Nodes & Centre System Architecture WMO SDS-WAS Regional Node 2 Regional Node 3 Regional Node 4 Partner 3 Partner 2 Partner n Partner 1 Regional Center 1 Regional Node 1 Sprigg, Barrie, Nickovic

10. Beijing: Asia/Central Pacific Barcelona: Beijing: Asia/Central Pacific Barcelona: N. Africa, Middle East, Europe Web-based portals into regional research & forecast services Web-based portals into regional research & forecast services Value-added Observations & Forecasts Value-added Observations & Forecasts Neutral ground for operations, research, capacity building & building partnerships Neutral ground for operations, research, capacity building & building partnerships Cooperative operational services: Warnings related to SDS-WAS are the responsibility of National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs). SDS-WAS input for decision making Cooperative operational services: Warnings related to SDS-WAS are the responsibility of National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs). SDS-WAS input for decision making NODE / CENTRE Sprigg, Barrie, Nickovic

11. Regional Node Regional Centre Partner 1 Partner 2 Partner 3 Partner 4 Partner 5 Partner n …. Partner (Federated) System Example: N.Africa, Middle East & Europe Regional Centre/Node ------------------------------------------------- Regional Center: BSC-CNS (Spain) Partners Include: Meteo-France, UK Met Office, ECMWF, LISA, LSCE, IFT, EUMETSAT, CNR, AERONET/PHOTONS ….. …. Tunisian Met Service, University of Athens, University of Tel Aviv, Egyptian Meteorological Agency, METU Sprigg, Barrie, Nickovic

12. FORECASTS AND REANALYSIS PM 2.5, PM 10, AOD, deposition, visibility, vertical distribution BSC/DREAMCHIMERE-dust SKIRON NAAPS MOCAGE-dust GEMS-ECMWF TAU LMDZ-INCA GLOBAL REGIONAL OBSERVATIONS AND VERIFICATION Near real-time quantitative and qualitative common verification system for all participating forecast models AERONET AOD Size distribution SYNOP - METAR Visibility PM10 Network In Southern Europe and EMEP SeaWifs and Modis MSG OMI GROUND-BASED SATELLITES Also off-line verification through AEROCOM platform including POLDER, MISR, AVHHR, SEAWIFS, TOMS, AERONET, EARLINET, surface concentrations

13. Implementation Status A SYSTEM for a SYSTEM OF SYSTEMS? Executive Committee Endorsed (With Caution) Prospectus in April 2009: Centres must fit: Global Data and Forecast System Global Data and Forecast System Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre Structure Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre Structure Commission for Atmospheric Sciences – Approval in November 2009? Commission for Basic Systems – Final Approval in 2010? Sprigg, Barrie, Nickovic

14. Thank You!.. and to NASA Earth Science Applications … and my “observations to models to health services” collaborators at UNM EDAC http://phairs.unm.edu/ wsprigg@u.arizona.edu wsprigg@u.arizona.edu wsprigg@u.arizona.edu

15. A Reminder FIRST STEPS TO DESIGN, TEST AND IMPLEMENT A SYSTEM FOR SEAMLESS COUPLING OF DATA AND INFORMATION BETWEEN THE WMO/GEO SDS-WAS AND THE GEOSS GEOPortal and GEONETCast ESIP FEDERATION WORKSHOP Thursday July 9, 2009 3:30-5:30 Sycamore Room W. A. Sprigg, M. Kafatos, K. Benedict, S. Morain Motive: Turn space-based observations into information … into societal benefit Opportunity: GEOSS and SDS-WAS Means: ESIP, GEO, Pan-Am Centre wsprigg@u.arizona.edu wsprigg@u.arizona.edu wsprigg@u.arizona.edu