1. WWRP The THORPEX Mid-Term Review David Burridge Of no particular abode

2. WWRP Background  At its eighth meeting, the ICSC decided that it was opportune that a paper should be prepared by the IPO which made an assessment of THORPEX at the half-way point and it should be presented to ICSC8 ‑ the paper should include achievements and an outlook. Consideration of producing a wider external review possibly in 2010 should also be given.  The IPO was tasked to prepare a report for ICSC8 reviewing and evaluating THORPEX at the half-way point – including achievements. Some of this report could be given a wider circulation through a formal publication, such as a BAMS article. The IPO and WWRP Chief will lead the coordination of this article. A wider external review will be carried out by mid-2010.

3. WWRP Request for input  The IPO invited contributions to the review from the THORPEX Working Groups, Regional Committees and Field Experiment PIs with a view of producing a first draft for review by the WWRP/JSC in February 2011. The contributors were asked particularly to record successes, challenges and the planned future directions of THORPEX research. It proved difficult to meet this deadline and consequently the IPO decided to provide the review to the ICSC 9 meeting first.

4. WWRP Request for input In due course input was received from: Pierre Gauthier, Roger Saunders and Florence Rabier Data assimilation and the Observing System Heini Wernli and Istvan SzunyoghPredictability and Dynamical Processes Richard Swinbank, Zoltan Toth and David Richardson Ensemble Prediction, TIGGE and GIFS Aida D'niang and Ben LampteyAfrican activities and achievements Tetsuo NakazawaAsian activities and achievements Sarah JonesEuropean activities and achievements Malaquias Pena Mendez and Brian MillsNorth American activities and achievements Neil Gordon, Eugene Poolman, and Peter Steinle Southern Hemisphere activities and achievements Mitch Moncrieff and Duane WaliserYOTC and tropical convection Patrick Harr, Sarah Jones and David ParsonsT-PARC (summer) Jean-Luc Redelsperger and Sarah JonesAMMA

5. WWRP Format of the report  Due to the volume of material, it was decided to divide the review into two main parts:  Part 1“An Overview of International Activities and Achievements”  Background  International Projects and Campaigns  TIGGE  A-TReC  AMMA  T-PARC  IPY  YOTC  GEOSS  Sub-programmes  Predictability and Dynamical Processes  TIGGE and GIFS Developments  Data Assimilation and Observing Systems  Future Research and Development  Polar Prediction  Sub-Seasonal to Seasonal Prediction

6. WWRP Format of the report - continued  Part 2: “Regional Activities and Achievements ”  Nations and consortia of nations have established THORPEX Regional Committees (RCs) that define regional priorities for participation in THORPEX within the framework of the THORPEX International Science and Implementation Plans. These THORPEX Regional Committees develop regional activities within the framework of the international plans. They facilitate provision of funding, logistical and other support, planning, coordination and implementation of THORPEX activities conducted by the region with respect to the THORPEX International Research Implementation Plan. Five sections of Part 2 are given over to the activities of the:  African Regional Committee (AfRC)  Asian Regional Committee (ARC)  European Regional Committee (ERC)  North American Regional Committee (NARC)  Southern Hemisphere Regional Committee (SHRC)

7. WWRP THORPEX is a ten-year programme and following the publication of international plans the implementation phase began in early 2005. Since then a number of notable successes have been achieved.  Identified key topics for research into predictability and the modelling of dynamical physical processes  Two major real-time international observational programmes have been completed (for the A-TReC for the Atlantic and T-PARC for the Pacific)  A major contribution has been made to AMMA  International data bases (TIGGE) of near-real time global ensemble predictions from ten prediction centres have been established and the results are being provided for research by three archive centres  The THORPEX IPY Cluster of projects have made a major contribution to observing and NWP for polar regions  Data Assimilation research has made major contributions to the development of the observing system through the use of operational data and THORPEX field experiments  Reports on the effectiveness of data-targeting (adaptive observations) have been completed  Established, jointly with the WCRP, the YOTC programme  Prepared the basis for  A new Regional Campaign (T-NAWDEX)  A Polar Prediction Project  A Sub-seasonal to seasonal Prediction Project  Organised three international Symposia on THORPEX science, workshops and summer schools

8. WWRP …… Noting that the ten-year (2005-2014) THORPEX programme was now a major element of the WWRP and recognizing that, together with the WGNE, THORPEX activities covered a wide-range of global weather prediction research, Congress recognized that THORPEX had become an integral component of the WWRP focusing on global scales and that the WWRP should fulfil the THORPEX high priority research activities for the next biennium if and when contributions to the THORPEX trust fund begin to “tail off” towards the end of the ten-year period of the programme.