1GCOS Steering Committee, Geneva. September 29, 2010

The Commission for Climatology and GCOS

Thomas C. PetersonPresident, WMO Commission for Climatology

Chief Scientist, NOAA’s National Climatic Data CenterAsheville, North Carolina, USA

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Commission for Climatology• CCl

– 142 countries have formal voting membership– Organizes collaboration between climatologists

throughout the world for the benefit of all– Currently 215 volunteers from around the world

• Organized to address 4 main areas– Climate Data Management– Climate Monitoring and Assessment– Climate Products and Services– Climate Information for Adaptation and Risk

Management

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CCl philosophy• Seek win/wins

– Where the volunteers advance their careers– Helps the volunteers’ institutions mission and

visibility– Advances global, regional, and national climatology

• Foster international collaborations such as– Regional climate change workshops– Annual State of the Climate Report

• Which tracks GCOS ECVs • http://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/cmb/bams-sotc/2009

/bams-sotc-2009-chapter1-introduction-lo-rez.pdf

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CCl reality• CCl cannot force countries to do anything,

including releasing data– But we can help them realize the benefits of releasing

data• The only actions we can take without special

funding are those that volunteers will embrace– Short tasks

• Such as writing a guidance document– Updating the Guide to Climatological Practices

– Tasks directly related to the volunteer’s institution’s mission

• Such as compiling World Weather Records

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World Weather Records Opportunities

• World Weather Records• Decade by decade compilation of data

• The core of all global temperature data sets since 1927– Coordinated by the WMO Commission for Climatology– Compiled by NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center– The next update to World Weather Records starts in January

• Opportunities to enhance participation in WWR– More countries– More than just the last decade?– More often than once every 10 years?– Involve CBS GCOS Lead Centers?

• Opportunities for additional efforts in association with World Weather Records• E.g., Not just monthly means but GSN daily data as well?

6GCOS Steering Committee, Geneva. September 29, 2010

GCOS Surface NetworkDaily Data in the Archive

Expand WWR data request to include daily data too?

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CCl and the GCOS Implementation Plan

• CCl is listed on 6 GCOS Implementation Plan action items– C13, A2, A3, A4, A5, A7 – Only 1 as the sole responsible party

• A5 CCl

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Action C13CCl supports and encourages this but main action is WWR and educating about the value of observational analysis

• Action: Collect, digitize and analyse the historical atmospheric, oceanic and terrestrial data records from the beginning of instrumental observations in a region and submit to International Data Centres.

• Who: Parties, working through the WMO Commission on Climatology (CCl), the WMO Commission for Hydrology (CHy), other appropriate coordinating bodies (e.g., the GTOS Secretariat), the appropriate national agencies, and designated International Data Centres.

• Time-Frame: Continuing. • Performance Indicator: Data receipt at designated International

Data Centres. • Annual Cost Implications: 10-30M US$ (60% in non-Annex-I Parties).

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Action A2CCl supports and encourages this but has

no team actively working on this• Action: Obtain further progress in the systematic

international exchange of both hourly SYNOP reports and monthly CLIMAT reports from the WWW/GOS RBSN.

• Who: National Meteorological Services, in cooperation/coordination with WMO CBS, WMO CCl, WMO RAs, and WMO WWW.

• Time-Frame: Continuous, with significant improvement in receipt of RBSN synoptic and CLIMAT data by 2014.

• Performance Indicator: Data archive statistics at WDC Asheville.

• Annual Cost Implications: 1-10M US$ (60% in non-Annex-I Parties).

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Action A3CCl’s contribution is primarily through

documents providing guidance on these matters• Action: Ensure sustained operation of surface

meteorological stations addressing national and sub-national needs, and implement additional stations where necessary; and exchange hourly SYNOP reports and monthly CLIMAT reports from all stations internationally.

• Who: National Meteorological Services, in cooperation/coordination with WMO CBS, WMO CCl, WMO RAs, and WMO WWW.

• Time-Frame: Full operation of all stations globally by 2015. • Performance Indicator: Data archive statistics at WDC

Asheville. • Annual Cost Implications: 100-300M US$ (90% in non-

Annex-I Parties).

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Action A4 CCl’s contribution is primarily through documents

providing guidance and encouragement on these matters

• Action: Apply the GCMPs to all measurements relevant for climate from surface networks.

• Who: National Meteorological Services, in coordination with WMO CBS, WMO CCl, WMO RAs, and GCOS Secretariat.

• Time-Frame: Continuous. • Performance Indicator: Quality and homogeneity

of data and metadata submitted to International Data Centres.

• Annual Cost Implications: 10-30M US$ (70% in non-Annex-I Parties).

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Action A5CCl currently has no one working on this but we could ask two groups of

volunteers to address them.AOPC April 2009: Implementation and use of AWS, 9 pages

• Action: Implement guidelines and procedures for the transition from manual to automatic surface observing stations. Conduct expert review of the impact of increasing use of automatic stations on the surface climate data record.

• Who: Parties operating GSN stations for implementation. WMO CCl, in cooperation with the WMO CIMO, WMO CBS for review.

• Time-Frame: Ongoing for implementation. Review by 2014. • Performance Indicator: Implementation noted in National

Communication. • Annual Cost Implications: 1-10M US$ (60% in non-Annex-I

Parties).

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Action A7CCl supports this but has no one working on it at

the present time• Action: Submit all precipitation data, including hourly

totals where possible and radar-derived precipitation products, from national networks to the International Data Centres.

• Who: National Meteorological Services, with coordination through the WMO CCl.

• Time-Frame: Continuous. • Performance Indicator: Percentage of nations providing

all precipitation data to the International Data Centres. Percentage of stations for which hourly data available.

• Annual Cost Implications: 1-10M US$ (60% in non-Annex-I Parties).

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Activities CCl would like to see GCOS undertake

• Ask CBS-GCOS regional and monitoring centers to improve CLIMAT transmission from all stations rather than just the GSN.

• CBS-GCOS regional centers to become involved in World Weather Records– Starting January 2011

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CCl-GCOS Summary

• Many similar goals but different approaches• Considerable potential synergy

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Remember to seek win/winswhere all countries benefit