ATMOSWarnings updated

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PETTERI TAALASDirector General

Finnish Meteorological Institute

E D I T O R I A LE

OBSERVATIONS ARE A CORNERSTONE OF WEATHER SERVICES AND CLIMATE RESEARCH

PHYSICAL SCIENCES like meteorology and oceanography are based on observations. The World Meteorological Organization together with its Members have created global weather observation system, which consists of ground-based, sounding, radar, satellite, aircraft and vessel based observations. These are mainly operated by the National Meteorological Services, by space organizations and to limited degree also by private sector and voluntary actors. One of the most prestigious achievements is the near-real time and free exchange of observations world-wide.

Observations are the foundation of Numerical Weather Prediction. The quality and quantity of global observations have an impact on the quality of forecasts. Therefore it is essential to further enhance the number of observing sites in data sparse areas. Sometimes national or regional crisis are destroying observing systems and preventing their maintenance.

Especially the inclusion of modern satellite observations has led to enhancement of the accuracy of numerical forecasts. Weather radars have had a positive contribution to short-range forecasts of importance for agriculture, aviation and winter road maintenance.

Since its establishment in 1838 FMI has carried out observations for weather, marine, flood and climate services and research. FMI has paid special attention to the quality and long-lasting nature of the observations. FMI has also contributed to the development of new technology in partnership with private sector.

FMI is one of the most active players in sharing its expertise with sister organisations in all WMO regions. In most of these projects at least one of the main targets have been the improvement of observing systems and their quality management. l

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EDITORIALObservations are a cornerstone of weather services and climate reserarch

IN THE AIR

THEMESentinel-satellites - Near real-time information from sea areas

COLUMNTero Vauraste

WEATHERThe Finnish Meteorological Institute´s warning services renewed

RESEARCH Hundred-year-old ice map is alive and well

FACESHarri Pursiainen

CURRENT

AROUND THE WORLD

FACTS AND FIGURES

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Press Punamusta Ltd Cover photo ESAVisiting address Erik Palménin aukio 1, 00560 Helsinki

Layout Otavamedia Ltd Customer communication,

Maistraatinportti 1, 00015 Otavamedia

Publisher Finnish Meteorological Institue, P.O.Box 503,

00101 Helsinki Editing Finnish Meteorological Insitute,

Communications

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01FMI JOINED

COOPERATIVE NETWORKS

03OPEN DATA

DOWNLOADED ACTIVELY

I N T H E A I RI

The Finnish Meteorological Institute has joined two cooperative networks, SOTERKO and LYNET.

SOTERKO is a consortium of social and health care expert agencies that began operations in winter of 2011. The Finnish Meteorological Institute has also joined the Research Consortium for Natural Resources and the Environment (LYNET).

The aim of both networks is to improve the quality and efficiency of research and development by improving the cooperation among the participating stakeholders.

02SESAR &

TOPLINK

Approximately 7.200 users have reg-istered for the FMI`s Open data web

service. Materials are downloaded approxi-mately 300.000 times per day, which is ap-proximately 3.7 requests/second. Real-time observations, time series and forecast data can be downloaded in machine-readable format from the Open data website.

The Finnish Meteorological Institute is involved in the TOPLINK project within the SESAR

(Single European Sky ATM Research) project, in which real time forecast data is delivered directly to an aircraft cockpit and to airport air traffic control. The Finnish Meteorological Institute is responsible for the forecast product, which men-tions the state of precipitation.

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04AALTOPOIJU.FI HONOURED

AT THE APPS4FINLAND GALA

The Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) participated in the 2014 Apps4Finland

innovation competition in the role of chal-lenge partner.

FMI challenged developers to develop new applications that use both weather and traffic information. In addition to FMI's open data interface, potential data sources were, for example, the open interfaces of the Finnish Transport Agency and the Finnish Transport Safety Agency.

The Aaltopoiju.fi application was selected as the challenge prize winner in the award ceremony that took place in December 2014.

Aaltopoiju.fi is a service designed for boaters and other seafarers from which one can easily see wave, wind and water level observations and forecasts on the interac-tive map or from a light mobile website, which is very suitable for use even when bo-ating. This application uses open data from the Swedish and Estonian meteorological institutes, in addition to that of FMI.

The application can be found at www.aaltopoiju.fi. Since 2009, Apps4Finland has organised an innovation competition that is open to all. The purpose of the competition is to find new ways to make use of open data.

05NEW LOOK FOR

THE FMI WEB SERVICE

The appearance of the fmi.fi page was updated in January. The update also gave

consideration to the increased use of the website using tablets and smart phones: in addition to a more colourful and modern layout, the site has become responsive and adaptive to mobile devices. The navigation or structure of the site has not changed, so all of the content is available in its original location.

In addition to the appearance update, international weather forecasts have been added to our web service. After the update, weather forecasts can be sought not only for more than 17.000 locations in Finland, but also for tens of thousands of cities around the world. The 10 day weather and the likelihood of rain forecasts are available for Finland's neighbouring areas. For other countries, the forecast for the next few hours and five-day forecasts are available.

The front page of the web service now shows, in addition to the weather and topical articles, FMI-TV’s video weather forecasts and FMI's most recent Twitter content.

The revisions currently launched are based on an extensive user survey done in December 2013, which resulted in around 100.000 responses. The survey results revealed that the area for the greatest improvement was seen in the weather products and in the appearance of the service.

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Sentinel satellites -

Near real-time information

from sea areas Satellites have monitored and measured the planet from high up for over half a century and at the same time have revolutionised the quality and quantity of the collected observations. Satellites provide detailed information, for

example, from the world's sea areas.

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Satellites can be used, for example, in meteorological services, flood forecasting systems, ice services, as well as in maritime transport. The archival of satellite data also opens the doors to the monito-

ring of slow changes over a long time period and their consequences. Without satellites, the information would depend on individual observations.

THE MODERN SENTINEL SATELLITE SPECIALISES IN SEA-ICE OBSERVATION

The Sentinel-1A satellite can be said with good reason to have opened up a new era in satellite development. "Sentinel satellites can observe the oceans and glaciers in almost real time. The Sentinel images are available in about a half an hour after the satellite has made measurements of a particular place", says Jyri Heilimo, Head of research and de-velopment of satellite based services at FMI.

The Sentinel-1A is nearly entirely compo-sed of the SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) radar, the most significant benefit of which

is that the target area can be imaged in any weather condition and regardless of the Sun illumination. The Sentinel-1A satellite is the first of a series of remote sensing satellites developed by the European Space Agency, ESA, which will produce an unprecedented number of measurements and high-resoluti-on satellite images in the coming years.

FINNISH METEOROLOGICAL INSTITUTE RECEIVES THE SENTINEL DATA IN SODANKYLÄ

The Finnish Meteorological Institute has recently signed a bilateral collaborative ground station contract with the ESA. The agreement allows for the downlink of Sentinel-1A satellite data at Sodankylä. The data is obtained directly from the satellite from the Baltic Sea, Nordic, Northern Ger-manic and the Barents Sea regions. With the Sentinel-1B satellite to be launched in 2016, the satellites together will be able to image areas of interest more efficiently than ever before.

The national satellite data centre at Sodankylä serves as the archiving and distri-bution centre of the Sentinel satellite data, which serves the Finnish users of Sentinel data. It will be completely ready for use next summer. The archive also serves as a mirror server, which downloads the data of interest to any Finnish users from the ESA server concentrated in the archive located in Sodan-kylä ground station.

Research institutions can, for example, search the data in the archive for their own needs or different products can be made from it for the needs of different users.

Satellite image from the Arctic Sea.

The Sentinel-1A satellite has opened up a new era in satellite development.

T H E M E

Sentinel generated data can also be used for the remote sensing of the ground surface. Images can be used, for example, to deter-mine land-use changes and data used in the monitoring of ground frost is also assessed. "The information from the satellites is free and the number of services based on it will significantly increase in the near future. The near term plans are to strengthen coopera-tion concerning the exchange of data with, for example, Estonia and the other Nordic countries", Jyri Heilimo says.

SATELLITE IMAGES ENABLE THE EVALUATION OF ICE CONDITIONS

Viewed in sea terms, Finland is an island behind a sea connection that freezes. Winter shipping is only possible with a reliable assessment of ice conditions, for which the Ice Service needs satellite images of the ice-covered areas of the Baltic Sea during the winter season on a daily basis. The informati-on obtained from the images is published as ice charts that communicate the Baltic Sea ice conditions.

"The ice service started using satellite images in the end of the 1960s. The original images were images in the visible light or near-IR range or thermal images from me-

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The Northeast and Northwest Passages cleared at the same time for the first time in the satellite monitoring era in 2007.

teorological satellites. These images had the disadvantage of darkness and cloud cover. This situation improved during the 1990s when the use of radar satellite images was adopted. Initially, the images only covered an approximately 50 km x 50 km area - there were only some dozens of images obtained during the winter. Before the satellite image era, ice reconnaissance airplanes, helicopters positioned for icebreakers and observations made by humans were used", recalls Senior Ice Expert Jouni Vainio.

Today, the ice service has access to nearly a thousand satellite radar images during the winter of an image area that is about 400 km x 400 km, with a resolution in the hundred

metre range. "The satellite image gives a good picture in one single step of the ice conditions over a wide area, but the interpre-tation of the image is not always that simple. In principle, the gray areas are ice and the whiter it is, the more packed it is. The dark areas are again open water or thin ice. On the other hand, a dark area might also be an almost 40 cm thick flat piece of ice that is free of snow. The interpretation of the images therefore requires expertise and surface observations", Jouni Vainio emphasises.

SPECIAL SITUATIONS REQUIRE FASTER INFORMATION

The ice service forwards the received radar satellite images that it receives to Finnish and Swedish icebreakers, as well as to the authorities responsible for the winter naviga-tion of both countries within three hours of the satellite measurements. "Under normal circumstances, this is a sufficient time peri-od, but in some special cases, such as severe ice pressure situations faster access to images can be of great help in assessing the situation. Fast access satellite imagery can also be used, for example, in the observation and monitoring of oil spills and ships", said Vainio. In addition to the Baltic Sea, corres-

ponding information can also be transmitted to the Arctic Ocean.

SATELLITES REVEAL CHANGES TAKING PLACE IN THE ARCTIC ICE AREAS

Satellites have also made it possible to ob-serve changes in the Arctic sea ice coverage, thickness and volume across the entire scope of the territory. The Northeast and North-west Passages cleared at the same time for the first time in the satellite monitoring era in 2007. In September 2012, the images sho-wed that the sea ice extent had reached an all-time minimum value of 3.41 million square kilometres.

Simultaneuously, the ice in the Arctic region has thinned and the amount of multi-annual ice has declined. The reduction and thinning of sea ice has been caused by many individual factors, but in essence the changes result from the warming of the Arctic region. Due to the warmer winter months, the sea ice no longer grows as thick as before and the ice field melts faster during the summer season. The thinning of ice has also made the ice field more fragile, resulting in more intense rotational movement and ice drifts more quickly from the Arctic Ocean to the North Atlantic. l

Satellites have also made it possible to observe slow changes in the Arctic.

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W E A T H E RW

WARNING SERVICES

ARE RENEWED

T E X T Emmi Lehikoinen W E AT H E R S Y M B O L S Tommi Mäkelä

The gradual update of the FMI weather warning production system will continue. While the changes made in the years of 2009 and 2011 were primarily content-

related, the current stage in the renewal process marks a major technical reform.

The first phase of the changes was launched in the spring of 2015. The outward changes appear as an update of the

warning map and the warning symbols on the Finnish Meteorological Institute’s website and mobile application.

The risk levels and colours in accordance with the general European warning standard will be fully adopted by the Finnish Meteorological Institute in the spring of 2015. The colors are yellow, orange and red: yellow describes the lowest and red the the highest awareness level. In the past, the risk levels were expressed using different coloured warning symbols.

In the future, the colour visible on the warning a map will describe the risk level and the danger area of the weather constituting the threat. In fact, threatening weather events are always presented using a black symbol. A quick glance on the updated warning map will enable one to discover the location of the most dangerous weather in Finland.

"The changes being made will help people see more easily the difference between more dangerous weather and less dangerous weather", notes Ari-Juhani Punkka, Group Leader of the Safety Weather Service.

The Finnish Meteorological Institute's website will continue to show two different warning maps: a

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smaller map appears on the front page that shows the risk levels expressed in different colours, and a more comprehensive map on the warnings page that shows both the risk levels and warning symbols. A quick glance on the front page map will enable one to find out about the prevalence of dangerous weather in Finland, and overall information about the warnings in effect from the larger map.

REGIONAL ACCURACY OF WARNINGS WILL IMPROVE

After the update, warnings of specific situations can also be provided regardless of provincial boundaries. For example, a bad road condition warning can be targeted to a narrow area of a shoreline in situations where the poor driving condition is caused by the snow flurries arriving from the sea. This update will improve the accuracy of regional warnings.

"The overhaul of the warning system became timely for several different reasons. The system had reason to be technically current as well as better highlight the most dangerous weather events. Also, improvement in the warning location accuracy in the case of local and quickly developing phenomena was also a central reason to start the reform", Ari-Juhani Punkka notes.

Despite the change, the content, quantity and quality of the warnings will remain largely unchanged. The textual as well as the radio-readable forms of the forecasts will also remain unchanged. Also, the warning distribution channels will remain unchanged and will be supplied with the earlier type of information. In addition to the systematic use of threat levels and three different warning colours, the only substantive change concerns the inland waters wind warning, which is connected to the inland waters wind warning, which is merged into the land area wind warning. In the update, the lowest land wind warnings concerning the gust threshold is calculated in the summer season at 15 metres per second (previously 20 m/s). This gust threshold corresponds fairly well to situations in which an inland water wind warning was previously given (10 minute average wind speed over 10 m/s). l

The only change in the content concerns the inland waters wind warning.

The recent changes are the latest stage in a long weather

warning development project. Re-portable phenomena were added in the earlier stages of the project (e.g., heavy rain warnings in 2009 and heat and cold warnings in 2011) and early warnings were introduced as their own warning category.

More work will follow the cur-rent first phase update tasks, as the display format of the warnings on the local weather page of our web service will be further develo-ped. Also additional features have been planned for the warning map. Information about the future phases will be separately announ-ced upon the confirmation of their schedules.

RESULTS OF A LONG PERIOD OF DEVELOPMENT WORK

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The compiling of the map has changed only little", reveals Jouni Vainio, Senior Ice Ex-pert at the Finnish Meteo-

rological Institute. "Iceman" Vainio has worked in ice mapping since the 1980s, and is also acquainted with the earlier history of the map.

WAR BROUGHT THE NEED FOR REAL-TIME MAPPING

"Collection of ice data began in Finland in the mid 1800s as part of climate research", Jouni Vainio explains.

At the beginning of the 1900s the data from ice observations was analysed only months later. The outbreak of World War I changed the situation.

"During the war, ships needed quick and reliable ice information. The first weekly ice map was publis-hed on 12 March 1915. On the radio ice reports began in 1927", Vainio adds.

DATA FROM MULTIPLE SOURCES

Aerial surveys to help track the ice became common during World War

R E S E A R C HR

HUNDRED-YEAR-OLD ICE MAP IS ALIVE AND

WELL Finland began weekly ice mapping in the Baltic Sea exactly one hundred years ago. Since 1994, the ice map has been produced daily. Although

the technology has developed over the decades, the human eye is still an irreplaceable aid for ice

observations.T EXT Anna Toppari

PHOTOS Antonin Halas, Bengt Wikström and Hannu Manninen

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II and continued until the 90s. After that, SAR satellite data began to be used instead.

Nowadays the Finnish Meteorolo-gical Institute's Ice Service monitors the situation in the Baltic Sea every day during the ice season. Important data sources include satellite data, the national weather service, ice research, other countries' meteorological insti-tutions, and shipping organisations.

This winter the Ice Service has gained access to pictures from the Sentinel -1A satellite, which offer information on the coverage and pro-perties of the ice. "Satellite pictures are not always available, however, so the weekly data provided by around twenty observers is important", Vainio points out.

FINANCIAL BENEFITS

The ice map is an important tool for shipping, both in daily operations as well as longer-term planning.

For Juha Koutila, Captain of ESL Shipping's M/S Kumpula, the ice maps have been a help throughout his 25-year maritime career.

"I use the map to plan the route. The maps are of special importance during the period when information from the icebreakers is not yet avai-lable. Finding the optimal route can bring significant savings in fuel costs", Koutila explains.

"Well-functioning winter shipping is of critical importance for our country's competitiveness", points out Jarkko Toivola, Chief Maritime Specialist for the Finnish Transport Agency. "The Finnish ice map can therefore be considered currently the world's best representation of ice conditions", Toivola adds. l

Ice map is an important tool for shipping, both in daily operations as well as longer-term planning.

Ice map made on 18 February 2015.

Well-functioning winter shipping is of critical importance for our country's competitiveness.

he freezing started in mid-November in the Bay of Bothnia, where the first icebreaker went at Christ-

mas time. The maximum ice area so far, over 50,000 km², was reached on 23 January. In mid-March ice area, 15,000 km² in total, covered the eas-tern parts of the Gulf of Finland and the northernmost parts of the Bay of Bothnia. The ice was thinner than usual. By April it seems clear that this winter was a mild one.

”Records for the minimum extent of ice might be broken as well as the record for the earliest disappearan-ce", Jouni Vainio notes.

HOW WAS THE ICE SEASON THIS YEAR?

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The first Finnish research trip to Antarctica took place 25 years ago. Research in Antarctica has been established over the years and this

year the Antarctic summer research season was very lively for Finland.

In 1959, the Antarctic Treaty was signed in which 12 nations agreed on the common use of the area exclusively for peaceful purposes for the benefit of all of humanity. Finland joined the Antarctic Treaty in 1984 and gained consultative party status in 1989. An important part of the operation is research carried out in Antarctica. "This accession to the treaty opened up a unique opportunity for Finnish researchers to begin operations in Antarctica", notes Antarctic Logistics Manager Mika Kalakoski.

The Aboa research station was estab-lished in Antarctica during the summer of 1988/1989. At the same time, the Finnish Meteorological Institute started persistent

ozone surveys at Argentina´s Marambio research station. The first Finnish research expedition set off 25 years ago for Antarctica on the Aranda research vessel and was completed the same year. The trip was the first, so the unknown conditions were un-settling. ”At the same time, it was necessary to expect anything - including the worst - because help would not be readily available", recalls former Chief Director of the Institute of Marine Research Pentti Mälkki.

Times have changed, but Antarctica is still very isolated from the rest of the world and safety concerns highlight expedition prepa-rations. The Finnish Antarctic Research Pro-gram FINNARP, which operates under the Finnish Meteorological Institute, maintains the research station Aboa and organises the FINNARP project fieldwork. In addition to Aboa, Finland also conducts research at the research stations and on research vessels of other countries.

A RECORD NUMBER OF FINNISH RESEARCHERS AND RESEARCH EQUIPMENT

The latest Antarctic summer research season was in many ways exceptional. During the study period a record number of researchers from Finland worked in the An-tarctic. In addition to Finland's own research station Aboa, the researchers worked at the German, Norwegian and Argentine research stations, among others, as well as on the South-African research vessel. The research focused on the Antarctic glacier lakes, me-teorology, cosmic radiation, small particles, as well as the variability of sea-ice thickness and its impact on marine ice loading. The unique material from the Antarctic research trips will be used globally and in studies concerning both polar regions. l

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The first Finnish research trip to Antarctica took place 25 years ago.

ANTARCTICA ESTABLISHED AS AN IMPORTANT RESEARCH LOCATION

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C O L U M N

COOPERATION OF ACADEMIA AND BUSINESS BENEFITS THE ARCTIC

One major concern in the Arctic is climate change, its mitigation and adaptation.

The Kiruna Declaration of the Arctic Council calls for the impro-vement of economic and social conditions in the Arctic. Thus the Arctic Council recognizes the need for interaction with business.

Researching the complex interaction of arctic nature, people, socie-ties and economies helps businesses support the northern develop-ments and increase economic activity.

Business can easily act as a research platform for academia. In 2012-13 icebreakers of Arctia Shipping used the Northern Sea Route on their home voyage from Alaska back to Europe. This voyage provided facilities for ice, meteorological and technical researchers of the FMI to proceed with their projects.

One major concern in the Arctic is climate change, its mitigation and adaptation. Environmental changes in the Arctic are a result of activities outside the Arctic. Mitigation is not about the gaps in arctic technology, but reduction in global carbon and other emissions. This is

much more a political than a technological issue. Business can contribute by introducing technologies using renewable energy sources and those produced locally in the Arctic.

Tekes, a governmental research funding organization, is a good example of improved national input. It has launched a 100 m € research funding program called the “Arctic Seas”.

There has been no significant global gamechanger in the use of hydrocarbon resources as an energy resource yet. However

the recent results of the IPCC state that such gamechangers are urgently needed. Renewable energy sources in the Arctic provide big potential in the future.

The Arctic Economic Council has chosen the co-operation between business and academia as one of its main areas for work. Research which studies the complexities of various elements and their interaction in the Arctic is recommended. l

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I feel that we have gotten something right in our coopera-tion, says Permanent Secretary Harri Pursiainen.

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2015 Weather, Climate and Sea Award

The Finnish Meteorological Institute has awarded the 2015 Weather, Climate and Sea award to Harri Pursiainen, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Transport and

Communications. ” I am happy and proud of this recognition for such an important matter. I feel that we have gotten something right in our collaboration in this sector.

It's great to receive this valuable recognition from an organisation that is among the world's most pres-tigious meteorological institutions", Harri Pursiainen noted.

SERVICES BENEFIT THE WHOLE SOCIETY

Harri Pursiainen points out that the Finnish Meteo-rological Institute is a key safety authority whose weather services widely benefit society.”Weather information is a key factor in transport, and transport is the largest customer of meteorological services. Finland has particularly demanding tran-sport conditions. Transport safety can be improved in a cost effective manner through the use of modern meteorological services. Similarly, the sea is indispen-sable for humans in many ways from a perennial food source to a passageway. Weather, climate and sea are all international and research on them is essential”, Pursiainen notes and, at the same time, reminds that weather, climate and marine research provides a great opportunity to develop services and exports.

"The Finnish Meteorological Institute is particu-larly well aware of this opportunity. In the future, opportunities for service activities will be presented, for example, in the Arctic region. The Finnish Meteorological Institute has always been able to tailor its services to meet customer needs. This is an important strength also in the future as our society becomes more digital.”

The Finnish Meteorological Institute established the award in its 175th anniversary year 2013 to un-derscore the importance of weather impacts, climate change and seas in society and to recognize the work of people who have contributed actively to these the-mes. In the face of climate change, more frequently occurring extreme weather events, and society's increasing sensitivity to weather, there is a need for both internationally and nationally active players and cooperation between various sectors. l

HARRIPURSIAINEN

The award underscores the importance of weather impacts and climate change.

T EXT Eija Vallinheimo PHOTO Tomi Parkkonen

BORNIn 1957 in Kuopio.

WORKLaw degree.Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Transport and Com-munications since 2006.

HOBBIESSummer cottage, running, plants and history

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C U R R E N TC

WHY IS THE SOUTHERN OCEAN

SEA ICE EXPANDING?The Arctic Ocean sea ice is in sharp decline. At the same

time, the Southern Ocean sea ice is expanding. Last Sep-tember, the Southern Ocean ice covered a record of more than 20 million km². The growth has not been steady, but the ice expanded in the Ross Sea and decreased in the Amundsen Sea. The climate models have partly failed to describe the observed changes.

The main reason for the changes in the ice cover is the dee-pening of the stationary low pressure above the Amundsen Sea. Climate change, ozone depletion and internal climate variations have changed the wind conditions in such a way that the wes-terly winds blowing around Antarctica are stronger and have moved to the south. These changes have increased the cold air flow to the Ross Sea, where the ice is transported northward, but also the warm air flow to the Amundsen Sea. Another major factor in the expansion of sea ice has been the growth of the amount of cold and fresh water at the ocean surface layer. The differences between the observations and model results require more investment in the development of models. l

EC Earth is a climate model that the Finnish Meteorological Institute and University of Helsinki adopted in the summer of 2014. The

model is run with a consortium made up of about 10 small European countries. The deployment of the model advocated synergy through which the different subcomponents have already been in use in Finland for a long time. Finland will strengthen the consortium with its own spe-cial areas of expertise which include the carbon cycle, small particles and sea ice. Similarly, Finland will participate for the first time in the up-coming CMIP climate models that will have a central role in the reports produced by the IPCC. l

FINLAND IS PARTICIPATING IN THE EC-EARTH CONSORTIUM

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PARTNERSHIPS ENSURE LONG-

LASTING RESULTS IN INTERNATIONAL

PROJECTS

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A R O U N D T H E W O R L D A

CPARTNERSHIPS

ENSURE LONG-LASTING RESULTS

IN INTERNATIONAL PROJECTS

T EXT Eija Vallinheimo PHOTO Harri Pietarila

Sudan, Nepal, Bolivia and Fiji. Four completely different countries, all

spread across different parts of the globe. Nevertheless, FMI´s experts

in these and in approximately 100 other countries, have helped

develop the activities of local organisations.

Currently, projects are underway in about 50-60 countries. In general, the partner is a local WMO meteorological service and, in most cases, either the World Bank, the EU or the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs finances the operations.

EXPERTS SUPPORT THE LOCAL WORK

How is it possible to help such a diverse set of countries develop? ”Regardless of country, the projects generally comply with the same pattern. Namely, the current situation and local needs are initially mapped. After this, we make recommendations and suggestions as to how to proceed in that country to develop and improve the best and most lasting result", notes FMI's Head of the Consulting Services unit Harri Pietarila.

"When the objectives are clear, the Finnish Meteorological Institute experts develop activities together with the locals. Operations are based on bilateral partnerships and people doing the development work themselves and with the assistance of our experts. This ensures that the operations will continue once the expert has left the country, and that the organisation itself is able to operate, maintain and further develop new systems and ensure that operations are going forward", Pietarila explains. "Sometimes the host country actors are also invited to Finland. This way they can see how the different technical solutions, the weather

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The Finnish Meteorological Institute has worked together with the weather service of Trinidad&Tobago.

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services and the observation activities operate in practice here with us."

THE STARTING POINTS OF THE COUNTRIES ARE VERY DIFFERENT

Development and assistance are desperately needed because in many countries, the meteorological services are underdeveloped, and there is a great need for additional support due to climate change. In many developing countries, the starting point for operations is already poor, as skilled personnel are not available and the budgets are small. In many countries, the observations are done manually and using old equipment. "Very often, technically, the situation is the same as it was in Finland 30 years ago."

On the other hand, says Pietarila, in many countries new technologies are available, but the systems do not work. For example, vital warnings do not reach people in a timely manner or the customer does not receive the necessary information. "Surprisingly, in many countries, the customer is not placed at the centre or the operation is not considered from a customer-based perspective. In this paradigm shift, many developing countries need support so that investments made in technology do not go to waste", notes Pietarila. "In many countries, often for the first time we organise meetings with clients, so that the parties can discuss what services are available and what the clients need."

"FMI's strength lies in the fact that the entire weather service chain from

observation work to final products is either made available through us or we can help develop it when necessary. Not many other organisations are able to provide such a broad palette", notes Pietarila. l

Nepal is currently hosting FMI's largest ever international deve-lopment project. The project is a USD 31 million project funded by

the World Bank. This is a huge comprehen-sive project to develop the entire Nepalese weather service from observation work to services.

FMI's role in the project is to ensure that the entire project functions as a whole.

"First, we outline how the system should work, and then we make sure that this happens. In practice, we participate in the support of the local meteorological instituti-on during the entire life cycle of the project", notes project manager Martti Heikinheimo.

Nepal is one of the most fragile and vulnerable countries in the world. At the moment, it is a developing country that does not currently have the ability to produce

warnings even though significant natural disasters take place in the country each year. Poverty makes the country still particularly vulnerable to climate change. Active meteo-rological services can save lives and reduce damage to the economy. In particular, the project invests in agricultural services, as agriculture is the country's main source of subsistence and is easily affected by Nepal's variable climate. l

NEPAL - ONE OF THE WOLD´S MOST FRAGILE AND VULNERABLE COUNTRIEST EXT Eija Vallinheimo

A

A R O U N D T H E W O R L DA

Development and assistance are desperately needed in many countries.

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

21A T M O S 2 / 2 0 1 5

03New information about

the 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet has already been received

and has surprised the researchers. On the basis of this information it has become clear, for example, that the dust layer of the comet is thicker than was estimated. ”This can change the previous information that sunlight activates the comet's surface and thus causes the typical comet tail. Monitoring the activation of the comet is very interesting", notes Research Manager Walter Schmidt.

Another important new piece of in-formation is that the comet´s surface is much harder than was previously imagined. "Organic materials have been observed on the surface of he comet, which may be one explana-tion for the surface's hardness. In addition, it has become clear that the comet's water composition is different from that on Earth, so that Earth's water did probably not come from comets, but from asteroids." l

On 12 December 2014, the Finnish Meteorological In-stitute hosted an inaugural ceremony for the newly

installed weather radar at Kesälahti in eastern Finland. This new radar complements the existing Finnish radar network, providing great advantages especially in forecasting snowfall and hazardous winter road conditions.

The radar installed at Kesälahti enab-les the observation of eastern weather fronts several hours earlier than was previously possible. In addition, impro-vements have been made in short-term forecasts and in the ease of prediction regarding the intensity and time of snow-fall. The new radar uses new antenna technology developed by Vaisala. l

01

Summer - rain in the sea.

PHOTO OF THE SEASON

Ph

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: Rai

mo

Ro

sho

lm

FF A C T S A N D F I G U R E S

ROSETTA AND PHILAE

THE FINNISH RADAR NETWORK EXPANDS

02

Weather radar in Kesälahti

Ph

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: M. R

ose

nd

ahl

A T M O S 2 / 2 0 1 522

F A C T S A N D F I G U R E SF

Weather and Safety

Research and Development

Administration and Director Gerenal´s Office

Budget funding

Revenue from commercial operations

Revenue from co-financed operations

MAN YEARS (Total 686)

FUNDING (Total 76.3 ¤ million )

291

355

40

¤ million

49.8

11.5

15.0

STAFF SATISFACTIONRange 1–5

TOTAL PRODUCTIVITY

4.00

3.75

3.50

3.25

3.00

4.00

3.75

3.50

3.25

3.00

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 year

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 year

index

Output

Total input

Total productivity

KEY RESULTS IN 2014Personnel, Finances and other Result Indicators of FMI

23A T M O S 2 / 2 0 1 5

PUBLICATIONS SUBJECT TO INTERNATIONAL PEER REVIEW

WEBSITE VISITORS

ACCURACY OF TEMPERATURE FORECASTS

100

80

60

40

20

0

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 year

%ACCURACY OF LUOVA OUTLOOKS FOR HIGH WIND

350

300

250

200

150

300 000

250 000

200 000

150 000

100 000

50 000

90

85

80

75

70

65

60

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 year

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 year

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 year

PCS

visitors

%

Cases of high wind where a warning was issued

False alarms

Accuracy index

1 day

2–5 days

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: ES

A/S

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www.fmi.fi