WMO WMO INTEGRATED GLOBAL OBSERVING SYSTEM (WIGOS) Dr L. P. Riishojgaard, WIGOS Project Manager WMO Secretariat, Geneva WMO; OBS

What is WIGOS?  A framework for integrating all WMO observing systems and WMO contributions to co-sponsored observing systems.  A WMO Strategic Priority Area  Together with the WMO Information System (WIS), a WMO contribution to GEOSS.  WIGOS is not:  Replacing or taking over existing observing systems, which will continue to be 'owned' and operated by a diverse array of organizations and programmes, national as well as international.

 Global Observing System (WWW/GOS)  Observing component of Global Atmospheric Watch (GAW)  WMO Hydrological Observations (including WHYCOS)  Observing component of Global Cryosphere Watch (GCW) WIGOS Components

Why WIGOS?  The mandate of the typical NMHS is significantly broader now than when WWW and the GOS were created, and may include e.g.  Climate monitoring, climate change, mitigation  Air quality, atmospheric composition from urban to planetary scales  Oceans  Cryosphere  Water resources  Advances (scientific and technical):  Observing technology  Telecommunications  Numerical modeling and data assimilation  Increased user demand to access and use observations in decision making

Why WIGOS (continued)?  Shortcomings of the current situation:  Observing networks/systems not sustainable and stable,  Design and planning not well coordinated,  Observing standards not respected (and in some cases not well defined)  DBs not integrated or interoperable, including metadata,  Deficiencies in Quality Management (maintenance …)  Lack of qualified staff;  Through coordinated data sharing and networks/systems development, Members will be better equipped to address existing deficiencies and to meet future challenges

To oversee, guide and coordinate WIGOS To facilitate and support the operation of WIGOS To plan, implement and evolve WIGOS component systems To ensure supply of and access to WIGOS observations Management of WIGOS Implementation Collaboration with co- sponsors and partners Communications and outreach Quality Management Standards, interoperability & compatibility Operational Information Resource Capacity Development Design, planning and optimised evolution Data discovery, delivery & archival Observing system operation & maintenance WIGOS Framework: Key activity areas

How does CAS enter the picture?  WWRP/THORPEX  Long-standing collaboration between CBS and THORPEX on observing system impact studies, relevant for Rolling Review of Requirements (RRR)  Expert Team members, participation in WMO NWP Impact Workshops, …  GAW  Observing component of GAW is part of WIGOS  Many application areas have requirements for observations of atmospheric composition  Air quality  Climate  NWP  …

Rolling Review of Requirements  The RRR is the process used by WMO to collect, vet and record user requirements for all WMO application areas and match them against observational capabilities  Gap analysis results in Statements of Guidance (one per application area), that provides a narrative of how well a given application area is supported by WIGOS  RRR draws heavily on CBS and Interprogram Expert Teams and on the WMO Impact Workshops (every four years) engaging the NWP and data assimilation community; see e.g.: 

Rolling Review of Requirements (II)  The RRR is supported by three key databases of OSCAR, the Observation Systems Capabilities and Review tool :  OSCAR/Requirements, in which requirements are stated by application area, “technology free”, formulated in geophysical variables, not in terms of measurands  OSCAR/Space, listing satellite capabilities  OSCAR/Surface, list surface-based capabilities (not yet developed)  Close collaboration between WMO and Meteo-Suisse on developing, hosting and maintaining the OSCAR databases; WMO will remain the owner of the information content

What can WIGOS do to help GAW?  Increased visibility among WMO members and their Permanent Representatives  Increased use of data  Additional substantiation for the requirements via links to all 12 WMO application areas and the Rolling Review of Requirements  Opportunities to grow the network  Data exchange  Some GAW stations have difficulties obtaining relevant meteorological data from nearby stations; this is hard to justify under WIGOS

Overall timeline for WIGOS Implementation  Implementation of WIGOS decided by CG-XVI (2011)  Key deliverables for Cg-XVII (May 2015):  WIGOS Part of WMO Technical Regulations  Manual on WIGOS  Metadata standards  Regional Implementation Plans  Many elements will follow later, e.g.  Guidance material  National Implementation Plans  (Actual implementations)

Current Activities and Status  ICG-WIGOS oversees implementation, representation from  All Technical Commissions  All Regional Associations  Three Task Teams under ICG-WIGOS:  Regulatory Material  Technical Regulations, Manual on WIGOS currently out for review ; sent to all PTCs per decision made at PTC-2015  Metadata  Feeding into Regulatory Material, but at a slower pace  Quality Management  Team meeting in Geneva April 23-24; initial focus on monitoring of observational data quality; CAS presentation by Oksana Tarasova and Rainer Steinbrecher received with great interest

Summary  WIGOS is here to help  CAS is asked to review relevant parts of WMO Technical Regulations and Manual of WIGOS, along with all other TCs  Deadline is July !  CAS is encouraged to get involved in the RRR, both at the conceptual level and in terms of recording requirements and capabilities in the RRR databases  Historically, RRR has been “weather (NWP)-centric”  Processes need to be refined/redesigned for other application areas  Look at OSCAR at: 