RA-IV WIGOS Implementation Workshop 1

RA-IV WIGOS Implementation Workshop 1 - 3 December, Willemstad Curaçao WIGOS Implementation Canada Alexander Zucconi, Manager – Network Design Unit Meteorological Service of Canada Environment and Climate Change Canada Alexander. Zucconi@canada. ca

Outline of the presentation 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Mission of the NMHS National Observing Issues or Needs Plans for the observing networks WIGOS Implementation Status Summary

Meteorological Service of Canada • Primary supplier of meteorological and water resource information in Canada – – Core Business - Provide weather forecasts and severe weather warnings Forecast ice and wave conditions on navigable oceans and inland waters Provide the UV Index and Air Quality Health Index forecasts Monitor atmospheric conditions and the quantity of water in Canadian lakes and rivers • Includes the operation of numerical weather and environmental prediction models, support to Canadian aviation, navigation and military operations, and climate services • MSC primary employer of technical meteorologists and hydrologists, scientists, technicians in the country. – Over 1300 employees across Canada. • Monitoring ~ 610 employees

Canadian Meteorological Disaster Events • Floods/Droughts – Southern Alberta, June, 2014* • Heavy rainfall -> flash flooding -> 29 States of Emergency • 4 fatalities, 100 000 evacuated, reduced GDP by $550 M • Estimated Total Cost ~$2. 2 Billion • Winter Storms – Ontario/Quebec/NB Ice Storm (Jan. 1998) • 28 fatalities, 17 800 evacuated, ETC ~ $4. 6 Billion – Toronto Ice Storm (Dec. 21, 2013) • 2 fatalities, ETC ~ $164 Million • Tornadoes (~80/year) – Southern Ontario outbreak (Aug. 19, 2005), ETC ~ $500 Million • Hurricanes/Tropical Storms – Hurricane Juan (Cat 2), 2003 – Nova Scotia, PEI • Estimated Total Cost - $30 Million

Our Challenge Monitoring the 9, 093, 507 km 2 of Canada, and its adjacent waters Weather, Water, Climate

Surface and Aviation Networks: MSC Auto Station Network: Federally operated + partners • ~550 MSC core auto stations • 580 MSC daily climate (volunteer) • Aviation plus partner stations account for an additional ~1000 sites

MSC Auto Station Network • • Common national configuration (physical and data) Network of ~550 core stations, of which 300 are Reference Climate Stations, remainder support public and marine weather. Stations configured to monitor the following on 24/7/365 basis: – Temperature – Humidity – Wind – Precipitation (amount and rate) – Snowfall and snow on ground. – Some sites provide additional variables (i. e. radiation, soil temperature/moisture) All stations are unattended with annual, or bi-annual proactive maintenance, and utilize common data logger configuration and data acquisition systems.

Typical Surface Installations

Atmospheric Monitoring Some key challenges • • Harsh Environments – some sites difficult/expensive to access Budget constraints – while foundational for the MSC, Monitoring budgets have been eroded over time. Renewal funding helping to bridge the gap. New Government Policies and Systems sometimes a challenge for operational met service , i. e. – Procurement (complex and lengthy) – Real Estate Services – land use agreements – IM/IT enabling functions – budget reductions and consolidation of IT functions has impacted our ability to deliver Training, retention, and renewal of monitoring work force.

Challenges for Atmospheric Monitoring…

Plans for the National Observing Networks • • Major Government funding received (2011 & 2014) to improve quality of weather forecasts and warnings to Canadians $107. 5 million for modernizing Environment and Climate Change Canada’s monitoring networks – Surface Weather, Climate and Marine Networks • upgrade 150 existing land-based weather and climate monitoring stations • upgrade 125 existing marine monitoring stations • add 40 land-based weather and climate monitoring stations to fill existing observational gaps and improve coverage, particularly in growing population centres – Weather Radar Network • Renew and ensure long-term sustainability of EC’s radar network by replacing aging radar and adding Dual—Polarization Technology – Upper Air Network • Funding will allow EC to design a new upper air network that includes/incorporates newer technologies such as ground-based remote sensing and space-based techniques to complement existing technology

Standardization of MSC Auto Stations Common, documented and repeatable standards Design Installation Maintenance Calibration Performance (data quality) - Accuracy (measurement – true value) - Precision (variability) - Reliability (up-time) Engineering - Performance, experience, design, standards. . . Requirements Technicians - Experience, installation, maintenance. . . Other sources of knowledge - WMO/ CIMO, research, materials…

WIGOS Implementation Status • • Status of the WMO-reported national observing networks – 87 GSN Stations – 5 GUAN Stations – 140 RBSN Stations – 133 RBSN/RBCN Stations Is there an existing national or regional database that catalogues your observing networks? YES – – – • The MSC manages an extensive relational database of station and instrument records/metadata for all networks/stations nationally using an SAP asset lifecycle management module. The metadatabase is used and accessible by the national monitoring networks and regional technicians (for data entry, life-cycle management, etc. ) The MSC is currently developing a new metadata system for storage, handling and automatic updating metadata from internal MSC and partner monitoring networks. The Metadata Repository (MR) will function to replace existing software and hardware components within the current metadata framework at the MSC. Metadata stored on the MR will be accessible to all data users through an Environment Canada server. Are your data and metadata are accessible and shared? – The public can access general station metadata (e. g. lat/long, etc. ) via the Climate Data Online website http: //climate. weather. gc. ca/.

WIGOS Implementation Status • Is there an operational Quality Management System for the National Observing system Network or specific component observing system? YES – MSC is fully ISO certified and compliant – The MSC has implemented a Data Management System (DMS). The primary purpose of the DMS is to improve the life-cycle management of its operational weather, climate and hydrometric observations. Features of this system include improved quality assurance/control, consistent approaches to the handling of data and metadata, retention of histories of any and all data transformations, interoperability of datasets, and extensibility to new data types and streams • Are operational and/or maintenance processes for observing systems documented and their implementation monitored? YES – The MSC’s national networks are well established and follow well-defined operating standards and procedures consistent with WMO regulations to the maximum extent possible

WIGOS Implementation Status • Can partners discover and access your data? YES – Constraints and barriers that may prevent non-NMHS organization from contributing and/or accessing observations via GTS and/or WIS – Currently, data from a limited number of surface stations operated by non-NMHS organizations (e. g. Nav. Canada) are made available internationally via the GTS – Metadata management standards of some non-NMHS organizations vary considerably – Free and open exchange of data from networks operated by private organizations (e. g. IP rights) is a barrier for some organizations – Currently in order to transmit observational data via the GTS, non-EC organizations have to collaborate with the MSC – It is unknown if non-NHMS organizations are broadly accessing international data via the GTS – MSC will rely on WIGOS to define standards/recommendations for the transmission of non -NHMS data via the GTS

WIGOS Implementation Status Partner Networks Network of Networks Initiative - Phased Approach: • Initial focus – – public sector data providers access to data to support MSC mission stable, operational networks with real-time data atmospheric meteorological data at the surface • Pilot projects: BC (prov) and ON (prov + CAs) – Enhance the access, exchange and quality of data for mutual benefit towards more effectively fulfilling respective mandates and service delivery – validate expectations and business impact – develop processes and best practices • Future – hydrometric (NAT Data Group workshop), other parameters (e. g. , AQ) – other F/P/T, North, academia – facilitate broad public data access and discovery

WIGOS Implementation Status • Draft Canadian WIGOS Implementation Plan Developed • Introductory WIGOS Meeting – November, 2015 – Enhance program awareness – Introduced priority areas for action – Initiate WIGOS work planning • Establishing Task-Teams to address priority implementation actions – Migration to WIGOS Station Identifiers – Implementation of WIGOS Metadata Standard What are your training needs? • Clear and concise documentation - guidance and reference materials • Examples of other NMHS approaches

WIGOS Implementation Status Summary • Majority of WIGOS principles are well aligned with activities already being undertaken by MSC (e. g. Network Ops, LCM, QMS, Renewal, No. N, DMS, etc. ) • Adaptations to new WIGOS regulations (2016 -2019): – WIGOS metadata standard – maintenance of metadata in OSCAR/Surface database (manual, + automated) – new WMO Station IDs – data quality monitoring system • Improved effort to coordinate WMO co-sponsored observing systems in Canada (e. g. GOS/WWW, HYCOS, GAW, GCW, etc. )

Needs index model approach integrates scientific and socioeconomic drivers to identify/prioritize data service gaps… Mapping Data / Factors Points, lines, polygons, grids, raster Weather /Climate Social Impact Surface Area Discrete (gridded) surface Normalization Process Importance/ Weighting Reclassify Aggregated Index Map Relative Weighting Economic / Infrastructure Analysis Users / Program Requirements Integrated Needs Index Scenarios DRAFT – Page 22 – 17 March 2018 22

Summer Convective SWCN Needs Index highlights key regions for monitoring and could help inform operations (e. g. prioritization of maintenance activities)… Winter Storm Energy & Resources Transportation Population & Communities Drought & Agriculture DRAFT – Page 23 – 17 March 2018 Projected T Projected P Permafrost

Prioritization ranking was completed assuming a station spacing of 200 km (100 km radius)…for network expansion consideration… Radius = 100 km DRAFT – Page 24 – 17 March 2018

RA-IV WIGOS Implementation Workshop 1 — 3 December