Lars Peter Riishojgaard, Chair CBS OPAG-IOS and

World Meteorological OrganizationWorking together in weather, climate and water

WMO OMM

WMO Space Programme www.wmo.int

Wind Observations in the Global Observing System – a WMO Perspective

ISS Winds Mission Science Workshop, Miami, Feb 10-11 2011

Lars Peter Riishojgaard, Chair CBS OPAG-IOSand

Jerome Lafeuille, Space-based Observing Systems Division, WMO

WMO OMMOutline

• WMO, WWW and the GOS

• The WMO Rolling Requirements Review– CBS, OPAG-IOS, Expert Teams, Workshops

• The current GOS– Mass and wind

– Data impacts

• WMO Vision for the GOS in 2025

Miami, 2/10/11 2ISS Winds Science Mission Science Workshop

WMO OMM

WMO, WWW and the GOS

• WMO: World Meteorological Organization; a specialized agency of the United Nations; the UN system's authoritative voice on meteorology, climatology, hydrology– WWW, World Weather Watch: Core WMO programme since

1963; observing systems, information systems and telecommunication facilities, and data-processing and forecasting centres; backbone for efficient meteorological and hydrological services, worldwide

– Key WWW components:• GTS (Global Telecommunications System) evolving towards WIS• GOS (Global Observing System)


WMO OMMWMO Global Observing System

• Coordinated system of methods and facilities for making meteorological and other environmental observations on a global scale in support of all WMO Programs

– Surface stations– Upper-air network– Marine observations – Aircraft– Satellite systems

• Owned and operated by WMO member states on behalf of WMO; subject to WMO Regulatory Materials

• WMO vets and documents requirements for the GOS through its Rolling Requirements Review


WMO OMM

The Rolling Requirements Review (RRR) in the WMO structure

• Commission for Basic Systems; one of eight WMO Technical Commissions. President: Fred Branski, NOAA/NWS– …– OPAG for the Integrated Observing System; one of four

OPAGs under CBS. Chair: L. P. Riishojgaard, JCSDA• …• Expert Team on the Evolution of the Global Observing System; one of six Expert

Teams under OPAG-IOS. Chair: John Eyre, Met Office– Requirements database (by application area) for Global NWP, Regional

NWP, Nowcasting, Agrometeorology, etc.– Capabilities database (by observing system), e.g. RAOBS, GEO imagers,

AMDAR, buoys, etc.– Gap analysis, Statements of Guidance– Implementation plan– Vision for the GOS in 2025


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RRR (I)

• ET-EGOS– Meets once a year in Geneva– Oversees all requirements, all application areas through focal points– Interacts with other CBS Expert Teams, teams from other WMO Technical Commissions

and co-sponsored programs (e.g. GCOS)

• WMO Rapporteur on Scientific Evaluation of Impact Studies (formerly “Rapporteur on OSEs and OSSEs”)

– Responsible for gathering community input specifically on NWP

• WMO Workshop on the Impact of Various Observing Systems on NWP– Every four years, by invitation only, organized by Rapporteur on SEIS and OPAG-IOS– All major NWP Centers meet to compare impacts of all major elements of the GOS– OSEs and adjoint sensitivity diagnostics– (Next Workshop: May 29 – June 1, 2012 in the US; venue TBD)


Slide 7

Satellite data now account for most of the skill

Growing importance of research data

Impact of GOS components on 24-h ECMWF Global Forecast skill(courtesy of Erik Andersson, ECMWF)

Impacts of Various Observing Systems in GEOS-5.5.1

24-hr Forecasts from 00z Analyses on 28 Jan – 02 March 2010Adjoint-Based Global Forecast Error Measure

Total Impact Impact Per Observation

Observation Count

Fraction of Beneficial

Observations

Forecast Error Reduction (J/kg) Forecast Error Reduction (1e-6 J/kg)

Improves Forecast Degrades Forecast

Ron Gelaro, GMAO

Miami, 2/10/11 8

RAOBs continue to be important for some systems

ISS Winds Science Mission Science Workshop

Importance of Satellite Data in NWPhttp://www.nrlmry.navy.mil/obsens/

Importance of Satellite Data in NWPhttp://www.nrlmry.navy.mil/obsens/

Satellite Data has become the single most important componentof the global observing network for NWP

Σ Sat Radiances = -143.9 Σ Sat Winds = -198.3

2 16

1

all

Σ Conv = -168.0

Observation Impact

9

Different satellite data important for different systems

Miami, 2/10/11 ISS Winds Science Mission Science Workshop

w4-9

w10-20w0-3

10

500 hPa anomaly correlation coefficients, NH

Miami, 2/10/11

500 hPa anomaly correlation coefficients, SH

w4-9

w10-20w0-3

11Miami, 2/10/11

WMO OMM

4th WMO Impact Workshop (Geneva, May 2008)

Overall impact (“marginal skill”) on short/medium range global NWP

An additional 2 to 6 hours of useful forecast range is the most any individual component of the GOS can contribute in the NH

This is very significant in terms of socioeconomic impact and is strongly linked to other measures of skill!


WMO OMM

RRR (II)

• ET-EGOS consolidates input on Requirements from all sources into output documents – e.g. Vision, Implementation Plan

• Routing:– ET-EGOS OPAG-IOSCBS WMO EC

• Once adopted by the WMO Executive Council, the material becomes official WMO document


WMO OMM

GOS and Numerical Weather Prediction

• Numerical weather prediction requires independent and global observations of the mass (temperature) and wind fields

• The global three-dimensional mass field is well observed from space

• No existing space-based observing system provides vertically resolved wind information => horizontal coverage of wind profiles is sparse

• The lack of wind measurements is widely believed to be one of the main limiting factors for progress in NWP skill at all temporal ranges– Especially critical as we progress to smaller and smaller scales where

wind/mass balance assumptions break down


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Current Upper Air Mass & Wind Data Coverage

Vertically resolvedMass Observations

Vertically resolvedWind Observations


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Elements of the long-term vision for the Global Observing System

• Vision for the GOS in 2025 endorsed by WMO Executive Council on 11/06/09– Provides high-level guidance for global observation planning – Framework for WMO Members to commit on contributing missions

• Calls for major enhancement of the space component – Geostationary, polar-orbit

and other orbits as appropriate– Transition of several missions from

R&D to operational/sustained status(Altimetry, GPS radio-occultation, scatterometry, chemistry)

– Operational pathfindersMiami, 2/10/11 16ISS Winds Science Mission Science

Workshop

WMO OMM

Vision for the GOS in 2025 (space component)Summary of missions called for on operational basis

Observations performed so far on a R&D basis should be planned on an operational or sustained basis

Integrating new missions

Core operational GEO missions All with IR hyperspectral sounding, lightning detection

Core operational LEO Imagery and IR-MW sounding All with hyperspectral IR, on 3 sun-synchronous orbital planes

Ocean surface topography Radio-Occultation Sounding Ocean Surface Wind Global Precipitation Earth Radiation Budget Atmospheric Composition Special imaging for ocean colour, vegetation Dual-angle view IR imagery

Land Surface Imaging Synthetic Aperture Radar Space Weather instruments


WMO OMM

Vision for the space-based GOS in 2025Operational pathfinders and demonstrators

Doppler wind lidar on LEO Winds; aerosol; cloud-top height [and base]

Low-frequency MW radiometer on LEO Ocean surface salinity; soil moisture

MW imager/sounder on GEO Precipitation; cloud water/ice; atmospheric humidity and temperature

High-resolution, multi-spectral narrow-band Vis/NIR and CCD imagers on GEOs

Ocean colour, cloud studies and disaster monitoring

Vis/IR imagers on satellites in high inclination, Highly Elliptical Orbits HEO)

Winds and clouds at high latitudes; sea ice; high latitude volcanic ash plumes; snow cover; vegetation fires

Gravimetric sensors Water volume in lakes, rivers, ground,


WMO OMM

Summary• As of June 2009, space-based wind lidars are part of the

official WMO Vision for the Global Observing System 2025– This means that the National Meteorogical and Hydrological

Services of the WMO member states have signed off on this as something that can and should be done!

• WMO does not own or implement satellite systems– However, WMO does set standards for taking, processing,

disseminating and exchanging observations– WMO also captures and documents requirements and

capabilities, performs gap analysis, and develops Vision and Implementation Plans for the GOS of the future


Lars Peter Riishojgaard, Chair CBS OPAG-IOS and

Documents

global observations

global observing network

wmo members

global observing systemvision

wmo executive council

wind information

global nwpan additional

official wmo document