Outcomes of the GAW Symposium: The Way Forward for the GAW Programme

1. Outcomes of the GAW Symposium: way forward for the GAW Programme Oksana Tarasova WMO Research Department

2. GAW Symposium10-13 April Results from the Symposium will be used as input for a revised version of the GAW IP. Almost 130 participants, representing 43 nations

3. Transformation of the GAW Programme New GAW Data Management strategy New Scientific Advisory Group on Applications New focal area – total deposition

4. GAW Symposium10-13 April • Almost 130 participants, representing 43 nations • Overarching topics: • Science for services (plenary 1) • Integrated observations (plenary 2) • Partnerships (plenary 3) • Modelling (break-out 1) • Quality assurance (break-out 2) • Data management (break-out 3) • Outreach and capacity building (break-out 4)

5. GAW Objectives & Implementation • Meeting the growing need for atmospheric composition information and related services requires:  • Increased efforts towards enhancing observing systems with broader use of GAW observations and research activities to support the development of services with high societal impact;  • Enhanced modeling efforts;  • Improved information management infrastructure;  • Stronger efforts towards building collaborations, capacity and communications. • Promote a “research value chain” from observations to services 

6. Schematic overview of potential GAW services

7. Plenary 1: “Science for services”

8. Session outcome What do we mean by Science for Services? • Research supporting services - Science to actionable information - Synthesis of knowledge to meet demands - Advancement of fundamental atmospheric chemistry knowledge to address societal challenges - Spectrum from research to testing to operational • The bridge between people - Synergistic feedback process that responds to users - Three-way process (science, service, policy)

9. Session Outcome What is the role of the GAW community in developing/ supporting/ delivering services? • Advance fundamental atmospheric chemistry knowledge - Provide assessments for scientists, policy makers and the public • Build confidence in science-based information services - Actively entrain users and coordinate with partners - Provide case studies to demonstrate benefits - Find ways to close the loop and make products available •Help coordinate the overall implementation - Support solution-oriented atmospheric services - Respond to feedback from users and their needs

10. Plenary 2: Integrated Observations • GAW as a coordinator • To identify locations where new measurements are required to fill geographical gaps in the global network. • To assimilate measurements from across the network to provide a global picture of trace gas emissions to highlight the gaps in our knowledge of emissions. • To articulate GAW’s value proposition to governments to ensure that the resources required for GAW operations in target countries are supported. • Participate in implementation and coordination meetings of contributing networks with the goal of identifying and adopting common tools, and identifying and reducing unnecessary duplication.

11. New Technologies • Explore new technologies for dissemination of GAW data in a way that capitalizes on recent developments in machine learning, big data analytics, and semantic data models. For example, OBSPACK. • GAW has a role to play in assessing new measurement technologies and to act as a trusted source for independent information on the measurement technologies. • Ensure coordination with CIMO (Commission on Instruments and Methods of Observations), organize joint technical meetings and training courses to ensure that new technologies are adopted across WMO in a coordinated way.

12. Partnerships • Provide guidance on potential partnerships to fill in the gaps in observing system and promote integration. • Participate in implementation and coordination meetings of contributing networks with the goal of identifying and adopting common tools, and identifying and reducing unnecessary duplication. • Develop improved interactions between representatives from non-Met Service and those from the Met Services within the WMO national partners.

13. Combining measurements from multiple platforms • Developing products and services that draw on data from multiple disparate sources → dealing with biases between data sources, combining data with different uncertainties etc. • How to extract value from measurements made at many different spatial and temporal scales → data assimilation is one option but should not be the only option. • New GAW focus on water vapour needs to combine measurements from multiple sources to obtain high vertical resolution profiles of water vapour through the troposphere and stratosphere → at present there is no network to achieve this and GAW can take a leadership position in defining the requirements of that network.

14. Near real-time data delivery • Increasing appreciation of the commercial value of NRT data as a service to users → GAW needs to assist data providers in deriving possible revenue streams in the provision of such NRT data. • Participate in national and international projects focused on implementing rapid data delivery together with data quality assurance. • GAW needs to coordinate the collection of such NRT data, and to promote the use of these data in services for societal benefit.

15. Plenary 3: Partnerships • World Bank (Gary Kleiman) • UNEP (ValentinFoltescu)   • BIPM (JoëleViallon) • IAEA (Manfred Groening) • WHO (Carlos Dora) • ICLEI ‐ Local Governments for Sustainability (Miriam Badino) • GESAMP (Tim Jickells) • LRTAP Convention (Laurence Rouil) • IGAC (Megan L. Melamed)   • SPARC (Fiona Tummon)  

16. Partnerships GLOBAL • Two-ways collaborations already established • Diverse panel but common needs • To avoid duplications, a better organisation of efforts is needed SERVICES DATA LOCAL

17. 1.Emission and source apportionment • It is specially important in air quality issues in order to assess exposure and identify measures for reducing emissions • This implies the need of assessing the quality of data and improving modelling capabilities (inversion studies, chemical weather, acute episodes forecast) • Enhanced links between observations and modellers are needed

18. 2.Citizen science • In many instances, the need of implementing citizen science has been mentioned as well as of the need expanding the use of low cost sensors • Important also to raise awareness of citizens • The crucial point is how to improve and assess the quality of data and how to organize the data flow system (See recommendations from SAG reactive gases activities on low cost sensors) • Involvement of the private sector to be taken into account  1stENVRIplus forum to strengthen partnership with industry in Grenoble on May 18-19 http://www.envriplus.eu/2017/01/26/1st-eu-environmental-ris-industry-forum/

19. 3.Other issues • Improve satellite capability and data assimilation. Needs for satellite inter-comparisons • Since many programs are focusing on developing countries, GAW capacity building activities must be enhanced

20. 4. Air quality and climate-local to global • Co-benefits of reducing APs and GHGs are well known (measures to reduce SLCPs emissions) • Need of joint projects on these issues involving a vertical approach from the local to the global scale

21. Q1. How could GAW better support the entire atmospheric composition modelling community (data, standards, harmonization, applications,...)? • Continue facilitating the interactions between the observing and the modelling communities. • Making available the observations at the highest possible time resolution (raw) in NRT as far as possible, in established formats, assuring traceability to enable explaining possible bias and discrepancies between observational and/or model datasets. • Enforce providing systematically detailed error estimates (and e.g. representativeness, averaging kernels…) and more generally detailed metadata, as they are essential for model verification or assimilation. • Establish common standards for simulations, observations and reanalysis making them more interoperable (co-design infrastructure elements?). • Gather applications/user requirements and propagate them upstream to influence evolution of observational and modelling infrastructures (e.g. NRT). • Refreshing the model evaluation metrics from user point of view / adapted to the applications (borrowing ideas from NWP e.g. precipitation: exceedences vs RMS). • Enhance the number of observations near emissions sources (dust, fires, anthropogenic…), especially in Africa, Asia and South America.

22. Q2. Multi‐scale mapping of air pollution: what are the best practices, and what are the possible applications? • Carefully frame the message to policy makers when providing information on source attribution to ambient air pollution in real time. This is not just “neutral” information (different from weather information). • Again: start from user requirements and work backwards to select the modelling solution (type of model, scale…): push-pull / co-design of technical solutions. • Statistical methods, deterministic or a combination of both can help produce suitable solutions. Selection should be based upon robust metrics that are specifically suited for the required time and geographical scales. Be pragmatic! • Emerging actors (private sector…), need to be agile and seize opportunities. • If possible blend the requirements for modelling of long-lived and short-lived species: address air quality and climate issues jointly (economy of scale and avoid conflicting mitigation measures).

23. Q3. What are the current challenges with data assimilation of atmospheric composition data and inverse modeling for source estimations? • Opportunity rather than challenge: more interest from decision makers, but especially in sectoral emissions (not primarily surface concentrations) from joint top-down/bottom-up approaches. • The number and quality of measurements is a limiting factor in the skill of current inversion systems (fluxes, emissions…). Consolidate the case for increasing the coverage of networks and their sustainability. Investigate cost effective monitoring solutions. • Strengthen the message about the complementarity of satellite and ground-based/in situ observations. • Comparison between applications in different regions is difficult; more comprehensive metrics needed to assess how “transferable” results are. • Again, error characterisationneed to be worked upon by the obs and modelling/data assimilation communities jointly.

24. Q4. How to facilitate and support emergence of reliable AQ services in developing countries? • Need strong local involvement to assess context and requirements. Training and capacity building already needed at this stage. • Analyze the needs and set up what is doable, depending on the existing infrastructure to run modelling systems. Provide a range of solutions, including very cheap/easy/light ones as a first step. • Where possible, try use existing infrastructure (e.g. Meteo services) • Include the imperative of leaving a legacy as part of the project and ensure sustainability of technical solution. • Support with establishment of observation networks (e.g. deposition), as they must go hand in hand with modelling. GURME/SAG-Apps + MAP-AQ initiative over Africa?

25. GAW-QA: Use of Small Sensors (part of QA Break-out) • Still in pre-mature stage of being capable to do a reliable measurement • Very unstable baseline: when application then only in combination with high-end instrumentation. • “Finger printing measurements” to obtain a morphology of local or regional pollution • Generally not to be treated or handled as a GAW data product • The developments are going rapidly: GAW should encourage the QA testing of small sensors, particularly the optical sensors are promising for future applications

26. Key priorities for data management (part of Data discussion) • Establish interoperability between data centres and GAWSIS (WDCs, contributing data centres) • Metadata • Data • Expand the federated system to address needs of user communities for improved support of applications/services • Engagement with user communities to be enhanced

27. Communicating the value of GAW • Find ways to activate the GAW community to communicate the science as much as possible, while continuing to use the GAW secretariat to handle central communication. • Focus on communicating the impact of GAW. • Improve visibility via more effective communication of the importance and innovativeness of long-term observations. • Improve outreach to graduate students by ensuring they receive newsletters and reports. • Continually review distribution lists for GAW info products

28. Value of GAW

29. Innovative communication • Should be • Timely • Key messages communicated simply. • A single message at a time. • Frequent • Invest in high level infographics (i.e. outsource to graphic designers), including graphics that convey the value and impact of GAW. • Animation of GAWS impact, use various platforms media • Show the beauty of GAW through pictures of stations and the people who run the stations. Videos, blogs, conference booths are examples of good vectors for this. • Develop key explanation about GAW circulated with all communication • Standard slide pack for participants to use internally and externally • Leverage of available professional communication capabilities to effectively use new media platforms e.g. youtube videos, other social media • Widgets e.g. of global average CO2 concentration widget on airline and green energy company websites

30. Capacity Development • Develop/participate in graduate programmes on atmospheric composition research that GAW observations- GAW PhD scholarship program • Weakness of GAW is that the data is produced in a region, but the data aren’t used there – better collaboration between the met services and universities is essential to foster research. • Reach out to other training programs e.g. ACAM, summer schools etc. Understand what other programs are available • Need for end-to-end training – from obtaining data through to analysis and products • WMO to push local Met agencies to ensure that there is overlap time for training when people are asked to move jobs, focus on mutual obligation within mentor-mentee relationships • Enhance twinning-extend to partners- Link between developed and developing countries. Helping to make the measurements, submitting data, etc? Should be more of a mentoring role.

31. Some Priority areas • To be successful GAW should deliver a convincing and compelling story • GAW as a global integrator could provide better direction for groups that seek funding • GAW as a facilitator of cooperation also in context of improving the observational network over Africa • Regional scale needs covering all sectors of atmospheric composition – GHG, Aerosols • Urban scale – low cost sensors, local stations, remote sensing, modelling, cooperation etc.

32. Some Priority areas • The need for SAGs to be agile and adapt to a changing world • Cooperation within the UN family – WMO-WHO-UN Environment • Visibility of GAW in policy related bodies (IPCC, UNFCCC) • A critical look at the observational requirement for stratospheric ozone • Link between climate and air quality – black carbon, SLCP

33. Thank you! Merci! http://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/arep/gaw/gaw2017symp.html