World Meteorological OrganizationWorking together in weather, climate and water

GLOBAL ATMOSPHERE WATCH (GAW) PROGRAMME

Doc 3.2

Dr Deon Terblanche, D/AREWMO Cg-XVI

Tuesday, 24 May, 2011

www.wmo.int

WMO

GAW MISSION is to

• Identify environmental risks to society and meet the requirements of

environmental conventions;

• Strengthen capabilities of Members to predict climate, weather and air

quality;

• Contribute to scientific assessments in support of environmental

policy.

Through:

• Maintaining and applying global, long-term observations of the

chemical composition and selected physical characteristics of the

atmosphere;

• Emphasizing quality assurance and quality control;

• Delivering integrated products and services of relevance to users.

GAW focal areas

• Stratospheric Ozone

• Greenhouse Gases (CO2, CH4, N2O, CFCs)

• Reactive Gases (CO, VOC, NOy, SO2, Trop O3)

• Precipitation Chemistry

• Aerosols (chemical, physical, AOD)

• UV Radiation

• (Natural Radionuclides, Rn222, Be7, 14CO)

4

KEY SUCCESSES

Reflected in Report by Secretary-General Doc. 2.2 pp. 16-17, 21, 24-25, 26, 31, 37 and 47.

GAW contributes to current ERs 4 (Obs), 5 (WIS), 6 (DRR), 7 (Service), 8 (Partners) and 9 (Capacity)

• Obs support: LIDAR measurements Eyafjällajökull eruption, validation of SDS-WAS

• Greenhouse gas observations and analysis of climate-chemistry interactions for evidence-based policy

• Significant contributions to WMO-UNEP Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion (Montreal Protocol), provision of UV Index

• Excellent collaboration between developed and developing countries

• Leading role in establishing AQF worldwide: GURME

5

Contributions from Members

Central facilities increased in 2008-2011:• Central Calibration Laboratories for eight hydrocarbons at the

National Physical Laboratory in UK, Stable carbon isotopes in CO2 and molecular hydrogen at the Max-Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry in Germany, SF6 at NOAA/ESRL in USA;

• GAW Regional UV Calibration Center for Europe at PMOD, Davos, Switzerland;

• World Calibration Centres for CO2 (audits) at EMPA, Switzerland and for NOx at FZ Jülich, Germany;

• World Data Centre for Aerosols moved to NILU, Norway, from JRC, EC, Ispra, Italy.

• Agreement between WMO and BIPM to nominate laboratories for participation in key comparisons

GAWTEC trainingExperts in JSC OPAG EPAC, SAGs and ETs

Partner Organizations (UNEP, EMEP EANET, European COST, …)

6

Stations as of May 2011(from GAWSIS)

Global, Regional and Contributing stations. Closed or inactive stations for which data are available at data centres are denoted with open symbols.

Twinning important for station and network development.

7

General (3.2.1)

• GAW Strategic Plans (GSPs) have guided the work since 1993, Addendum to the GSP 2008-2015 contains updated tasks for the period 2012-2015 (available on GAW website at www.wmo.int/gaw).

• Members and contributing partners are invited to act upon the tasks and thus foster the implementation and success of GAW.

8

GAW Observations (3.2.2 – 3.2.4, 3.2.7 – 3.2.8)

• Need to enhance geographical coverage, measurement suite and three dimensionality

• Ad-hoc Task Team to review GAW satellite needs • NRT data delivery to be enhanced

• Regarding the nitrogen cycle, support for observations and their analysis is needed

• Reactive gases• New compounds

9

Assessments (3.2.6 – 3.2.8)

• WMO UNEP Ozone Assessments important products, most recent published this year

• Precipitation SAG and GESAMP assessing deposition from precipitation (3.2.7-3.2.8)

• These require partnerships, such as with EMEP and EANET, also for assessing regional/global transport of air pollution (3.2.6)

10

Climate forcing (3.2.5, 3.2.10, 3.2.11, 3.2.14)

• Accurate measurements critical in support of carbon mitigation actions (3.2.10)

• Integrated Assessment of Black Carbon and Tropospheric Ozone, short lived climate forcers (3.2.5)

• Short and long lived climate forcers important part of information provision for GFCS (3.2.11)

• Annual WMO GAW Greenhouse Gas Bulletin an important product (3.2.14)

Combining different scales and the interaction between climate variability and change and air pollution (3.2.9)

CAS FUTURE ORIENTATIONS

What are the significant technical, social and environmental stressors which will drive the demand for more accurate and user friendly environmental assessments and predictions?

In addition to Climate Change, POPULATION GROWTH AND URBANIZATION

Growing Urban Population(Billion)

GURME 3.2.15 – 3.2.20

NEW! GURME website http://mce2.org/wmogurme/

Megacities (3.2.21)• Need new focus on large urban areas both for

meteorological and air quality research → applications → services

• Activities should be aimed at: (i) development of strategies for megacities to deal

with weather, climate and environmental problems and improvement of related services;

(ii) enhancement of environmental monitoring and modelling capabilities; and

(iii) establishment of case studies for understanding air pollution, health and climate connections in different types of megacities.

• Jointly with PWS and other relevant WMO Programmes (Ref. PWS Doc para 4.1.30)

Influenza forecast

Heat wave and cold spell forecast

Pollen forecast

Heat index, Sunstoke, and Diarrhea forecast for EXPO 2010

UV forecast

Meteorological services for public health

Bacterial Food Poisoning

Ozone forecast

Haze forecast

Forecast models

Observations

Bacterial food poisoning, Influenza,Heatstroke, Trauma, Diarrhea diagnostic

UV radiation

Meteorological measurements (temperature, wind, humidity, pressure, cloud, etc)

Pollen measurements (open plat method, Microscope filter)

SporeWatch electronic spore & pollen sampler

Atmospheric chemistry observation (O3, NOX, CO, SO2, aerosols)

Resolution 3.2/1 (Cg-XVI)

• GAW, including GURME, is one of the high-priority Programmes of WMO

• New Resolution, replaces GAW part of the AREP Programme Resolution (Res 14/Cg XV) that is no longer in force. The Res 15/Cg XV on Stratospheric Ozone is kept in force.

Compendium projects

• Enhancement of GAW observational network geographical and species coverage and quality (Project 4.5.3.58)

• Megacities: face multiple weather hazards and air pollution problems, causing health, environmental and economical impacts (GURME) (Project 4.5.3.59)

• Improved SDS forecasts and observation products: improve current capabilities and products/services (Project 5.5.3.66)

(See Doc. 8.3(2))

Related Side Events• Sand and Dust Storm Research (May 25, 13:30-14:30)• Megacities and GURME (May 25, 17:30-18:30)• An urgent, emerging challenge for WMO: Supporting

Greenhouse Gas Management Strategies with Observations, Modeling, and Analysis (May 30, 13:30-14:30)

Other information sharing:• Table in the Lobby 23-25 May• Rolling presentations in the lobby:

– GAW products: Ozone and GHG Bulletins, Volcanic Ash– WMO UNEP Black Carbon and Trop Ozone Assessment– Megacities

THANK YOU!