Programme Management Fc

EMMA

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EMMA

Objectives

EMMA (European Multi service Meteorological Awareness) and the Meteoalarm web page represent one of the most successful and visible achievements of EUMETNET. EMMA has improved national and European multi-hazard warning systems over the last decade by developing standards, and has deepened the cooperation with partners like civil protection, the DRR community and the water sector. Meteoalarm has been operational since 2007 and the website has generated large public interest.

The objectives of EMMA are:

  • To show the most relevant information on Meteoalarm needed to prepare for extreme weather and related hazards expected to occur somewhere over Europe.
  • Provision of warnings understandable by all actors from the private and public sector. Warnings are multilingual and harmonized as far as possible, whereas the four level color code is seen as understandable “language“.
  • The Meteoalarm web page provides a one-stop shop and a repository for multi-hazard warnings.
  • Research and Development: harmonization of the warnings towards impact oriented warnings.
  • Support of the regional cross-border collaboration between forecasters.
  • Networking and coordination with relevant organizations like Civil Protection Organizations and ERCC the Emergency Response and Coordination Centre of the European Commission
  • EMMA provides the basis for knowledge transfer to other regions and the service delivery improvement of developing weather services.
  • “We travel more frequently, either on business or privately, and the exposure to risks abroad is greater than at home. Meteoalarm integrates all important severe weather information over Europe originating from the official National Public Weather Services across all participating European countries - ensuring that information is presented consistently to allow for coherent interpretation as widely as possible, with easy accessibility across languages and culture.”

The tasks

Collection and online publication of the authoritative warning information for meteorological and hydrological hazards delivered by 37 (as of 2018) National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) in 33 languages across the European domain for the next 48 hours.

Consistent presentation of the information to ensure coherent interpretation as widely as possible throughout Europe.

Technical quality control of the incoming messages and display of this information on maps with European, national and regional levels.

Operation of Meteoalarm as one-stop shop and a repository for relevant multi-hazard warnings to be used e.g. by professionals or tourists on a European scale. Re-user are able to acquire warning data from RSS and CAP (Common Alert Protocol) feeds or alternatively the alert hub.

Harmonization of the warnings as much as national procedures allow any adaptation with thresholds based on climatologically chosen regions and impact considerations.

Provision of a platform for meteorologists and hydrologists to discuss a consistent and harmonized system of warnings across Europe.

Comprehensive relaunch of Meteoalarm. The modernization and redesign of the whole system with improved functionality will give Meteoalarm a contemporary professional on-line presence, thus enhance the visibility of EUMETNET and the participating members and improve the accessibility of their authoritative warnings.

 

The organisation

The current phase of EMMA started in January 2019 and will last until the end of 2023. The Coordinating Member is ZAMG (Austria). The Programme Manager is Rainer Kaltenberger. The EMMA Team is advised by the Meteoalarm Expert Group

For questions about EMMA please contact meteoalarm@zamg.ac.at

Further Information

For further information, please go to the MeteoAlarm web page.

EPS II

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EPS II

Objectives

The main aim of the Project is to contribute to build very high-resolution ensemble systems in Europe, resolving the convection-permitting scale phenomena.

The main objectives are to:

A. Develop new products and methodologies for calibration of LAM ensembles for extremes and probabilistic prediction of thunderstorms and fog:

1) Inventory of existing methods and SW already developed by the Members and literature review;

2) Define and develop new products and methodologies for computation/elaboration:

· calibration of ensembles, mainly for extremes (wind, precipitation, temperature,…);

· products for probabilistic prediction of thunderstorms (clear benefit, link with research, link with EMMA), fog.

B. Understanding the sensitivity of ensemble prediction systems to soil conditions and PBL and their effect on the prediction of selected phenomena (fog and thunderstorms)

1)      Investigating sensitivity of models to soil moisture and PBL;

2) Investigating the ratio of sensitivity to different sources of surface and upper air uncertainty at the CP scale.

  • "verbatim to complete"

The tasks

The project workload is divided into several work packages and then into tasks.

The complete list of tasks can be found here.

 

The requirements

The content of the requirements for the EUMETNET SRNWP-EPS Phase II (EPS-II) has a main aim: to contribute to build very high-resolution ensemble systems in Europe, resolving the convection-permitting scale phenomena. To reach this aim, the usual coordination within C-SRNWP was not enough, since dedicated meetings should be organized, where status and plans of the participants are revised and where an agreement on the ground for cooperation should be found.

The main open issues for scientific research on this subject are outlined and described in the document: “Explore the scientific methodologies suitable to build a very high-resolution ensemble” which is the Delivery 3 of the Phase I SRNWP-EPS Activity; the document was prepared by the Expert Team on EPS of the EUMETNET C-SRNWP Program. The aim of this document is to provide scientific and methodological basis for planning future work on the field; it includes a scope of topics larger than those covered by the phase II requirements. 

These requirements will help to identify few tasks which can be accomplished within a limited amount of time and with a dedicated amount of resources, leading to clear and tangible outcomes such as coexistence of both operational and (focused) research activities, in order to satisfy the different needs of the NMSs. Therefore, the topics which have been identified for this Phase II requirements focus on all-the-steps-towards-the-development of a methodology for the probabilistic prediction of severe weather phenomena (e.g. thunderstorms and fog), relevant for the operational duties of the NMSs.

The organisation

Institution Role Key Personnel  
Agencia Estatal de Meteorología – AEMET – Spain Project Manager Jose A. Garcia-Moya Funded
ARPA-SIMC Scientific Coordinator Chiara Marsigli Funded
USAM/CNCMA National Coordinator for Italy Francesca Marcucci In-kind
Expert Team Informing the Project Manager about strategic developments in Europe in the field of Ensemble Prediction System and probabilistic forecast Chair-person: Scientific coordinator
User’s Group Consultancy about the Application Tasks developments and their use in an operational environment Chair-person: Scientific coordinator

 

The Project currently has 21 Member NMSs participating. The complete list of participating Members can be found here.

The Project is coordinated by the Project Manager (PM) with the help of the Scientific Coordinator, to ensure a proper coordination between the Application and the Research Tasks, and the National coordinator for Italy, to ensure internal coordination between USAM/CNMCA and ARPA-SIMC.  The main advisory body is the Expert Team (ET)[1]. All together are responsible for overviewing the progress in the WP’s.

 

The main duties of the Project Manager are:

·       Ensure development of the Project and the fulfilment of all Deliverables and Milestones

·       Coordination with the Scientific Coordinator to guarantee the proper coordination between Application and Research Tasks

·       Reporting to and coordinating with EUMETNET STAC and Secretariat and the FPM (Forecasting Project Manager).

·       Liaising with C-SRNWP and other EUMETNET Programs.

·       Liaising with Programmes beyond EU such as WMO WG for Ensemble Prediction System and TIGGE-LAM

·       Supervising the organization of the meetings and liaising with the personnel working in the project to ensure smooth development

·       Participating in all the meetings and WebEx conferences organized in the framework of the Project, EUMETNET core team meeting and some of the FP meeting.

·       Coordination with the Eumetcal Project in order to organize possible calls from Eumetcal for participation in training activities about probabilistic forecast and ensemble prediction systems.

·       Coordination with SESAR project to exchange experiences in the field of use of probabilistic forecasts for Aviation and Airport activities.

The main duties of the Scientific Coordinator are:

·       Ensure that the Project follows the state-of-the-art of Ensemble Prediction System and probabilistic forecast

·       Supervising the scientific goals and methodologies of the Project Tasks

·       Coordinate with the personnel involved in the Application and Research Tasks

·       Reviewing the Deliverables of the Projects

·       Coordinate with the C-SRNWP Expert Team on Predictability and EPS

·       Liaising with ECWMF Research Department, WMO WG for Ensemble Prediction System, TIGGE-LAM

·       Help in supervising the organization of the meetings and liaising with project teams to ensure smooth development

·       Participating in all the meetings and WebEx conferences organized in the framework of the Project

The main duties of the National coordinator for Italy are:

·       Ensure internal coordination between USAM/CNMCA and ARPA-SIMC

·       Coordination with other Italian institution interested in probabilistic weather forecast

The main duties of the Expert Team are:

·       Informing the Project Manager about strategic developments in Europe in the field of Ensemble Prediction System and probabilistic forecast.

·       Attending the Expert Team meetings and delivering relevant information and documents required for the elaboration and completion of the deliverables of the Project.

The ET will be formed by one representative for each participating NMS, which will act as contact point between the coordinators and the NMSs. The C-SRNWP ET-EPS will be contacted to advice the project acting as part of the Expert Team on a voluntary basis for NMSs which are not participating in the project. Communication between the ET members will be guaranteed through an annual meeting (organized through the planned workshops and conferences) and additional WebEx Meetings where necessary. Reports of the meetings will be circulated to members.

 

The main duties of the participating NMSs are:

·       Nominate a contact point as a member of the Expert Team

·       Providing in-kind contribution for the Research Tasks

·       Providing in-kind contribution by attending meetings and delivering relevant information and documents required for the elaboration and completion of the deliverables of the Project

·       Supply members for the User Group among the National Institutions interested in use of probabilistic information for weather forecasting

 

A User Group (UG) will be formed including representatives of National Institutions, interested in use of probabilistic information for weather forecasting. A special called for the Energy Sector in Europe will be made to include representatives of that sector in the Users’ Group on a voluntary basis. A link with SESAR will also be established to ensure proper coordination, also aiming at feed-backs from the aviation sector. Also ECOMET will invite to the UG to properly represent the private sector. Communication with the User Group will be guaranteed, if the budget allows, through one dedicated face-to-face meeting and email list. Reports of the meeting will be circulated to members.



 

More Information

AEMET – Agencia Estatal de Meterologia – Spanish Agency of Meteorology – www.aemet.es

ARPA-SIMC – Agencia Regionale de Protezione Ambientale – Servicio Idro Meteo Climate – www.arpae.it/sim/

USAM / CNMCA – Ufficio Generale Spazio Aereo e Meteorologia / Centro Nazionale di Meteorologia e Climatologia Aeronautica – www.meteoam.it

C-SRNWP

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C-SRNWP

Objectives

The SRNWP (Short Range Numerical Weather Prediction) Working Group was established in 1993 on the basis of the already existing EWGLAM (European Working Group on Limited Area Modelling) network. Since that time the SRNWP project is the main vehicle for the cooperation between the European limited area modelling consortia (the main developing entities of short range numerical weather prediction models). These numerical weather prediction consortia are the ALADIN, COSMO, HIRLAM, LACE projects and the UK Met Office. The C-SRNWP (“C” stands for the coordination) Project has been working under the EUMETNET project since 2000.

 

  • "high resolution numerical models"

The tasks

– Enhance SRNWP related information and knowledge exchange between members

– Represent the interests of short-range NWP in front of other organizations (e.g EUMETNET Observation Projects, ECMWF, etc.)

– Popularize European NWP systems in education

The requirements

The main aim of the C-SRNWP Programme is to foster the efficient exchange of information between the Project Participating Members and across the European limited area modelling consortia related to scientific, technical as well as operational aspects of NWP. The main vehicle of this information exchange is the yearly EWGLAM/SRNWP Meeting, the scientific program of which is compiled by the C-SRNWP Programme Manager and the Expert Teams of the Programme.

 

The C-SRNWP Programme is also playing a coordinating role between the European LAM NWP community and other EUMETNET projects, particularly with EUCOS on observation impact studies, with OPERA on the possible re-distribution of radar volume data for data assimilation purposes and with EMMA on the best exploitation of NWP products for severe weather warnings. An evident collaboration is also taking place with the ASIST and EPS-II Projects.

 

The Programme is responsible for an intensified collaboration with ECMWF (participation as observer on the ECMWF Scientific Advisory Committee) and EUMETSAT, and promotes contacts with non-European NM(H)S’s and institutions.

The organisation

The current phase of the C-SRNWP Project started in January 2013 and will last until end of 2018. The Project Coordinating Member is the Hungarian Meteorological Service. The Project Manager is Mr Balazs Szintai from the OMSZ.

The inter-consortia cooperation is stimulated by a part-time coordinator (Project Manager) and realised within the activities of the Expert Teams (ET).

The following Expert Teams (they were created at the beginning of 2008) are acting in the framework of the C-SRNWP Project:

– Data assimilation and use of observations (mailing list: etda(at)met.hu)
– Diagnostics, validation and verification (mailing list: etverif(at)met.hu)
– Dynamics and lateral boundary coupling (mailing list: etdyn(at)met.hu)
– Link with applications (mailing list: etapp(at).met.hu)
– Physical parameterisation (upper air) (mailing list: etphys(at).met.hu)
– Predictability and EPS (mailing list: eteps(at).met.hu)
– Surface and soil processes (mailing list: etsfc(at)met.hu)
– System aspects (mailing list: etsystem(at)met.hu)
– SRNWP Advisory Expert Team (NWP Consortia leaders and chairs of the above Expert Teams)

The activities under the SRNWP Project and the work of the Project Manager is supervised by the SRNWP Advisory Expert Team.

Traditionally the entire SRNWP group meets once per year (early autumn), where the annual “business” meeting is held in conjunction with the annual EWGLAM meeting.
More details about the Project can be found on the C-SRNWP webpage.

E-NWC

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E-NWC

The EUMETNET Nowcasting Programme (E-NWC) started in January 2019 and will last until December 2023. It is the follow-up project of ASIST (Application oriented analysis and very short range forecast environment).

Objectives

  • Exchange experiences in end-user applications related to nowcasting and also seamless prediction systems;
  • Demonstrate the benefits of extensive data exchange between NMHSs;
  • Provide guidelines for the development of seamless prediction systems;
  • Compile training sessions with focus on nowcasting and seamless lead times;
  • Advance the cooperation in nowcasting and seamless issues through common projects, conferences and cooperation with other EUMETNET programmes;
  • Liase with WMO programmes involved in similar topics.

 

 

 

  • "Application oriented analysis and very short range forecast environment."

The tasks

  • Describe end user groups with their needs and requirements concerning nowcasting and also seamless prediction systems.
  • Exchange new observation data for classical or new nowcasting systems.
  • Summarise available information about seamless prediction systems in an inventory.
  • Verify and test the European nowcasting and seamless prediction systems, if applicable, by means of ESSL and gather training material from members to be published on the EUMETNET learning platform (EUMETCAL).
  • Initiate and coordinate future EU project(s) supporting E-NWC goals and organize the European Nowcasting Conferences (ENC), establish the specific Expert Team (ET) and coordinate the knowledge exchange.

 

The organisation

  • 25 EIG participating members (ZAMG, AUSTRA; RMI, BELGIUM; DHMZ, CROATIA; CYMET, CYPRUS; DMI, DENMARK; ESTEA, ESTONIA; FMI, FINLAND; DWD, GERMANY; OMSZ, HUNGARY; IMO, ICELAND; Met Éireann, IRELAND; ITAF-ReMET, ITALY; LEGMC, LATVIA; MeteoLux, LUXEMBURG; KNMI, NETHERLANDS; MET Norway, NORWAY; IMGW, POLAND; IPMA, PORTUGAL; RHMSS, SERBIA; SHMU, SLOVAK REPUBLIC; ARSO, SLOVENIA; AEMET, SPAIN; SMHI, SWEDEN; MeteoSwiss, SWITZERLAND; Met Office, UK) have nominated their nowcasting experts as well as 1 EIG cooperating member (NMAR, ROMANIA).
  • 4 Working Areas (WAs) have been defined within E-NWC:

    o  WA1: Seamless prediction systems
    o  WA2: Observations
    o  WA3: Verification
    o  WA4: End user aspects

    Nowcasting experts from different member states participate in each WA. In each WA, one WA leader is coordinating the work to achieve the tasks. An ET is formed and consists of:

    o   Programme manager and assistant,
    o   FCA manager
    o   2 Co-Chairs
    o   2-3 representatives from each WA

 

 

ENC2017

Summary of 2nd European Nowcasting Conference

3-5 May 2017
DWD, Offenbach

The 2nd European Nowcasting Conference (ENC), organised under the umbrella of the EUMETNET nowcasting project ASIST, was held at the headquarters of DWD in Offenbach, Germany, from 3 to 5 May 2017. Close to 100 participants from 24 nations presented their latest findings on observations, nowcasting techniques, verification, user aspect and combined nowcasting/numerical weather prediction. Besides the many excellent presentations, there was plenty of room for discussions during dedicated time slots at the end of each session as well as during poster sessions and coffee breaks.

 

To a large extent, observation and nowcasting techniques dedicated to convective phenomena were presented, indicating that thunderstorms and lightning are still one of the major themes in nowcasting. Furthermore, it could be noted that, even at individual national meteorological services (NMS), a wide variety of nowcasting systems and models are available which can lead to an overwhelming (and sometimes inconsistent) suit of nowcasting information available for forecasters. It is thus not surprising, that efforts towards seamless prediction systems, incorporating a multitude of nowcasting and NWP models, can be noted.  While nowcasting is still tied to observations and their short-term extrapolation, the combination of nowcasting with NWP is gaining momentum as NWP systems with rapid update cycling are approaching the nowcasting domain.

 

While the conference gave an impressive view of the many efforts in nowcasting techniques, there currently still seems to be a lack of coordinated activities. Similar systems are developed in parallel at different research institutes or NMS’s and one might ask if a coordination of those efforts could be fruitful and result in widely accepted and applied nowcasting tools. Modelling consortia, such as those for NWP’s, are not yet existent for nowcasting. Possibly, such cooperation is difficult due to regional and observation specific characteristics as well as the end-user focused nature of nowcasting . In this heterogeneous and interdisciplinary setting, it is important that the EUMETNET nowcasting project ASIST continues to support the cooperation between nowcasting researchers and practitioners among NMS’s.

The presentations from this conference can be found here.