MST Meeting 2

Details

 

2014-09-02 Per Undén

 

 

 

Minutes from UERRA MST meeting 2, 2 September 2014

 



 

      • Present:

 

Per Undén, Dale Barker, Manola Brunet, Andrea Kaiser-Weiss, Albert Klein-Tank,

 

      • Agenda

 

  1. Action points from MST 1. (Encl. last minutes or see them on the web site under Meetings).

  2. Update of work in the WPs (this may require some time for communication within the WPs) (Any slides or pictures welcome). (N.B. I am also myself coordinating the SMHI group that works within WP2).

  3. Deliverables
    In particular the Dissemination plan (WP7), Coordination plan (WP6), Web portal (WP9)

  4. Meetings and communications
    Past meetings and communications
    EMS/ECAC meeting in Prague 6-10 October
    (a MST meeting will be arranged and will ask for a room directly from the organizers)
    GA 2015
    Dates and times set and communicated in May (and on the Web site)
    Programme and planning etc. and ESAB presence (probably yes)
    Other meetings (AGU December e.g.).
    N.B. Travel outside of Europe requires prior approval from our PO through me as Coordinator (all communication has to go through us at SMHI).

  5. The UERRA web and wiki - ideas and requests

 

Common web page/ WP9 ?

 

  1. Other items

  2. Next meeting.

 



 

  1. Action points from MST1

 

1. Priorities in observation rescue.

 

This was discussed at the GA and Manola Brunet circulated a proposal/questionnaire and there were comments from the Project members. (See further on too)

 



 

2. Input data for WP2. Climatological data of vegetation, leaf area index etc. will be surveyed. Not mentioned at the meeting but we will come back to this. Contacts with ECMWF and ERA-CLIM2 in Montreal it transpired us that they will start the ERA-SAT replacement of ERA-Interim in 6 months' time and finish 18 months therafter. The resolution will probably be at TL511 and 4D-VAR presumably in ensemble mode and 10-20 members.

 

2. Passing recovered observations to ECMWF archives in order to use them for UERRA WP2.

 

Ian Harris and Manola have met with ECMWF staff and discussed the way for storing in the MARS Archive either the observations recovered under EURO4M after reformatting them to ODB or the new observations to be recovered under UERRA, but the MARS’ updating is only done annually. See also below under WP1.

 

3. WP3 survey of diagnostic output from WP2 (o-b e.g.) and also which measures should be delivered from WP2. This is discussed in the WP3 report from the WS at DWD. ODB feedback files should be provided and ideally of precipitation and Tx, Tn, but at least the latter are not used in NWP RA. (The normal observed data for analysis are in ODB files and can normally be archived).

 

  1. Update of the work in the WPs

 

WP1.

 

Manola gave an extensive account of the progress and difficulties in the data rescue efforts. The emphasis is as agreed for post-1961 data and E Europa and S Europe/N Africa, although also a marginal effort is placed on the recovery of pre-1961 observations. Variables are hourly pressure, temperature, dew point, wind speed and direction, radiation, and daily precipitation and snow depth.

 

While there is no problem to access and gather data sources for the pre-1961 period, to locate and access post-1961 data sources is being a problem, since most of these data are kept at the National Archives of the National Meteorological Services (NMS) in original logbooks and many are unscanned. Manola has contacted some of the NMS PRs, using the opportunity brought by the WMO/Commission for Climatology Conference in Heidelberg and offered the countries to digitize from their scanned sources some of their records, but none of the 5 countries in E and S Europe contacted so far has responded except Libya. Scandinavia is a problem for snow depth in the 60's and 70s. Also discussions about which data to digitize from Romania have not been completed yet.

 

The data from WW2 at NCDC are potentially valuable but are on micro film and require a visit there to access the data. Catalogues are lacking mostly so not so much about the data content is known.

 

Pre 1951 observations are easier, because the data records are known and a lot of the digitizing work has already been done. If no progress with the non-responding countries happens, we will run out of observation inputs.

 

At the meeting with ECMWF the ways to make the data available to the project were briefly discussed. They suggest creating a new class in an ODB Analysis Input (OAI) called UERRA, where the data recovered under UERRA plus the reanalysis data could be archived, according to Manuel Fuente’s suggestion – but need to check it with him. There should be some master files and then data can be coded into ODB2. It must be stressed that all observations recovered or stored into MARS must be open data.

 

WP2.

 

There has not been a general update due to time and holidays/Montreal meeting. There is a Deliverable by SMHI at M12 for the HARMONIE mini physics ensemble (and report). It may be delayed due to time for starting after EURO4M and technical issues. Now the MARS GRIB2 archiving at ECMWF seems most crucial and will probably take time to sort out (we need help through WP4). Any delays will be communicated by the Coordinator to our PO at REA.

 

At DWD there has been a review of the RA activities and it may have some impact on the UBO work on RA in UERRA. Per and Dale will confer with Jan Keller ASAP. Hopefully the plan should remain much as it is.

 

WP3.

 

The workshop has been held and the report has been written. The table of parameters is almost there (SMHI still to fill in more). The online document can still be updated, but Andrea will send them out with a closing deadline since the Deliverables need to be fulfilled.

 

The programme package from WP3 will be needed in WP8 and Albert reminded that this will become quite urgent.

 

WP4.

 

The Web Map Services at ECMWF now also include EURO4M data (some data) which are available via the ESGF nodes. These data services at ECMWF (and KNMI) are public and must be so. Such nodes are prerequisites for the service. There is one at NSC in Sweden, where the HIRLAM EURO4M data are stored in MARS, but it is only in the CLIPC project that the data services will be built to the outside world.

 

WP8.

 

Discussions have taken place with EUMETNET who will use UERRA data and uncertainites (through the members) as early adapters or users.

 

  1. Deliverables

 

The Dissemination plan (M3) is very late. The first version of some 7-8 pages was written by the Coordinator but KNMI and Albert will now complement the plan with more content.

 

A Coordination plan is a M6 deliverable for WP6 and the Coordinator, now being written.

 

The Common Web portal in WP9 (M6) and assigned to SMHI seems wrong. The UERRA web is there since long ago, but it is not the common web portal for all the 5 projects. This will be discussed in the telephone conference on Copernicus next Tuesday (9/9).

 

  1. Meetings and communication

 

The operational Copernicus services being built at ECMWF do not seem to include much of the 5 FP7 projects and this will be discussed in the telephone conference. Communication is through the ECMWF member states representatives.

 

There have also been contacts between the NMS:s and ECMWF.

 

  1. The UERRA web site

 

New items have been added and it continues to be updated when new material is available. The wiki part has not been filled yet but should serve as a knowledge data base.

 

  1. Other items

  2. Next meeting

 

EMS meeting Wednesday 8 October 16.30-18, Prague and tele (Skype as well)

 



 

  1. Action points

 

  1. The Coordinator contacts the Project Officer Stijn Vermoote with an update on the status of the early Deliverables including the delayed ones.

  2. Per will discuss with Jan Keller and Dale about any changes to UBO's reanalysis work.

  3. Andrea will circulate the latest draft version of the D3.2 Evaluation procedures report with a deadline of 30 September for update. The updates should be in the on-line documents, as instructed by Andrea.

  4. Manola will contact us to see what is available nationally in scanned format. Manola has offered the countries to digitize manual records. Also discussions about which data to digitize from Romania have not been completed yet.

  5. Manola will contact Roxana Bojariu again soon and will make a CC to Per to have him in the loop.