1. Headlines
The C-SRNWP Programme had been continued in 2010 based on the building blocks established in the previous years. In practise these elements are the SRNWP Advisory Committee (with continuous email correspondence between its members and a meeting after the annual EWGLAM/SRNWP workshop) and the eight Expert Teams ensuring the scientific cooperation between the five limited-area (LAM) Consortia (ALADIN, COSMO, HIRLAM, LACE and Met Office) of Europe. At the end of the previous year Russia joined the COSMO cooperation, therefore became member of the SRNWP community as well. At the end of the year Poland became a new contributing member of the programme. The most important event of the cooperation was the annual EWGLAM/SRNWP meeting, which was held in United Kingdom this time. The collection of the surface observational data from different European measurement stations was successful and the operational data exchange had been started (the objective is to use the data for validating the land-surface schemes of the LAM Consortia models). The five LAM Consortia in Europe and the C-SRNWP members are shown in the figure below (Lithuania entered the HIRLAM cooperation as a full member):
2. Status of programmatic targets
The main activity of the C-SRNWP programme is the scientific and technical (operational) coordination between the five LAM Consortia in Europe (ALADIN, COSMO, HIRLAM, LACE and Met Office). The coordination is ensured by the eight Expert Teams (data assimilation and use of observations; diagnostics, validation and verification; dynamics and lateral boundary coupling; link with applications; physical parameterization: upper air; predictability and EPS; surface and soil processes: model and data assimilation; system aspects) established in the previous years and through the regular correspondence (including the annual meeting) between the members of the SRNWP Advisory Committee. Recent information can be found about the programme in general and about the workplans of the Expert Teams in particular at the SRNWP webpage hosted by the Hungarian Meteorological Service (srnwp.met.hu).
2.1. Expert Team issues
The Expert Teams based their activities as it was laid down by their respective workplans. The workplans are identifying such common areas of interest, where the Consortia can work together. Certainly, at the moment there is stronger synergy between the ALADIN, LACE and HIRLAM groups (due to their code cooperation) than the other two Consortia, however each Expert Team is making efforts to extend cooperation for the benefit of all the Consortia. The additional SRNWP-related programmes (Interoperability and Verification) are good examples for that (see more below). The Expert Teams have an essential role to organise the scientific sessions of the annual EWGLAM/SRNWP meeting (review talks, scientific sessions and discussions). The Expert Teams (together with the Advisory Committee) had an important role to provide inputs of the SRNWP community towards various high level EUMETNET demands: the definition of observational requirements of numerical weather prediction, the drafting of proposals for the Assembly on the development of high resolution ensemble prediction systems and on the roadmap of the SRNWP cooperation. The Expert Team on "surface and soil processes (model and data assimilation)" carried out a surface data collection activity with the primary aim to be able to validate the land-surface schemes of the SRNWP Consortia models. The data exchange is operational (see details at http://www.cosmo-model.org/srnwp/content/default.htm). At the end of the year the extension of the station list had been started: authorisation of the access to the data from Cardington (UK) was also received and two other locations (one is being in Russia and another one in Hungary) are also targeted. The official request-letters were sent by the C-SRNWP Programme Manager and the data collection is managed by the Expert Team.
2.2 SRNWP Advisory Committee issues
The SRNWP Advisory Committee consists of the heads of the various European LAM Consortia. For the meetings also the SRNWP-I and SRNWP-V Programme Managers are invited, additionally the autumn meeting was also attended by the Expert Team chairpersons. The main issues of discussion of the Advisory Committee were as follows: scientific issues around the eight Expert Teams (including the two related programmes), long-term strategy of the SRNWP programmes together with a proposal to the EUMETNET Assembly, observational requirements of the NWP models presented to the PB-OBS community, organisation and scientific details of the EWGLAM/SRNWP annual meeting.
2.3 Links with the partners
The relation with the partners was ensured by the contact persons at each member, who received regular (mostly email) information about the latest news of the Programme. Poland expressed its interest to become contributing member of the programme at the end of the year. Russia became an informal member of the cooperation being member of the COSMO Consortium (without financial contribution and EUMETNET membership).
2.4 Other SRNWP-related Programmes
There are two other programmes under the umbrella of SRNWP: SRNWP-I (Interoperability)
and SRNWP-V (Verification). Both programmes are coordinated by Met Office (for SRNWP-I
the Programme Manager is Rachel North and for SRNWP-V is Clive Wilson).
The Interoperability Programme defined the standard exchange format (GRIB2) together with
the list of parameters to be exchanged. All the "adaptor" programmes are part of the
Consortia modelling softwares and being developed by the Consortia experts (upon definition
of the various model grids and vertical coordinates). This solution ensures that the future
maintenance of the interoperability-related softwares will be carried out by the Consortia. The
SRNWP-V programme had started the operational inter-comparison of the main Consortia
models of SRNWP (results are available at the EUMETNET portal). The extension of the
SRNWP-V programme until the end of 2012 was asked and then granted by the EUMETNET
Assembly with unchanged coordination (by the Met Office), but with additional deliverables.
3. Communication and cooperation
The Programme Manager attended several meetings, workshops on behalf of the programme. On the one hand these meetings were scientific workshops of the different Consortia (for instance ALADIN-HIRLAM workshop or COSMO General Meeting) and "cooperation meetings" with other programmes of EUMETNET (for instance E-SAT – EUCOS Science Advisory Team – meeting or ECSN Advisory Committee Meeting) and with the Coordination Office (for instance Forecasting Capability Programme meeting or PM meeting). This meant that in 2010 more links were built with the observational and climate communities with special emphasis on the NWP observational requirements. The Assembly tasked the C-SRNWP Programme Manager to act as an interim Forecasting Capability Programme Manager, therefore coordination between all the forecasting programmes of EUMETNET (C-SRNWP, SRNWP-I, SRNWP-V, EMMA, SATREP, EUMETCAL) had been increased. The proposal (EUROPredict: Mesoscale Predictability of High-impact Weather Events) for the European Science Foundation was updated (based on the reviews), but in spite of the very positive evaluation the support was finally not obtained.
4. Benefits Delivery
The C-SRNWP cooperation is clearly very beneficial for the participating states with the further developments and improvements of the European Consortia limited area models. Improved models provide better forecasts and respectively better forecasts have great economic value not only for the meteorological services, but more importantly also to the entire society. The importance of the numerical weather prediction (NWP) infrastructure is clear for the meteorological services, since it has a central role in their production chain, however the perspectives (and also possible limitations) for the use of NWP models should be promoted to all the users of the meteorological community.
5. Financial report
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Remarks:* - Revenue - R2 and Cost - C2: The increased travel cost (around 2,501 euro) is covered as in-kind subsidy of the Hungarian Meteorologial Service. |
6. Risks and issues
The C-SRNWP Programme is managed by a Programme Manager on a part-time basis (one-third of full-time equivalent), therefore the Programme Manager has additional duties demanded from his home institute. This manpower is sufficient to coordinate the C-SRNWP Programme, however it is largely insufficient to additionally coordinate the entire Forecasting Capability Area of EUMETNET (since the C-SRNWP Programme Manager is also acting as Interim Forecasting Capability Programme Manager). In practise it means that the Forecasting Capability Programme Manager activities can be realised only with some limitations, therefore it would be desirable to establish as soon as possible the permanent solution for the Forecasting Capability Programme Manager position (certainly with more manpower).
Another issue is related to the memberships of the programme. The C-SRNWP Programme
has three types of members:
The last type of membership was always existing (without any problem), but its potential legal consequencies in terms of intellectual property rights, data policy and funding might be assessed by the relevant EUMETNET Advisory Committee (PFAC).
7. Programme change requests
None to request.
8. Assets list
None to report.
9. Outlook for 2011
On the one hand in 2011 the programme is going to be continued on the same basis (Expert Teams, Advisory Committee, EWGLAM/SRNWP annual meeting) as before ("business as usual"). As regards the scientific issues the further extension and consolidation of the surface data exchange programme is anticipated and the report of the first results will be fed back to the Assembly (and particularly to those Directors, who provided data access for this exercise). Additionally, the Programme Manager will continue his work as Interim Capability Programme Manager for Forecasting. In that context the activities of the Forecasting Drafting Team is especially important in order to discuss, propose and refine the roadmap document to be submitted to STAC/PFAC and to the Assembly. Due to the timeframe of the EUMETNET roadmaps it is envisaged that either a one-year prolongation of the programme or the establishment of the Forecasting Capability Programme will be asked from the Assembly from 2012 onwards.
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GIE EUMETNET, Avenue Circulaire 3, |
