<p>The German Meteorological Service (Deutscher Wetterdienst, DWD) hosts the Regional Climate Centre Network of the WMO Regional Association (RA) VI Region (Europe and Middle East). One of its mandatory functions is the issuance of Climate Watch Advisories (CWA). These are early warning advisories on weather and climate events in the extended forecast range (2-4 weeks), such as heat and cold waves, heavy precipitation periods and drought, all within Europe / RA VI. The advisories are based on expert assessments of climate monitoring and extended forecast results. Users of these advisories are other National Meteorological and Hydrological services (NMHSs) in the RA VI Region. It is up to the NMHSs to turn CWAs into tailored national advisories or warnings to their end users.</p><p>One of the main criteria for issuing CWAs is the existence of any expected impact, and the advisories should also contain impact information (e.g. flooding, impact on health or agriculture). In such a large area like Europe / the RA VI Region, the impact can be very different from country to country due to the very heterogeneous climate within the Region, different infrastructure and different level of vulnerability.</p><p>To gather the impact information, an appropriate geodatabase has been established at DWD, the so-called KRONER (Knowledge Database on EuROpeaN Climate ExtRemes). Taken from various sources in the web and especially from data and reports of NMHSs, the following event information is archived as data base records: start and end time of the event, event category (flood, landslide, heat wave, etc.), related low- or high-pressure system, place (country, various administrative levels), description of the event and related impact. The data base is filled daily, and the content is checked for relevance for Climate Watch purposes by applying specific warning criteria (sufficient duration, spatial extension, extreme intensity and impact).</p><p>For the future, it is planned to transform this subjective Climate Watch system (based on expert assessment) into an objective automatized system. This new system will contain the check of warning criteria based on gridded data of preselected forecast models, the automatized generation of CWAs using text modules, automatic inclusion of impact information taken from the KRONER database, automatic visualisation of warned areas using geodata layers and automatic distribution to the users (the NMHSs).</p>
Abstract. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) established Regional Climate Centres (RCCs) around the world to create science-based climate information on a regional scale within the Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS). The paper introduces the satellite component of the WMO Regional Climate Centre on Climate Monitoring (RCC-CM) for Europe and the Middle East. The RCC-CM product portfolio is based on essential climate variables (ECVs) as defined by the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS), spanning the atmospheric (radiation, clouds, water vapour) and terrestrial domains (snow cover, soil moisture). In the first part, the input data sets are briefly described, which are provided by the EUMETSAT (European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites) Satellite Application Facilities (SAF), in particular CM SAF, and by the ESA (European Space Agency) Climate Change Initiative (CCI). In the second part, the derived RCC-CM products are presented, which are divided into two groups: (i) operational monitoring products (e.g. monthly means and anomalies) based on near-real-time environmental data records (EDRs) and (ii) climate information records (e.g. climatologies, time series, trend maps) based on long-term thematic climate data records (TCDRs) with adequate stability, accuracy and homogeneity. The products are provided as maps, statistical plots and gridded data, which are made available through the RCC-CM website (www.dwd.de/rcc-cm).
<p>Regional Climate Centres (RCCs) are regional, operational entities of the Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS) Climate Services Information System (CSIS). As such they are serving the members of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) through their respective National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs). Thus, RCCs are supporting NMHSs in meeting their national climate-related duties and better serving their users. RCCs are formally designated by WMO and are recognized as WMO Regional Specialized Meteorological Centres (RSMCs) in the WMO Manual on the Global Data-processing and Forecasting System (GDPFS).</p><p>WMO RCCs provide climate data sets, climate monitoring products, including climate watches, and long-range forecasting products. The details of the services provided by RCCs are developed jointly with the WMO Members in the region, based on their needs, and regularly reviewed. The RCC in Europe (WMO Regional Association (RA) VI) has been established in 2009 and designated in 2012 as a network of three nodes i.e. for climate data, climate monitoring and long-range forecasting. Each of these nodes is led by a NMHS, supported by a consortium of agencies providing regional or sub-regional contributions. A website (www.rccra6.org) allows access to the network, with links to the websites of the individual nodes. While most of the information is accessible without restriction, some content, like the Climate Watch Advisories (CWAs) is password protected, and may only be accessed with permission of the home country&#8217;s NMHS.</p><p>The presentation will demonstrate the many services offered by the WMO RA VI RCC Network through its members, lessons learned, and challenges ahead. It will be a kind of update to the information provided in the EMS/ ECAC 2012.&#160;</p>
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