Strengthening Weather And Climate Information Services

initiating PPCR projects, CIF assists countries inelaborating strategic programs (also known asStrategic Program for Climate Resilience or SPCR)that contextualize investments in adaptation withinnational and sectoral development plans. Theimplementation of SPCR projects follows a multistakeholder and inclusive approach that engagescommunity-based organizations, vulnerable groups,and the private sector. CIF’s way of working hasproven beneficial and represents progress towardengendering transformative impacts of investments inclimate action.In addition to its existing portfolio of WCISprojects, CIF has partnered with other financial anddevelopment partners to address the gap in WCIS.CIF has made active contributions to the work ofthe Alliance for Hydromet Development, establishedin 2019 at the 25th session of the Conference ofthe Parties to the UN Framework Convention onClimate Change to bridge the hydromet capacitygap in developing countries. Together with theAlliance members and other partners including thosefrom the private sector, CIF has contributed to theestablishment of a Systematic Observations FinancingFacility (SOFF) and the development of a countryhydromet performance diagnostics tool. Given thatthese collaborative efforts are still at an early stage,this brief focuses on experiences and lessons learnedbetween 2011 and 2020 from PPCR activities in relationto the WCIS value chain.As indicated in Figure 4, the largest portion of PPCRfinancial support can be attributed to observationsand monitoring due to the relative high cost ofmonitoring infrastructure. Nonetheless, the diversityof PPCR activities reflects the varying needs of partnercountries and provides great opportunity for learning.Implementation of projects has been in full swingsince 2011, and while some project activities are stillongoing, a wealth of results has been achieved.Using the five components of the WCIS value chain asa framework, this brief highlights some of the earlyresults and lessons learned from the PPCR projects inGrenada, Jamaica, Mozambique, Nepal, and Tajikistan(see Box 2).Box 2OVERVIEW OF FEATURED PPCR PROJECTSGRENADA: Disaster Vulnerability Reduction ProjectThe project is being implemented as part of the RegionalDisaster Vulnerability Reduction Project, with the aimof supporting priority risk-reduction investments andactivities that contribute to building Grenada’s capacityto better manage climate risks. This includes supportfor optimizing and modernizing the hydromet datacollection network and data management system;training on watershed and flood modeling; droughthazard mapping; and adjusting hydraulic parameters forclimate-proofing infrastructure design.JAMAICA: Improving Climate Data and InformationManagement ProjectThe project seeks to improve the quality and use ofclimate-related data and information for effectiveplanning and action at local and national levels. It aimsto upgrade hydromet data collection, processing, andforecasting systems; improve climate resilient planningand hydromet information services; and support climatechange education and awareness toward behavioralchange.MOZAMBIQUE: Transforming HydrometeorologicalServices ProjectThe project is part of national efforts to strengthenhydromet services. The aim is to deliver reliable andtimely climate information in support of economicdevelopment and improved decision making, particularlyin three areas (Zambezi, Limpopo, and Incomati Riverbasins). Investments focus on hydromet monitoringnetworks; more effective data management and dataexchange; and improved forecasting capabilities, training,and skills development to staff.NEPAL: Building Resilience to Climate-Related HazardsThe project aims to increase the country’s resilience toclimate-related hazards by improving the accuracy andtimeliness of weather and flood forecasts and warningsfor vulnerable communities countrywide. It also aims todevelop agricultural information management systemservices to help farmers mitigate climate-relatedproduction risks. The project has provided support toestablish multi-hazard information and early warningsystems; upgrade the existing hydromet system andagricultural information management system; andstrengthen the capacity of the hydromet agency.TAJIKISTAN: Improvement of Weather, Climate, andHydrological Delivery ProjectThe project is being implemented as part of the regionalproject, Central Asia Hydrometeorology ModernizationProject, aimed at strengthening hydromet services inthe Republic of Tajikistan. The PPCR-supported projectcomponent is helping strengthen Tajikhydromet toensure that it has the infrastructure and capability tosustainably observe, forecast, and deliver weather, water,and climate services that meet the country’s economicand societal development needs.9

PROGRESSAND LESSONSLEARNEDINSTALLING, UPGRADING, AND MODERNIZINGHYDROMET MONITORING SYSTEMSEffective climate services require monitoring variousvariables and ensuring adequate quality and quantityof data collected at the right place and at the righttime. Basic observational data on the key elementsof the weather and climate system are fundamentalto the understanding of ongoing weather patternsand climate trends, to the development of weatherforecast and climate modeling, and to the provisionof WCIS for different users (e.g., farmers, public healthpractitioners, disaster risk managers, water andenergy utility managers, insurers, and the aviationindustry, among others).As reported by the World Meteorological Organization(WMO), important observational data are missing inseveral parts of the world, particularly in Africa andsmall island developing states. Local observations arenot only important for local purposes, but through theirexchange, they also contribute to the global publicgood. They enable weather forecast, early warning,and climate analysis across the globe. For instance,despite covering a fifth of the world’s total land area,Africa has the least developed land-based observationnetwork of all continents. Moreover, Africa’s network isin a deteriorating state, amounting to only 1/8 of theminimum density required by WMO and only 22 percentof stations fully meet the Global Climate ObservingSystem (GCOS) reporting requirements (down from 57percent in 2011) (WMO, 2019).RESULTS AND LESSONS LEARNED IN GRENADA,JAMAICA, MOZAMBIQUE, AND TAJIKISTANTo help address this gap, PPCR supports developingcountries to upgrade and modernize their observationand monitoring systems. This includes the procurementand installation of new monitoring and associated datatransmission equipment for weather and hydrologicalmonitoring stations.In Grenada, as of February 2020, a total of 33 newstations, which measure a variety of variables requiredfor both weather and climate forecasting, have beeninstalled in Grenada, Carriacou, and Petite Martinique.10

In Jamaica, a key component of the ImprovingClimate Data and Information Management Projectis upgrading the country’s hydromet monitoringnetwork. As of April 2020, an impressive range ofessential equipment and infrastructure had been putin place:y35 automatic weather stations installedy54 intensity rain gauges and stream flow monitorsinstalled or upgradedy16 soil moisture probes installedy1 water-monitoring situation room established atthe Water Resources Authority (WRA)y1 sea level tidal gauge installedy2 back-up power supplies installedIn Mozambique, at the completion of the project inDecember 2019, 70 percent of river gauge stationswere open and reporting (against a baseline of 37percent in September 2013 and project target of 60percent), and 80 real-time hydrological monitoringstations were reporting (against a baseline of 8 andproject target of 40). In addition, 66 synoptic weatherstations were open and reporting (against a baselineof 41 and project target of 60), and 65 real-timemeteorological monitoring stations reporting (againsta baseline of 17 and project target of 25).In Tajikistan, as of March 2020, 90 percent ofmeteorology stations are now monitoring mainmeteorological parameters (against a baseline of 19percent in August 2011 and project target of 90 percentfor March 2023), with 44 percent of stream gaugesreporting operational data (against a baseline of 16percent and project target of 50 percent).Modernized weather station in Tajikistan.Photo: World Bank, GFDRR & Zoï Environment Network, 2018.11

KEY LESSONSUse of technologies: The use of satellite, radar,mobiles, cloud computing technologies, and onlinedatabase is an integral part of improving hydrometdata provision, but for these technologies to functionproperly, some basic conditions need to be in place.As observed in Mozambique, tight local governmentbudgets often cannot stretch to make use of radartechnology or supply the electricity needed to runthe radar or air conditioning required to house theessential equipment.Procurement of equipment and hardware: Due toa limited number of domestic vendors in manydeveloping countries, procurement of equipment andhardware is often a challenge for project teams. Asexperienced in Jamaica, it is critical to thoroughlyresearch all options and ensure the final purchaseditems are fit for purpose and on-site technicalsupport from the supplier is available, particularly forinitial installation and maintenance work.DEVELOPING AND UPGRADING HYDROMET DATA ANDINFORMATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEMSHydromet data and information systems are critical tofacilitating the collection, storage, and processing ofobservations and to developing weather and climatedata products and services. Without a viable dataand information management system, benefits of astrengthened monitoring network are underminedand efforts to develop decision-relevant WCIS severelycurtailed. Due to a combination of insufficient investmentin key IT infrastructure and gaps in technical expertise,the systematic collection, storage, and (post)processingof hydromet data remain major challenges for manydeveloping countries.In addition, the use of climate data is becoming moresophisticated, meaning that more data are requiredmore frequently and rapidly (e.g., for the calculation ofsub-daily Intensity-Frequency-Duration design rainfalls)and often combined with other environmental data toinform decisions (e.g., response to climate-sensitivedisease outbreak). Near-real-time high frequencyobservations are only feasible using automatic electronicinstrumentation, which comes at a higher cost bothfinancially and technologically compared to thetraditional manual methods.RESULTS AND LESSONS LEARNED IN GRENADA,MOZAMBIQUE, AND TAJIKISTANRecognizing the fundamental importance of afunctional data management system, PPCR supportscountries in developing and upgrading their hydrometinformation management systems. Working closelywith key stakeholders and partners, these efforts aimto develop a national hub of hydromet data, improvedata integrity and consistency, and better manage theworkflow for data access and processing.An automatic weather station installed at Mona Dam.Photo: Planning Institute of Jamaica, 2018.12In Grenada, an online data platform has beendeveloped to automatically collect data from 33 newlyinstalled hydromet stations. The platform offersaccess to both real-time and historical records fromthe stations along with tools to analyze the data andcreate information products. Government staff is beingtrained to maintain the hardware and use the platform.

This data platform allows the government of Grenadato view and analyze climate patterns at a watershedscale. It enables improved forecasting of climatevariability, which is crucial for the national agriculturalindustry. Engineering of hydraulic structures will alsogreatly benefit from the availability of rainfall andstreamflow records for most watersheds in Grenada.Also hosted on the same data platform is a combinedtopographic and bathymetric model of Grenada,Carriacou, and Petite Martinique created usingtopographic LiDAR and Multibeam Sonar under the PPCRproject. This model allows determination of elevationin Grenada, accurate to a few centimeters, at one-meterintervals offshore and half-meter intervals on land.Along with the model, high resolution aerial imagery wasalso collected. Data from the models and aerial imagerycan be accessed, with varying levels of permission,by both the public and government personnel. Themodels have been key to formulating Grenada’s longterm development strategy and identifying key nationalinfrastructure development projects, including theRenewal of St. George’s Project, installation of coastaldefenses around the Maurice Bishop InternationalAirport, and rehabilitation of transportation links tocommunities surrounding St. George’s.Homepage of the online hydromet data platformdeveloped to automatically collect and process data fromthe 33 hydromet stations installed under the PPCR projectin Grenada.Source: http://hydromet.gov.gd.In Mozambique, the PPCR project supported theClimsoft-based data management system at theNational Institute for Meteorology (INAM) to enablemore effective integration of multiple data streamsfor forecasting and reporting. This was made possiblethrough the installation of fiber-optic connectionsand internet broadband, which improved connectivitybetween INAM’s central office and decentralizedcenters across the country. Consequently, 28 (againstthe project target of 20) out of 40 conventionalweather stations now report to WMO’s GlobalObservation and Telecommunication System. Inaddition, the National Integrated Water ResourcesManagement Information System (NIWRMIS) and thetime-series hydrological data system were developed,allowing more effective integration, processing, andmanagement of multiple streams of water resourcesdata in a single information-sharing platform. Atproject completion, the NIWRMIS database hostedinformation from 717 water stations, 17 reservoirs,1,389 rain gauges, 7,686 boreholes, 3,598 sites of theNational Directorate for Water Supply and Sanitation,428 water use licenses, and 6,598 recovered anddigitalized (historical) records.View of St. George’s Grenada Terrain/Bathymetric Modelon Grennode.Source: ?service WMS&version 1.1.0&request GetMap&layers GrenadaLiDAR%3ADTM 50 HS DC&bbox 630000.0%2C1325000.0%2C677000.0%2C1386000.0&width 591&height 768&srs EPSG%3A32620&format application/openlayers.13

In Tajikistan, with its modernized hydromet datamanagement system, over 98 percent of observedhydromet data are transmitted in real time to globaltelecommunications systems for wider sharing. Inaddition, 1.35 million paper pages of historicaldata have been digitized and archived, significantlyextending the coverage of observed data series andenabling vital analysis on past climate in the countryand Central Asia region.potential to tap into information technologies andinnovation to maximize the WCIS data managementsystem. Despite initial scepticism, the open-sourceand cloud-based system for data collection, storage,processing, and forecast and warning has provenhighly effective and efficient.DEVELOPING CLIMATE RESEARCH, FORECASTING,AND MODELING CAPABILITIESTo fully tap into the benefits of improvedobservational data, technical capabilities are essentialto develop weather and climate foresights that caninform weather-sensitive decision making. For manydeveloping countries, weather forecasting and climatemodeling are nascent. Out of the 28 major modelinggroups contributing to the ongoing sixth phase ofthe international climate modeling inter-comparisonproject (CMIP6),5 only three are from developingcountries (China, India, and Thailand).RESULTS AND LESSONS LEARNED IN JAMAICA,MOZAMBIQUE, AND TAJIKISTANA large volume of hydromet observations previouslyrecorded in paper format is being digitized andarchived under the PPCR project in Tajikistan.Photo: World Bank, GFDRR & Zoï Environment Network, 2018.KEY LESSONSAlthough PPCR support, as with the majorityof current public funding for WCIS, focuses on“hardware” installation, the project partner inMozambique pointed out that data collection andmanagement are just as important. To realize the fullbenefit of the hardware and equipment, the designand development of an effective data collection andmanagement system merits due consideration. As theproject team in Mozambique witnessed, there is huge514To help address this notable capacity gap,PPCR supports developing countries’ efforts tostrengthen climate research, analytics, and modelingcapabilities—from the training on and application ofanalytic tools to the generation of local and decisionrelevant weather forecasts and climate projections.This work has directly contributed to national policydiscourses on climate change and more operationaldecisions in various countries.Research conducted under Jamaica’s PPCR projectinformed the 2015 State of the Jamaican ClimateReport (SOJC) . Considered as the first point ofreference with respect to climate information in thecountry, the 2015 SOJC assesses historical climatictrends and variability and produces near- to longterm climate projections for Jamaica. One of thekey features that distinguishes the 2015 SOJC fromits predecessor in 2012 is the provision of climateprojections at higher spatial resolution (at the sub-The CMIP is an ongoing global climate modeling initiative, coordinated by the World Meteorology Organization’s Working Group onCoupled Modeling. Results from the different phases of the CMIP inform the succession of assessment reports of the IntergovernmentalPanel on Climate Change (IPCC). Model outputs from CMIP6 will be assessed in the upcoming IPCC sixth assessment report.

national level) and that it is based on the latestIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC)emissions scenarios.In Mozambique, improvements to weather forecastingwere made using the higher-resolution WeatherResearch and Forecast Model. At project completion,downscaled daily weather forecasts were delivered to28 districts (exceeding the original target of 6). Furtherimprovements in the near future could come throughthe open-source integrated forecast product platform.Similarly, hydrological models for Limpopo andZambezi have been installed, and are running in theNational Directorate for Water Resource Managementand relevant regional water authority offices. Thesemodels are open-source and will not require licenseextensions going forward. Improved weather forecastsare now systematically accessed and used as inputsto the hydrological models developed for each basinto generate flood forecasts, improving the forecastlead time from one to three days.In close collaboration with other Central Asiancountries, the PPCR project team in Tajikistan hasmade significant progress in enhancing in-countryclimate modeling capability. Six hourly forecasts ofbasic weather parameters are now being producedwith the COSMO-CA model, at horizontal resolutionsof up to 2.2 km.Temperature forecast at 0900 hours on January 2,2020 using COSMO-CA model at horizontal resolutionof 2.2 km for Tajikistan.Source: http://ca.meteo.uz.KEY LESSONSThe Mozambique project showed that hydrometresearch, forecasting, and modeling capacities aremost effectively enhanced by bringing togethertechnical expertise and a data and informationmanagement system. A seamless flow ofobservational data within the weather forecast andflood warning modeling frameworks is particularlyimportant to provide more accurate and timely modeloutputs. The open-source nature of the hydrologicalmodels used for flood modeling is particularly helpfulto ensure that improved weather forecast data canbe seamlessly fed into the flood model for generatingflood warnings with a minimal time lag. 2.04 2.79 2.83 2.74 2.38 1.48 2.65 2.13 2.21 2.16 2.15 2.26 2.06 1.92 2.02 2.09 2.16 2.20 2.21 2.07 1.98 1.93 2.07 2.14 2.12 1.83High-resolutionprojections of annualtemperature changefor the 2030s witha 1961–90 baselinefrom the PPCR projectdirectly contributedto the State of theJamaican Climate 2015report.Source: Climate StudiesGroup Mona, University ofthe West Indies (2017). Stateof the Jamaican ClimateReport 2015 (Information forResilience Building, Producedfor the Planning Institute ofJamaica), Kingston, Jamaica.15

DEVELOPING AND DELIVERING WEATHER ANDCLIMATE INFORMATION PRODUCTS AND SERVICESThe development and delivery of weather and climateproducts and services represents the weakest link inthe WCIS value chain. While there has been a rapidgrowth in the recognition of the importance andsocietal value of WCIS—driven by the considerablesocio-economic impacts of weather and climaterelated events around the globe—progress in thedevelopment and delivery of WCIS remains limited. Tomeet the growing demand for a wide range of WCISservices, a country’s NMHS must realign its traditionalfocus on weather-oriented services.Depending on the user group (e.g., farmingcommunity, public health authority) as well as theparticular decision context (e.g., short-term farmingoperations, long-term infrastructure planning), WCIScan vary widely. For example, Figure 5 illustrates howWCIS can be applied to support the provision ofpublic health services. It ranges from daily to weeklyweather forecasts used to issue public health alerts,to climate model projections for multi-decadal timehorizons used to inform the planning and design ofpublic health infrastructure.In addition to the challenges associated with thecomplexity of designing tailored WCIS to meet thediverse range of user needs, more work is neededto develop and deliver WCIS at the same highstandards as other services used widely by the public.As illustrated in Table 1, WCIS, particularly climateservices, are still at the early stage of developmentcompared to other public services.RESULTS AND LESSONS LEARNED IN MOZAMBIQUE,NEPAL, AND TAJIKISTANWith the g

climate data and information, involving a wide range of stakeholders and service platforms (WMO, 2011).* By definition, weather information services focus on the shorter-term information (from minutes to seasons) that is important for decision making on operations and logistics. Climate information services require