Neil Plummer, Mary Voice, John Shortridge, Anne Brewster and Dean Collins

National Climate Centre, Bureau of Meteorology, GPO Box 1289K, Melbourne, 3001 (n.plummer@bom.gov.au; Phone: 03 9669 4457; Fax: 03 9669 4760)

Climate observations underpin just about everything that will be discussed at CLI-MANAGE 2000 and national meteorological services expend much of their available resources on activities to record, collect and manage these data. After a brief discussion of the Bureau of Meteorology’s Australian Data Archive for Meteorology (ADAM), and additional data managed by the Bureau, the future ability to manage climate variability will be reviewed (from a "bottom-up" perspective).

1. Introduction

ADAM is providing an invaluable resource in helping Australia manage its rapidly growing climate data. All around the world, climate data centres are having to satisfy the growing, and sometimes conflicting, data needs of an increasingly sophisticated user community. For example, climate researchers need precise information about the source from which data are derived and also observations from terrestrial systems (e.g. soil moisture) previously considered non-essential to the climate system. On the other hand, weather forecasters are now interested in accessing more data when and where it is required (depending on the weather situation). Perhaps the greatest challenge for data managers is predicting user needs in the next decade and beyond. Australian stakeholders in climate variability rely on data collected throughout the globe – on and above both the land surface and oceans and within terrestrial systems.

Although much of the Bureau’s climate data is archived in the ADAM relational database, some of it remains stored by other means – either because it is awaiting storage in ADAM or because it is more conveniently held elsewhere. A large portion of the Bureau’s climate record remains only in hard copy form and these are managed by National Archives Australia. The Bureau’s National Climate Centre (NCC) is responsible for managing the climate database and its main tasks involve data collection, quality control, monitoring and archiving.

2.1 Australian Data Archive for Meteorology

The main climate archive resides at the back-end of a corporate data server and consists of a series of relational tables containing observations of the surface climate (e.g. temperature, rainfall, pressure, wind speed and direction, cloud amount, weather phenomenon), and rainfall intensity (from pluviographs), marine (from ships and buoys), upper air (temperature, wind and humidity). International monthly climate information is obtained from the CLIMAT message. Surface climate records extend back into the mid-to-late nineteenth century for many sites but much daily and hourly historical data remain to be computerised.

ADAM, including indexes and supporting tables, currently take up about 70 Gbytes of disk space and volumes are expected to rapidly increase over the next few years as new data types and data of higher temporal resolution (e.g. aviation reports at 30 minute intervals and less) are stored.

2.2 Other data

The NCC is managing other available datasets, which are not currently under the ADAM structure (e.g. information on tropical cyclones and radiation). A number of high quality temperature and rainfall datasets, which are suitable for climate change studies, are also available from the NCC.

The Bureau’s regional offices collect composite records from capital cities, high-resolution one-minute data from automatic weather stations (AWSs) and information on severe storms. The Bureau is storing observations of the subsurface ocean and upper air data from profilers and aircraft. Data on the chemical composition of the atmosphere are stored at Cape Grim in Tasmania as part of the Global Atmospheric Watch program. Satellite and radar imagery and other data and products are available through the Bureau’s Registered User Weather Information Services.

Rapid advances in seasonal climate prediction and in the understanding of climate variability and change over the past decade and a half provide ample evidence that climate data have served the Australian community well. The following discussion looks at some of the major data issues that will help determine how well Australians can manage with climate variability in the future.

First, the opportunities:

Improved data for monitoring the climate:

As previously discussed, there are almost as many "new" data types awaiting entry into ADAM as those already in the database. In addition, the CLIMARC project is allowing the computerising of daily and hourly surface climate data for 50 Australian locations and is therefore providing valuable data for long-term climate monitoring, particularly of extreme climate events. Climate can also expect to see benefits from high resolution AWS data over the next decade or so. Smith (2000) describes an exciting future for the oceans that includes improved observations of surface topography, sea surface temperature, surface wind and profiles of temperature and salinity from Argo floats. The El Niño observing system will be upgraded.

Improved data quality monitoring systems:

There have been recent improvements in quality monitoring through a greater range of data checking within the NCC and through the introduction of on-station data entry facilities. The Bureau’s Climate Services and Observations programs are currently developing an improved Quality Monitoring System, which will provide a range of improved statistical and graphical tools to help detect and correct problem climate data. The same system will also provide performance information on observations networks and systems to help improve their management and ultimately the data provided by them.

Improved data accessibility:

Rapid access is in demand as observations are required for input to decision support systems, to generate high-resolution local analyses using additional local data and to improve short-term and seasonal prediction. Considerable effort has been expended in recent years in the development of improved access methods for retrieval of climate data by Bureau staff. Through the Bureau's SILO system, data files can be accessed by the public, both free and on a cost-recovery subscription basis as appropriate. It is hoped that the Bureau will provide some degree of direct access to ADAM by the general public, again (largely) on a cost-recovery basis.

Improved metadata:

Station metadata allows researchers to adjust data series for non-climatic influences and, in doing so, adds certainty and value to derived products. The Bureau’s Observations Program has developed SitesDb - a relational database to store detailed information about meteorological stations, including their histories. However, it will take some time before all historical records can be computerised. The NCC is also imaging the historical station files and so site diagrams and photographs will also be more accessible. However, more effort is required to compile other important metadata such as historical changes in observation practices.

International efforts:

A commitment to the goals of the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) will need efforts from national meteorological services inter alia to the long-term maintenance of stations within the GCOS atmospheric networks and in ensuring that they adhere to best practice requirements. Interestingly, an emphasis on adherence to standards and quality is also gaining support in the commercial arena (e.g. the weather derivatives industry).

There are a number of other data issues that may decrease the ability of Australian to manage with climate variability. These are:

Intellectual property rights on databases:

Although the issue has received less attention in recent years, the concern remains of a treaty (through The World Intellectual Property Organization) that would require most countries to define and possibly curtail the public's rights to use public domain materials stored in "databases". It is possible that, if enacted, the treaty could lead to private organisations acquiring large climate databases and restricting their use.

Australia has benefited enormously from the co-operative exchange of weather and climate data. Benefits include extended national weather forecasts, seasonal prediction and access to satellite data. Those with interests in climate variability should be aware of the enormous loss if this co-operation should breakdown. However, an agreement to exchange data is futile if the capability to record observations is not possible. There has been a recent decline in the absolute numbers of surface and upper-air observations over the globe and the gaps are most serious in regions where the impacts of climate change are expected to be the most severe (GCOS 1998).

Adaptive observation networks:

While expanding the range of available data, improvements in observation systems technology and associated communications are also lending support to the development of adaptive observation networks. The requirement for national meteorological services to reduce costs provides additional motivation. More adaptive observations, using for example, sondes dropped from aircraft, or changing the frequency of observations according to particular meteorological circumstances, are particularly appealing to weather forecasters. If these networks evolve unchecked then there are dangers for climate, particularly in terms of maintaining data homogeneity. Increased automation should also be accompanied with a "manual" network sufficient to monitor useful visual observations (e.g. cloud cover, dust, haze).

Advances in technology and climate research have allowed for rapid generation and dissemination of a range of effective products and services in recent years. As a result, it is perhaps understandable that less attention has been given to the development of climate databases and the other infrastructure (e.g. observation systems and networks) that support these products and services. Concerns remain over the adequacy of the existing meteorological observation networks to satisfy the needs of the GCOS. This was reflected in a report (GCOS 1998) submitted to the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice of the Conference of the Parties for the COP-4. In short, an urgent commitment is required to both halt and reverse the decline of existing observation systems and to exchange information more effectively. Casual observers may be excused for questioning whether this is an issue for the Australian community. When considering that the observational needs for managing the climate are global and not local, then the concern becomes more obvious and one must conclude that Australian climate research and operations has much to gain from assisting developing countries, not only develop capacity to provide services, but to manage their own data.

Improving the ability of Australians to make better climate related decisions will require particular investments in domestic and international efforts to improve the collection and management of climate data. All stakeholders in climate variability should be aware of the major opportunities and threats concerning climate data and lend support towards activities that exploit the former and reduce the influence of the latter.

Useful comments on an earlier draft were received from Ian Muirhead and Blair Trewin (NCC).

GCOS, 1998: Report on the Adequacy of the Global Climate Observing Systems.

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, November 2-13 1998, Buenos Aires, Argentina. GCOS Report No.48.

Smith, N., 2000: Realising the potential of ocean observing networks – a Pacific Island regional perspective. Paper presented at the Pacific Island Regional Implementation Workshop on improving GCOS, August 14-15 2000, Apia, Samoa.