Project Summary

Introduction

A meeting of the Expert Team on the Rescue, Preservation and Digitization of Climate Records, a committee of the World Climate Data and Monitoring Programme, met in Kuala Lumpur in 2003 and recommended, amongst other things;

1. That each member country maintain an inventory of all observational data and metadata records and identify those in need of rescue and/or digitization,
2. That Data Rescue activities be part of the meteorological services normal business process,

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology (the Bureau) has obtained funds from the Australian Greenhouse Office (AGO) to undertake Data Rescue activities in five Pacific Island countries relatively close to and of strategic importance to Australia (Papua-New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji and Kiribati). The project is to be undertaken in partnership with New Zealand under the AGO's Bilateral Climate Change Partnership program, and will be managed by the Bureau's National Climate Centre.

There is widespread recognition within the climate change community of the importance and urgency of data rescue efforts. Data rescue is a major initiative of the WMO (see http://www.wmo.ch/web/wcp/wcdmp/dare/html/dare.html. Further, the recently released Second Report on the Adequacy of the Global Observing Systems for Climate in Support of the UNFCCC reported that (p22) "...activities that lead to the recovery and rehabilitation of historical observations ... are vitally important to the whole community".

Objectives

To 'rescue' Pacific Island Country (PIC) climate records in order to:

• Prevent loss of national heritage through the deterioration or destruction of original records;
• Improve the potential for within-country services (e.g. seasonal climate prediction, and mitigation of the potential effects of climate change) to support important social and economic needs and help ensure sustainable development;
• Provide essential resources for climate change research at the national, regional and global levels
• Provide capacity building for PIC meteorological staff in effective records management and data preservation methods.

Project description

The above objectives will be achieved via Data Rescue outcomes in five PIC's. To complement the existing NZ-US bilateral project, the project will focus on climate data in the Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and Fiji the specific project deliverables include;

• Prepare an inventory of records (including metadata) available in both digital and non-digital forms, both within and outside of the countries;
• Liaise with New Zealand's National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) and other organisations as appropriate, to identify and prioritise records for future digitising;
• Recommend action for the preservation of the records; and
• Prioritise records identified as being most at risk of loss and take measures to immediately secure in safe storage, subject to the resourcing available and PIC agreement to taking this action.

The focus of this particular project is not on digitising records although the outputs from it, coupled with implementation of in-country databases, may be a precursor to future digitising efforts.

In providing knowledge and skills in records management, this project will provide substantial capacity building, which will help to ensure sound management of this data, and increase the likelihood of improved climate records in future years.

Project Outcomes:

1. 1. Access to additional meteorological records will lead to an enhanced understanding of the climate of the South Pacific, which exerts a very strong influence on the climate of the entire Pacifc basin including Australia, through the El Ni·o - Southern Oscillation phenomenon, and through longer-term variabilitya.
2. 2. Similarly, the records will lead to an improved documentation and understanding of climate change throughout the region, and will provide the basis for further studies on impacts and adaptation strategies in the Pacific and neighbouring countries, including Australia.
3. 3. Recognition by PICs of Australia's willingness and readiness to assist in practical and meaningful ways to combat the debilitating effects of climate variability and change is important in this region of high strategic importance to Australia.
4. 4. Australia meets its international obligations, e.g., under WMO and UNFCCC Conventions as a Regional leader, with the capacity to assist developing countries within its Region.

Project Management

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology will implement and manage the project.

The project team has considerable expertise in records management, digital imaging, data rescue, key entry, quality control of meteorological data and data management. All members of the steering committee are members of at least one World Meteorological Organization (WMO) World Climate Data and Monitoring Programme (WCDMP) data management related activities.

Sustainability

Pacific Island countries have stated that securing their climate records is a high priority for them. The Bureau of Meteorology's National Climate Centre has already demonstrated the value of its past and ongoing Australian data rescue activities; however the Bureau would be unable to extend this activity to the Pacific region without additional resources, as the current priority for existing resources is to continue work on securing Australian climate records managed by the Bureau.