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CGMS-48 VLab-WP-15
26 May 2020
Prepared by VLab
Agenda Item: 9
Discussed in WG IV
VLab progress report
ACTIONS PROPOSED
i) CGMS members active in VLab to nominate the next Co-Chair to represent CGMS satellite
operators in the VLab (starting October 2020). Nominations to be presented to VLab during CGMS-
48 Working Group Meeting.
ii) CGMS members are invited to contact WMO to provide contributions to the WMO VLab Trust Fund
to ensure the continuation of technical support to the VLab through the VLab Technical Support
Officer as well as to the implementation of VLab projects.
iii) CGMS members active in VLab to send representatives to participate in the Tenth VLab
Management Group Meeting (VLMG-10) to be held in Darmstadt, Germany, 13-17 September
2021.
Executive Summary:
This document reports on activities within the WMO-CGMS Virtual Laboratory for Education
and Training in Satellite Meteorology (VLab) along with future plans. Since CGMS-47, VLab
members have offered a variety of training opportunities, with highlight to training efforts
addressing the new generation of satellites, which continues to be the major training need
identified by VLab members. Furthermore, stronger collaboration and coordination of efforts
between VLab members resulted in increased opportunities for user training during the past
year.
The VLab Management Group (VLMG) continued to coordinate its activities with support
from co-chairmanship representing CGMS satellite operators and VLab Centres of
Excellence. Dr Mark Higgins (EUMETSAT Training Manager) has been a VLab co-chair on
behalf of CGMS satellite operators since 2017. This co-chairmanship was established for a
period of up to 3 years. Nominations need to be considered by CGMS satellite operators in
order to ensure the continuation of this partnership after October 2020 (Action i).
The VLab Trust Fund continues to receive yearly contributions from NOAA/NWS,
EUMETSAT, and KMA. However, a larger number of contributing CGMS agencies is
required to expand VLab activities to meet WMO-CGMS Members’ requirements and needs
for training and to improve the long-term sustainability of VLab activities. Regular financial
contributions from CGMS Members are critical to maintain the VLab training activities
(Action ii).
VLMG continued to coordinate its activities and support for training events via regular online
meetings. Due to travel restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the tenth meeting
of VLMG was postponed to 2021 (Darmstadt, Germany). CGMS members active in VLab
are invited to send representation to participate in the meeting (Action iii).
Appendices: A. 2019 VLab Annual Report
B. VLab Members’ Statements: Status, plans, and challenges faced when offering
training on Big data, Climate, and Space Weather.
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CGMS-48 VLab-WP-15
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VLab progress report
1 INTRODUCTION
This document reports on the activities and plans of the WMO-CGMS Virtual Laboratory
(VLab). Since CGMS-47 the VLab has:
- Responded to training needs and user requirements by offering training on the
new generation of satellites;
- Organized a total of 143 training events, training more than 5500 people during
the period from December 2018 to November 2019;
- Collaborated with the WMO Global Campus initiative, ensuring information about
training opportunities and resources are more widely shared.
The VLab Management Group (VLMG) has met three times in virtual meetings (July and
November 2019, and March 2020), and will have its 10th face-to-face meeting in September
2021. Further details regarding the activities of VLab during the past 12 months, and a short
review of major training events and plans are given below.
2 MAJOR IMPACT OF ACTIVITIES OF THE VLab SINCE CGMS-47
VLab Centres of Excellence (CoEs) and supporting Satellite Operators have recently reported
on their training activities for the period December 2018 to November 2019. A general outline
of is presented below, with the summary report appended (Appendix A). Full reports of
activities from each VLab member and a full list of events organised in 2019 can be
downloaded from http://www.wmo-sat.info/vlab/coe-reports/.
CoEs, using both online and classroom training, offered a total of 143 training events during
this reporting period. Training was offered in 5 of the WMO official languages (no training event
was carried out in Arabic language) plus Korean, Portuguese and Vietnamese. Participants
from all WMO Regional Associations (RA) took part in training, which reached 175 countries.
Regarding the total number of participants attending VLab training events, the numbers
exceeded the 5500 figure. This number excludes the number of participants using the online
resources that are accessible via VLab members’ websites, such as the recorded lectures
available from some VLab CoEs and Satellite Operator websites (e.g. Russian Federation,
Brazil, Australia, EUMETSAT, JMA, and CIRA). Additionally, whilst great effort was made to
report on the number of people trained in 2019, figures were not available for every event
organised.
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26 May 2020
Regional Focus Group discussions continue to take place on a monthly basis. These are the
Americas and Caribbean Group, which is organised by CIRA/NOAA and counts on
contributions from CoEs Barbados, Costa Rica, Brazil and Argentina; the RFG Australia,
organised by CoE Australia and counting on contributions from KMA, JMA and meteorological
services in Indonesia; and the Monthly Weather Discussions organised by
EUMeTrain/EUMETSAT, with contributions from various European national met services.
Additionally, RFG South Africa offers sessions on demand. Consistent participation in RFG
sessions continued in 2019, exceeding 1200 participants. Besides RFG sessions have been
only offered in English and Spanish, participants on these sessions are from all WMO RA.
Based on the various regional training activities that were delivered by the VLab Centres of
Excellence and satellite operators, the following are the major impact of VLab activities, as
described by VLab members:
2.1 Training in the GOES and JPSS satellites series
● NOAA and its collaborating organizations provided experts for various workshops
associated with data dissemination and training on imagery and products from existing
and new Geostationary and Low Earth Orbiting satellites: the Canadian Meteorological
and Oceanographic Society Congress (CMOS); the NOAA-NASA SatMet Summer
Workshop at CIRA, Colorado, USA; the RA-IV Satellite Workshop at CIMH in
Barbados, AmeriGEO Satellite Workshop at SENAMHI in Lima, Peru; the NOAA/WMO
VLab Train the Trainer event in Boston, USA; GOES-16 workshops for the Weather
Services of Paraguay and Uruguay; and a Workshop for RELAMPAGO/SMN in
Argentina;
● The number of English-language satellite resources on COMET's MetEd website grew
by 9 to now include over 100 freely accessible training materials related to both
geostationary and polar-orbiting satellites. The number of translated resources
providing forecasters with training in their own languages also grew: 5 translated to
Portuguese, 7 translated/updated to Spanish, and 1 translated to French. Various
training resources were also developed by CIRA;
● The Regional Focus Group of the Americas and Caribbean conducted 12 virtual
bilingual (English/Spanish) weather and climate briefings. Thirty-one countries outside
the US participated in these online sessions in 2019. The number of countries
participating each month ranged between 9 and 18 (median 13); and the number of
participants each month ranged between 24 and 69 (median 43). All sessions were
recorded and are available online at
http://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/training/rmtc/fg_recording.asp ;
● The NOAA/NCEP/WPC International Tropical and South America Desks trained 15
visitors. The visitors spent 4 months at the desk and came from 12 countries;
● Collaborations with CoEs Costa Rica and Brazil supported linkages in data access
associated with the new satellites and in support of the WMO SDR goals and
objectives and also GEO via AmeriGEO;
● CoE Barbados co-organised and hosted the Americas Satellite Workshop (formerly
Barbados Satellite Workshop), which served as one of the series of NOAA workshops
to train focal points from Regional National Hydrological and Meteorological Services
(NHMS) in satellite meteorology. The event also served as the second Severe
Weather Forecasting Demonstration Workshop (SWFDP) in the use of the Next
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26 May 2020
Generation of Satellite Imagery. The focus of the workshop was on mesoscale
weather forecasting, use of satellite images and products from GOES East ABI and
the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) data and products for forecasting, and access
to satellite data via GEONETCast- Americas (GNC-A) and other sources via the
internet;
● CoE Argentina collaborated with COMET to produce the module “Severe Convection:
Mesoscale Convective Systems”, and also supported EUMETSAT and COMET by
providing Spanish subtitles to various video recordings. A good number of simulations
were prepared by CoE Argentina to be used in training of forecasters, marine
meteorologists, and observers.
2.2 Training in the Himawari & GEO-KOMPSAT satellites series
● JMA continued offering the Himawari Request service. This provides National
Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) in WMO RA II and RA V with
Himawari-8/9 on-demand TA-observation earth images taken every 2.5 minutes over
an area of approximately 1,000 x 1,000 km within the Himawari observation domain;
● VLab CoE Australia continued organising monthly RFG meetings during 2019, with
close collaborations from CoE Republic of Korea, JMA, and BMKG Indonesia. This
marks the 6th year of organising monthly RFG meetings in the Region. Recorded
sessions are available at http://www.virtuallab.bom.gov.au/archive/regional-focus-
group-recordings/ ;
● AOMSUC-10 was held in Australia. VLab CoEs contributed to the pre-conference
training event: CoE Australia conducted various satellite meteorology training
sessions, and CoE Korea demonstrated KMA's new user customized imagery
processing tool for GEO-KOMPSAT-2A satellite data and RGB composites. Trainers
from JMA, CIRA, and BMKG also conducted training sessions. AOMSUC-10 Training
Event presentations and resources are available at
http://www.virtuallab.bom.gov.au/events/aomsuc-training/aomsuc-10-training-event-
presentations-and-resources/ ;
● CoEs Australia and Korea jointly designed and implemented 3D stereo satellite image
training material utilising GEO-KOMPSAT-2A and Himawari-8 data;
● The National Himawari-8 Training Campaign is currently in the Ongoing Support
Phase. During this phase Australian Bureau of Meteorology, WMO Region V and other
stakeholders assist in providing expertise in developing satellite meteorology training
resources for use within BMTC and the VLab;
2.3 Training in the FY satellite series
● Two international courses were organised by CoE Beijing on the application of FY
Series satellite products;
● CoE-Beijing built the online FY-3 Satellite Introduction and Algorithm Lab with technical
support from NMSC in training capacity building. Access to the library is open to all
(website language is Chinese), with an invitation to optimize the algorithm. Access at
http://kejian4.cmatc.cma.cn/sate/sate/index.cml ;
● CoE-Beijing built a teaching case database for FY-4. This is available in Chinese only;
● CoE Nanjing conducted 15 international training events, receiving 286 participants.
Those events covered a wide variety of areas for use of satellite data and remote
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sensing technology applications, from climate change, climate information service,
meteorological forecasts, technology transfer and aeronautical meteorological
forecasting.
2.4 Training in the Meteosat and Sentinel satellites series
● The OSCAR/SURFACE Workshop for West Asia was held in Oman, organized by CoE
Oman in close collaboration with WMO;
● Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) introductory lectures had been part of satellite
application courses offered in collaborations between EUMETSAT and CoEs South
Africa, Kenya, Niger, Morocco, and Oman. A workshop on multispectral data
applications using MTG was also held in 2019;
● EUMETSAT continued supporting the 5 CoEs in Africa to provide training on the
application of satellite imagery. In 2019 this also included training topics in marine
forecasting and climate;
● The African Satellite Meteorology Education and Training (ASMET) continues to be an
effective initiative for collaboration between EUMETSAT, COMET, and the VLab CoEs
South Africa, Niger, Kenya and Morocco. It’s new website was launched in 2019,
providing information on training resources and courses for the Africa region. Access
at https://asmet.africa ;
● The EUMeTrain Weather briefings conducted 12 online sessions. Participants are
mostly from european countries, and the number of participants each month ranged
between 24 and 46. All sessions were recorded and are available online at
http://www.eumetrain.org/briefings.html.
2.5 Training in the Electro-L satellite series
● In collaboration with EUMETSAT, SRC Planeta and VLab CoE Russian Federation
jointly organized a training event on satellite monitoring and nowcasting of high impact
weather events. This was directed to National Hydrometeorological Services of
Commonwealth Independent Countries (CIS), and received 84 trainees;
● CoE Russian Federation translated eleven of the EUMeTrain RGB Quick Guides,
making a great contribution to collection of satellite training resources in Russian
language.
3 COLLABORATION:
3.1 Collaboration between Centres of Excellence and Satellite Operators
The launching of a new generation of satellites is setting a growing demand on training needs
for members of all WMO Regional Associations. Close collaboration between satellite
operators and VLab CoEs is driving the response to address these training needs as they are
identified.
VLab continues to have good examples of the effectiveness of these collaborations. The
training event on satellite monitoring and nowcasting of high impact weather for National
Hydrometeorological Services of CIS countries is one of these examples. The training was
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offered in June 2019, at SRC Planeta, ATI, and was organized by Roshydromet in
collaboration with EUMETSAT.
The RFG of Americas and Caribbean, organised by NOAA/CIRA is another successful
example. In 2019 collaborations with CoE Argentina allowed for introduction of the RFG
sessions to participants in three of their courses as well as presentations from the courses to
the RFG community. Collaborations with CoEs Costa Rica and Brazil supported linkages in
data access associated with the new satellites and in support of GEO via AmeriGEOSS.
3.3 WMO Global Campus Initiative
VLab maintains continuous collaboration with the WMO Global Campus Initiative. In 2019,
VLab partners wrote five articles to be included in a collection of short papers describing
innovations implemented in Education and Training. The publication of this manuscript by
WMO-ETR is expected in the second semester of 2020.
VLab also continues to take part in the technical task team for the development and
maintenance of the WMO Global Campus Events Calendar and Global Campus section of
WMO E-Library. The sharing of training resources designed by VLab partners has been
growing since 2018, and these are being continuously added to the WMO-GC E-Library.
3.4 Engagement with other Training Providers
VLab continues collaborating with various training providers and scientific committees.
Training providers that have been most active in recent collaborations with VLab are
NASA/ARSET, COMET, and the CEOS Working Group on Capacity Building and Data
Democracy (WGCapD). Representatives of these programmes have been participating in
VLMG meetings and engaging in discussions.
During 2019, VLab had also procured ways of more active collaboration with the CGMS
International Precipitation Working Group (IPWG). More effective communication was
established for exchanges of subject experts and information, and the 10th meeting of IPWG
is planned to be hosted by CIRA/NOAA in Fort Collins, USA (postponed due to international
situation on COVID-19. New date to be defined).
4 CHALLENGES
4.1 Concerns expressed by VLab CoEs
Despite the impressive array of activities developed by VLab CoEs, an increasing number of
challenges has been reported since the past year. Particularly worrying concerns are the
reductions on the number of staff dedicated to training, lack of resources to update essential
equipment (hardware and software), reductions in financial support (internally and externally
to their organizations) for funding training projects. In addition, issues with the quality of
internet connection are still reported in parts of Africa, reducing possibilities to offer and
participate in online training.
4.2 WMO VLab Trust Fund
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The WMO VLab Trust Fund has received a stable level of contributions over the last two years,
i.e. 80K USD per year, from NOAA/NWS, EUMETSAT, and KMA. Nevertheless, VLab annual
obligations have risen since 2018, when a new contract was established between WMO and
the University of Maryland (UMD), entrusting UMD with governing the use of WMO VLab Trust
Fund resources for the VLab Technical Support Officer position.
Although the current financial status of the Fund seems stable (see Figure 1), a larger number
of contributing CGMS agencies would be required to improve its resilience. Regular financial
contributions from CGMS Members are critical to maintain technical support to the expanding
range of VLab activities.
Figure 1. Overview of the WMO VLab Trust Fund. Figures in this chart are approximate, as it
does not fully take account of exchange rates.
In addition, at this time there is an ongoing issue with the payment of the VLab Technical
Support Officer (TSO) salary, with the continuity of monthly payments being the most critical.
This is a challenge to the support of TSO, to the work of the VLab, and so to all the online
support to VLab training activities.
Action proposed: CGMS members are invited to contact WMO to provide contributions to
the WMO VLab Trust Fund to ensure the continuation of technical support to the VLab through
the VLab Technical Support Officer as well as to the implementation of VLab projects.
5 VLab MANAGEMENT GROUP
5.1 Nomination of new VLab Co-Chair to represent CGMS
It is recalled that the VLab Management Group has two co-chairs, one is nominated by CGMS
among representatives of sponsoring satellite operators, the other is nominated by WMO
through the CBS Expert Team on Satellite Utilization and Products (IPET-SUP) among the
representatives of VLab Training Centres of Excellence.
In June 2017, CGMS endorsed the nomination of Dr Mark Higgins (EUMETSAT Training
Manager), as new VLab co-chair on behalf of CGMS satellite operators, for a period of up to
3 years. It is now time to nominate a candidate to serve as VLab co-chair, representing CGMS
satellite operators in the VLab management group, starting from October 2020.
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Action proposed: CGMS members active in VLab to nominate the next Co-Chair to represent
CGMS satellite operators in the VLab (starting October 2020). Nominations to be presented
to VLab during CGMS-48 Working Group Meeting.
5.2 VLMG Meetings and Plans
The next face-to-face meeting of the VLab management group (VLMG-10) will be hosted by
EUMETSAT in Darmstadt, Germany. Due to the unprecedented challenges related to COVID-
19, the meeting was postponed and will be taking place in September 2021 (rather than 2020).
Meanwhile, VLMG will keep meeting online and focusing on actions and discussions to ensure
the implementation of the new VLab Strategy 2020-2024. In addition, VLMG also intends to
organise regional online discussions, providing opportunity to discuss data access, training
needs and challenges shared by CoEs and satellite operators within the same region. This is
an effort to strengthen VLab regional communication and improve even more the sharing of
training resources and collaboration within the various Satellite Data Requirements groups
(SDR).
Action proposed: CGMS members active in VLab to send representation to participate in the
Tenth VLab Management Group Meeting (VLMG-10) to be held in Darmstadt, Germany, 13-
17 September 2021.
6 ACTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION BY THE CGMS PLENARY SESSION
i) CGMS members active in VLab to nominate the next Co-Chair to represent CGMS
satellite operators in the VLab (starting October 2020). Nominations to be presented to
VLab during CGMS-48 Working Group Meeting.
ii) CGMS members are invited to contact WMO to provide contributions to the WMO VLab
Trust Fund to ensure the continuation of technical support to the VLab through the VLab
Technical Support Officer as well as to the implementation of VLab projects.
iii) CGMS members active in VLab to send representation to participate in the Tenth VLab
Management Group Meeting (VLMG-10) to be held in Darmstadt, Germany, 13-17
September 2021.
7 CONCLUSION
This paper reports a growing participation in VLab training opportunities worldwide,
highlighting the increased visibility of the training activities organized by VLab. It also highlights
the strengthening of collaboration between VLab Members, which allows for these training
opportunities to be offered.
Nevertheless, an increasingly worrying challenge faced by VLab is the difficulty to aid CoEs in
meeting the agreed expectations, whilst the number of personnel and equipment available in
their Centres is often inadequate to meet the scope of training activities required in their
respective area of responsibility.
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CGMS and its membership has been a strong sponsor of VLab. It is important that the level
of support is now reviewed, as a renewed and stronger commitment of sponsors is needed to
aid the training initiatives for the preparation of users of the new generation of satellites to
continue.
_____________
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APPENDIX A
2019 VLab ANNUAL REPORT
102019
VLab
Annual
Report
WMO-CGMS Virtual Laboratory
for Education and Training
in Satellite Meteorology
Himawari-8The WMO-CGMS Virtual Laboratory Established by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the Coordination Group for Meteorological Satellites (CGMS), the Virtual Laboratory for Training and Education in Satellite Meteorology (VLab) is a global network of specialized training centers and meteorological satellite operators working together to improve the utilization of data and products from meteorological and environmental satellites.
Mission of VLab
To improve weather, water, climate
and related environmental services by
enabling WMO Members to utilize
satellite data.
Objectives
1 To achieve better exploitation of data
from the space-based component of
the WMO Integrated Global Observing
System (WIGOS) for services that are
increasingly reliant on satellite data.
2 To globally share knowledge,
experience, methods, and tools related
to access and usage of satellite data,
especially in support of WMO
Members that have limited resources.
29 September 2019 09:30Z
NOAA/NESDIS/STAR GOES-East GEOCOLORAbout this report
This report is based on data received from VLab partners
regarding training activities taking place from December
2018 to November 2019. It tells a story of training
achievements and challenges from the perspective of
training providers that participate in the VLab Network.
While reasonable efforts were made to ensure the
accuracy of the data used in this report, some gaps still
exist in the dataset. For this reason we encourage
readers to consider the data as indicative of magnitude
rather than exact figures. Data extrapolations were
avoided in order to keep quoted figures as close as
possible to the information received from VLab partners.
All individual reports completed by VLab partners can be
downloaded from
https://www.wmo-sat.info/vlab/coe-reports/
Tadamichi/shutterstock.comOverview of
Training in 2019
A total of 143 training events were organized Training was offered in 8 About 5560 learners participated
by VLab partners in 2019. These were languages according to the main in VLab training events in 2019
delivered in various modes: 85 events were audience of each event. These (n=141). Event participants
classroom based (face-to-face), 51 events were English, Spanish, French, originated from around 175
were delivered online, and 7 events had a Chinese, Russian, Korean, countries (n=127), representing all
mixed delivery mode with parts online and Portuguese, and Vietnamese. six WMO Regional Associations.
parts in classroom mode. Some events were bilingual, and
some had interpreters.People Trained The main audience being trained by VLab partners is operational staff of meteorological and hydrological services and related service providers. A good number of researchers, lecturers and university students also attend training events frequently. About 5560 learners participated in VLab training events in 2019 (n=141). The majority were trained in online events (51 online training events). A larger number of classroom training events was delivered compared to online and blended (85 compared to 51 and 7, respectively). Nevertheless, cohorts of classroom events were smaller, resulting in lower numbers of people trained in classroom compared to the other modes.
“We are training the new generations of meteorologists
in the new generation of satellites, actively supporting
the utilization of information.”
Extract from VLab partner report
Where were our
learners from?
VLab training reached audiences from all six
WMO Regional Associations1. Learners from
175 countries (n=127) attended training
events in 2019.
1. https://public.wmo.int/en/about-us/membersThe majority of training events was delivered in English, with the
What languages remaining in Spanish, French, Chinese, Russian, Korean, and
Vietnamese.
were used? 14 events were bilingual, using English and Spanish to attend
the needs of regional audiences. Similarly, 3 events had
interpreters to assist expert trainers to deliver training in Korean,
Russian and Vietnamese.New Training
Resources
Satellite skills2 are the main focus of VLab
training to operational meteorologists. In 2019 all
7 top satellite skills were addressed in training.
Most training resources focused on 1 to 3
satellite skills rather than addressing them all.
The same was reported for training events.
74 new training resources were developed by
VLab partners in 2019, and 46 of these
resources can be shared. They are available
either in the Global Campus section of the WMO
E-Library3, or in the VLab partners’ websites4.
The majority of training resources was developed
in English, with the remaining in Spanish,
Portuguese, Russian, French, Chinese, and
Arabic. I resource is available in English and
Arabic, and 5 in English and Spanish.
2. https://www.wmo-sat.info/vlab/ss/
3. https://library.wmo.int
4. https://www.wmo-sat.info/vlab/centres-of-excellence/“Upon reflection, we had a great year of interactions and training
activities for both the operational user and the trainers. If more funding
were available, we could have provided more support for travel for
participants to attend the Train the Trainer event and the Joint Satellite
Conference that followed it, and also CALMET.”
Extract from VLab partner report
Challenges
Despite the array of training activities developed by VLab
partners, an increasing number of challenges has been
reported by CoEs since the past year. Particularly
worrying concerns are:
• Reductions on the number of staff dedicated to
training,
• Lack of resources to update essential equipment
(hardware and software),
• Reductions in financial support (internally and
externally to their organizations) to fund training
projects.
In addition, issues with the quality of internet connection
are still reported in parts of Africa, reducing possibilities
to offer and participate in online training.
ITTIGallery/shutterstock.comHighlights of 2019
Training in the GOES and JPSS satellites series
“Collaborations with CoEs Costa Rica and
Brazil supported linkages in data access
associated with the new satellites and in
support of the WMO Satellite Data
Requirements (SDR RAs III and IV) goals and
objectives and also GEO via AmeriGEO.
Collaborations with CoE Arg courses entina
allowed for introduction of the RFG sessions
to participants in their as well as
presentations from the courses to the RFG
community. Collaborations with the CoE
Barbados resulted in the RA IV Satellite
Workshop. Collaboration with all the 4
CoEs and EUMETSAT supported cross-
Regional Satellite User Conferences. All
The monthly weather and climate Regional The NOAA/NCEP/WPC International these activities benefit our sponsoring
Focus Groups sessions (RFG) encouraged Tropical and South America Desks trained agent: CGMS.”
continued informal learning, promoting new 15 visitors. The visitors spent 4 months at
data types and products from the new the desk and came from 12 countries.
GOES and JPSS satellites.
Thirty-one countries outside the US “Our training on nowcasting for operational meteorologists and civil defense operators, provided training
participated in the 12 online sessions of the on new satellite imagery and products of GOES-16 (ABI and GLM), as well as radar data and NWP output
RFG of the Americas and Caribbean in fields. Trainees used tools developed by our institution to combine these data for nowcasting. ”
2019. These are bilingual sessions,
conducted in English and Spanish. Extracts from VLab partners reportsHighlights of 2019
Training in the Himawari and GEO-KOMPSAT
satellites series
AOMSUC-10 was held in Australia in 2019. VLab CoEs
contributed to the pre-conference training event: CoE “CoEs Australia and Korea jointly designed and implemented 3D stereo
Australia conducted various satellite meteorology training satellite image training material utilizing GEO-KOMPSAT-2A and
sessions, and CoE Korea demonstrated KMA's new user
Himawari-8 data.”
customized imagery processing tool for GEO-
KOMPSAT-2A satellite data and RGB composites. Trainers
from JMA, CIRA, and BMKG also conducted training
sessions. “VLab CoE Australia continued organizing monthly RFG meetings during
2019, with close collaborations from CoE Republic of Korea, JMA, and
AOMSUC-10 Training Event presentations and resources BMKG Indonesia. This marks the 6th year of organizing monthly RFG
are available at meetings in the Region.”
http://www.virtuallab.bom.gov.au/events/aomsuc-training/
aomsuc-10-training-event-presentations-and-resources/ Extracts from VLab partners’ reportsHighlights of 2019
Training in the FY satellite series
“An important achievement of CoE-Beijing is the FY4
teaching case database of basic cloud image, which was
built in 2019.”
“In 2019, CoE-Nanjing actively offered support through
introducing new generation of meteorological satellites
as topics of lectures to our trainees and conducting
high-quality training activities using latest educational
tools and methods.”
Extracts from VLab partners reports
CoE-Beijing launched the online FY-3 Satellite CoE Nanjing conducted 15 international training events,
Introduction and Algorithm Lab with technical support receiving 286 participants. Those events covered a wide
from NMSC in training capacity building. Access to the variety of areas for use of satellite data and remote
library is open to all (website language is Chinese), with sensing technology applications, from climate change,
an invitation to optimize the algorithm. Access at climate information service, meteorological forecasts,
http://kejian4.cmatc.cma.cn/sate/sate/index.cml technology transfer and aeronautical meteorological
forecasting.
CoE Beijing also offered 2 international and eight
national courses on the application of FY Series satellite
products in 2019.Highlights of 2019
Training in the Meteosat satellite series
“During our satellite training courses,
trainees are introduced to online
resources and information including
OSCAR and SATURN to maximize their
visibility. We have also supported
training events organized in others
countries, through exchange of
expertise.”
“We continued organizing courses and
workshops in cooperation with
EUMETSAT for Middle East countries
and Indian Ocean Countries. During the
period (2016-2019), the annual satellite
application course covered three main
The African Satellite Meteorology Education Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) topics on satellite applications for
and Training (ASMET) continued to be an introductory lectures had been part of convection, tropical cyclone monitoring,
effective initiative for collaboration between satellite application courses offered in subtropical weather; and it will be in the
EUMETSAT, COMET, and the VLab CoEs collaborations between EUMETSAT and field of marine application in 2020.
South Africa, Niger, Kenya and Morocco. CoEs South Africa, Kenya, Niger, Morocco, Theses courses have a great value
and Oman. A workshop on multispectral through the participation of experts from
A new website was launched in 2019, data applications using MTG was also held different countries.”
providing information on training resources in 2019;
and courses for the Africa region. Extracts from VLab partners reports
Access at https://asmet.africaHighlights of 2019 Training in the Electro-L satellite series Training on satellite monitoring and nowcasting of high impact weather events was held in June. This was directed to National Hydrometeorological “Activities of CoE Russian Federation resulted in the Services of Commonwealth Independent Countries (CIS). The event received translation to satellite training resources to Russian 84 trainees and it was held in Russian, with English-Russian interpreter language, the development of a new PhD program, and the support to international trainers. establishment of a Community Outreach Center at ATI." The event was jointly organized by SRC Planeta and VLab CoE Russian Extract from VLab partner report Federation in collaboration with EUMETSAT.
VLab Collaborations
VLab continues collaborating with various training
providers and scientific committees.
Training providers that have been most active
collaborators in 2019 are NASA/ARSET, COMET, and
the CEOS Working Group on Capacity Building and Data
Democracy (WGCapD). Representatives of these
programmes have been participating in VLMG meetings
and engaging in satellite training discussions.
During 2019, VLab had also procured ways of more
active collaboration with the CGMS International
Precipitation Working Group (IPWG). More effective
communication was established for collaborations with
subject matter experts.
VLab maintains continuous collaboration with the WMO
Global Campus Initiative. In 2019, VLab partners wrote
five articles to be included in a collection of short papers
describing innovations implemented in Education and
Training. The publication of this manuscript by WMO is
expected in the second semester of 2020.
Guitarphoto studio/shutterstock.comWMO-CGMS Virtual Laboratory
for Education and Training in Satellite Meteorology
https://www.wmo-sat.info/vlab/CGMS-48 VLab-WP-15
26 May 2020
APPENDIX B
VLAB MEMBERS’ STATEMENTS:
Big data, Climate and Space Weather are referenced in the new VLab Strategy for
2020-2024 (see document at https://www.wmo-sat.info/vlab/governance-documents/ )
Please outline the challenges you have been facing when offering training on these
themes in your Region. If you have undertaken activities that relate to these strategic
themes, or are planning to, please mention them here.
Brazilian National Institute for Space Research - INPE, and VLab
Centre of Excellence - Brazil
We haven't done any yet, but we plan to provide training on Space weather in the next year.
China Meteorological Administration – CMA, and VLab Centre of
Excellence - China-Beijing
Climate: planning to undertake activities that relate to Climate.
European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological
Satellites - EUMETSAT
We will be running big data training from late 2020, we have supported cloud training events
already as part of Copernicus. We already run climate courses and are looking at how
effective our approach is.
Japan Meteorological Agency - JMA
Big Data approach is under consideration for many countries including JMA. Training for
climate services should be in coordination with existing WMO frameworks (e.g. RCCs). JMA
cannot provide training for Space Weather, because it is out of JMA missions (thus inter-
agency collaboration will be required).
Korean Meteorological Administration – KMA, and VLab Centre of
Excellence – Republic of Korea
We have also faced the application of satellite for Big data and climate. But, we are at an
early stage for them. We need more experience.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - NOAA
We have not really addressed big data, climate, and space weather yet. We do have
resources on these aspects across the US, the main challenge is sorting through and pulling
out what is most relevant to our users. This other challenge is limited staff/funding
to do this.
19CGMS-48 VLab-WP-15
26 May 2020
Roshydromet
Actually, Climate and Space Weather are not the fields which our organization is focused on
(there are other organization in Roshydromet specializes in these areas).
VLab Centre of Excellence – Argentina
1) CoE Argentina SMN-UBA has a proposal for Space weather course for forecasters directd
by PhD Sergio Dasso. We are also interested in collaboration with Brazil for a joint course
and possible workshop in applications of Space Weather for aeronautical forecaster and
other services. We are searching for funds to be able to achieve this. We think VLab´s
support for this course for RA III and IV in spanish in 2020 is essential to respond to needs
of the region. 2) About Climate Services there are several courses being planned within
projects such as Euroclima, Climandes, Iberoamerican collaboration and others. Although
there is a lot of work on the interpretation of Precipitation through satellite, the climate
courses do not yet apply sat skills. 3) Big Data- There will be special sessions on Big Data
during 2020 ( under development).
VLab Centre of Excellence – Australia
We have conducted some VLab training pertaining to the Climate theme during our RFG
meetings. This included the presentation of climate data within our Weather and Forecast
discussions. Some RFG meetings focussed on climatology, for example the presentations of
Indonesian climatology during the VLab meetings of the 30th January 2018, 7th June 2016,
5th May 2015, 4th February 2014, see http://www.virtuallab.bom.gov.au/archive/regional-
focus-group-recordings/ The Australian Bureau of Meteorology does have a Space Weather
Service, see https://www.sws.bom.gov.au/Space_Weather We have not conducted user
surveys pertaining to the suitability of incorporating the topics of Big Data and Space
Weather into our RFG meetings. It would useful if the coordinating bodies of the WMO-
CGMS VLab could take the lead here and present some remote sessions on these topics
that could be disseminated for feedback by the Centres of Excellence.
VLab Centre of Excellence - Barbados
CoE Barbados is now investigating the use of 'big' data in Climate monitoring.
VLab Centre of Excellence - China-Nanjing
Training events with CoE Nanjing have involved topics more or less related to these areas, for
example, the application of big data in disaster management, space weather, a series of topics
related to the mechanism, adaptation and mitigation of climate change.
VLab Centre of Excellence – Costa Rica
We have used big data to gather satellite information from GOES 16 and other satellites.
The main challenges are the availability of bandwidth to handle the requests in real time.
Most of the time during training events the data needs to be downloaded beforehand even
when the ideal case would be to use big data tools in real time. For example in the training
20CGMS-48 VLab-WP-15
26 May 2020
event in Perú during 2019 we had to bring external hard drives with information of all bands
for the guided practices as it was not possible to obtain the data in real time. In regard of the
2020 to 2024 period, we are working in creating an inexpensive tool to gather data that is
accessible to countries in need. This way we could transfer the knowledge that we have
obtained in such areas and put it to work towards improving local forecasts and risk
management. At this moment we are working towards a workshop on technical aspects of
data dissemination using online methods and big data (with a face to face component and
also an online component) that will take place during July 2020 in Costa Rica. Funds for
participants are not available yet but the need has been communicated to NOAA and WMO.
VLab Centre of Excellence - Kenya
Major challenge when offering training is the understaffing of NMHs thus participants are
unable to attend training away from their offices, majority of our courses are classroom
based and as such with less participants due to this factor render the training ineffective. - In
addition, participants lack sponsorship/financial support to travel and attend training outside
their country.
VLab Centre of Excellence – Morocco
No action has been taken on this topic so far.
VLab Centre of Excellence - Niger
We have not yet started offering training on these themes.
VLab Centre of Excellence - Oman
The OSCAR/SURFACE Training workshop for West Asia WMO/ESCAP Workshop on
Impact-Based Forecasting and Warning Services (IBFWS) for the Member countries of the
Tropical Cyclones' Pane will be held in March 2020.
VLab Centre of Excellence – South Africa
We do not train any of the above topics, besides a bi-annual climate course hosted by
Eumetsat.
VLab Centre of Excellence – Russian Federation
Climate Services and Space Weather are covered by the training plan. No demand has been
demonstrated so far in big data issues for meteorological applications.
VLab partner - NASA-ARSET
There has not yet been a demand for these.
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