ET-IM-11(2021-Oct-28) Meeting notes

1 Review of past minutes and actions

David Berry

Note change in number from Resolution 42 to Resolution 1. (List of Resolutions approved at Cg-2021)

WW is still working on lifecycle together with RS, will hopefully distribute in next week.

2 Update from Secretariat

David Berry

• Target for IM guide

  • A standalone document

• Proposed timeline: lifecycle section shared with RS by 5th November.

  • Draft document prepared by the team be ready for comments at the end of January 2022

• Discussion over scope, need to reference existing materials, e.g. manual on WIS etc. some examples would also help the reader.

• HH: we only need to develop high level elements. If we need more detail link to sources / references giving those details. Diagrams would also be helpful, e.g. illustration of data lifecycle.

• HH to contact Rachid after meeting.

3 Report(s) from related Expert Teams and Task Teams

Ge Peng (Unlicensed)

Ge Peng, attended SC-IMT chairs meeting and updated SC on activity of ET-IM. The meeting details can be found at:

https://community.wmo.int/meetings/sc-imt-chairs-telecon-2021-oct-25

Information Management flagged as timely and important by chair (Remy) of SC-IMT. the chair advised the team to consider how to integrate the guide with the wider body of WIS / WMO manuals and guides. WW can help and is currently reviewing the Manual on WIS. as part of another activity.

GP - the work of this team may also leverage work by other expert teams, for example of security, data standards etc. GP to reach out to those other teams to identify overlap and complementary activities. DB to help where required.

3 Report(s) from related Expert Teams and Task Teams

Ge Peng (Unlicensed)

Expert Team - Data Requirements for Climate (ET-DRC)

GP: AA, WW, GP all members of ET-DRC as well.

GP: ET-DRC, meeting 2? October. Revision of HQ GDMFC (WMO1238) document, this provide more information. Including review of WMO publications.

Update on status of OpenCDMS and DAYCLI, including latest template and inclusion of QC flags.

WW: Currently updating manual, with information from other manuals (WIS, GDPFS, Codes). timeline for finishing work is end of November. The manual will have a few new attachments, including approval processes for updating manuals, fast track process etc. Summary of guidelines relevant to climate data management. Something for this group to consider.

Other initiatives on decadal climate summaries.

CDMS, main person responsible Denis Stuber. Discussion on WIGOS Metadata Model. DB to lead effort developing data model for OpenCDMS.

DAYCLI message: discussion with ET-Data & TT-TDCF over requirements for DAYCLI messages.

• DB: update the new DayCLI BUFR template (including quality information) has been validated and now undergoing further testing.

Climate normals, normal period now 1991 - 2020 but 1961 - 1990 kept as reference period.

It was noted that the WMO 1131 needs to be updated, a lot of new material and guidance has been published since original publication.

4 Review and discuss the draft document version 0.1

Ge Peng (Unlicensed)

IM Guide, 2 sections (IM and technologies, IM & security) leads needed.

Also leads needed for annexes on special processes (marine, climate).

IM and technologies - HH will propose some content for sections. WW very good guidance from “working group on emerging data issues”.

Question, just WMO or do we need to include cloud. HH we just need generic paragraph on these issues to be complete. 4 main components:

1. about people, not just those involved in IM but also creators and users

2. policies and processes, business rules.

3. Technology, physical items - computers, databases, software etc. One phrase dealing with best practices on technology

4. Data and information.

Useful to have examples but we need the structure first.

WW: question of DM / IM policies. The document we’ve got doesn’t deal with this in great detail. Do we need to enumerate these policies and include in annex. Do we need template of what a policy document looks like?

EF: policies - this is a vey sensitive argument. A lot of work has been undertaken on defining on technical regulations defining new data policy. Suggest to avoid mention of policies beyond short paragraph stating that they exist. 2) not sure how to approach subject, usually as soon as you talk or write about technologies they are already out of date. Not convenient to include in detail.

GP - short note to stay we need to keep up technologies and up to date with best practices.

Cloud is an example of the sort of information we need to include, benefits and pitfalls. What to watch out for.

TB: Cloud comes in, what does this mean for data provenance, security and accessibility.

WW: This is the sort of thing NHMSs need to take into account when putting data or computation jobs on the cloud.

PW: regarding cloud technology, 1 question. Many authorities would like to chose specific cloud providers, for example selecting local provider. Does this team needs to define standards and capabilities that providers should meet and that users should consider when selecting a provider?

HH: we need to focus more on best practices and highlight the need to consider the evolution of the technology.

WW: agrees with HH, example from BOM. Understanding with local cloud providers. Each member pays a small fee to keep running, storage and compute facility enable collaboration in the cloud. Questions to consider? what to cloud provider ceases operation, what happens to the data and how do the data owners recover the data.

PW: discussion over use of cloud providers and internet, particularly in regions where internet can be expensive and / or unreliable. Local regional meteorological networks planned for dissemination of data under WIS1.0 but this does not function very well.

WW: flagged that in some regions the lack of reliable internet means that climate can not be backed up reliably.

HH: for first draft keep it short and simple but expand further, two paragraphs without going into too much detail. In future version potentially include more detailed information.

Decision to only include short paragraph on use of cloud and to keep it focused on the need to keep up to date with best practices rather than describing those practices.

HH lead to draft high level paragraphs (IM and technologies), due one week before next meeting. Title of section paragraphs to be changed.

TB: sections pretty disconnects. It would be very good to have a complete first draft in order to understand the overall direction of the document and what belongs in it.

GP: plan to do this and share 2 weeks before next meeting.

WW: this will also help identify balance between different sections. Also, what we should be trying to do is identify related documents in Inf. man. space and reference existing documents in the guide rather than reinventing the wheel.

GP: something to also keep in mind when reviewing full draft. Ocean community has best practices documents that can be cross referenced.

DB: Also Best Practices working group under GOOS OCG that may be good reviewers.

Discussion over how to build list of potential reviewers.

DB to create as separate document to collate list of potential reviewers.

WW: HQ-GDMFC document - has sought feedback from ocean community but little / no response so far.

Wider discussion over getting feedback and how to consult widely enough, e.g. other communities (aviation, marine, etc).

5

Date of next meeting:

Thursday December 2nd, 1200 UTC