1) Meteorological observations

							Last Update: 24/04/2006

    ASSESSMENT OF THE CagM DOCUMENTATION RELATED TO OBSERVATION
      GENERATION AND ACTIVITIES OF THE COMMISSION RELATED TO QM

Author: Francesco Sabatini



The WMO Commission for Agricultural Meteorology (CagM),

Noting:
   1. Cg-XIV Resolution 27 which defines the limits of the WMO Quality Management Framework
        (QMF), which includes
           1. WMO technical standards
           2. Quality Management System(s) including Quality Control
           3. Certification procedures
   2. EC-LVI Resolution 8 which established the Intercommission Task Team on Quality
        Management Framework
   3. The efforts aimed to harmonize the available technical documentation
   4. Relying mainly on the existing technical documentation for weather observations (WMO
        Technical Guide N°8)


Expresses present and future Contribution to QMS as:

           1)   review, integration and updating of WMO specialized documentation
           2)   list of the pertinent documents produced
           3)   interaction with others international Agrometeorological organisations
           4)   QMS-oriented internal organisation of CAgM
           5)   Preliminary comments / recommendations for ICTT-QMF

Annex 1. List of acronyms utilised in the document


PART 1. Review, integration and updating of WMO specialized documentation

   1)           Meteorological observations
   Main documentation which refer to observations

   WMO: 8 Guide to Meteorological Instruments and Methods of Observation

           PART I
        Chapters 1-11, 14,
           PART II: Observing Systems
        Chapter 1. Measurements at AWS (Automatic Weather Station)
           PART III: Quality Assurance of Observing Systems
        Chapters 1-5

WMO Commission for Agricultural Meteorology (CAgM)                                       1/6
Last Update: 24/04/2006



Contribution should be addressed to the special agricultural weather in identifying the QM
documentation (i.e. soil moisture, leaf wetness, UVB monitoring, etc.


    WMO: 134           Guide to Agricultural Meteorological Practices (GAMP)

            Chapter 2: Agricultural meteorological elements and their observation
            Chapter 3: Agricultural meteorological data, their presentation and statistical
            analysis


   The Guide to Agricultural Meteorological Practices (WMO-No.134) was published in
   1982. The aim of the Guide is to provide, in a convenient form, information regarding the
   most important practices and procedures in agricultural meteorology.

   The guide includes the following chapter topics: Observation, Presentation, and
   Statistical Analysis of Agricultural Meteorological Data; Weather Forecasting for
   Agriculture; Agrometeorological Forecasting; Applications of Meteorology to Agriculture
   and Forestry; Weather Risk Assessment, Aerobiology; Desertification; and Weather and
   Climate and Animal Production.

   The Commission of Agricultural Meteorology (CAgM) is currently updating the GAMP
   and appointed Prof. Kees Stigter as the leader of the Expert Team on the GAMP to
   undertake this revision. Prof. Stigter developed a proposed outline on revising the
   GAMP.

   It could be proposed to Prof. Stigter, to introduce a specific Paragraph or Annex, dedicated
   to basic Quality Management procedures.



PART 2. list of the pertinent documents produced

2.1 Technical Notes


Technical Note No. 194. Wylie, R.G., Lalas, T. 1992. Measurement of Temperature and Humidity. Specification,
Construction, Properties and Use of the WMO Reference Psychrometer. WMO No. 759, 70 pp.

Technical Note No. 175. 1981. Meteorological Aspects of the Utilization of Wind as an Energy Source. WMO No.
575. 180 pp.

Technical Note No. 172. 1981. Meteorological Aspects of the Utilization of Solar Radiation as an Energy Source.
WMO No. 557. 298 pp.

Technical Note No. 135. Alexeiev, J.K., Dalrymple, P.C., Gerger, H. 1974. Instrument and Observing Problems
in Cold Climates. WMO No. 384, 30 pp.


WMO Commission for Agricultural Meteorology (CAgM)                                                      2/6
Last Update: 24/04/2006

Technical Note No. 126. Hounam, C.E. 1973. Comparison Between Pan and Lake Evaporation. WMO No. 354.
52 pp.

Technical Note No. 111. Gandin, L.S: 1970. The Planning of Meteorological Station Networks. WMO No. 265, 35
pp.




2.2 CAgM Reports


CAgM Report No. 38. Getz, R.R. 1992. Report of the Measurement of Leaf Wetness. WMO/TD-No. 478, 10
pp. [PDF - 0.5 MB]

CAgM Report No. 26 (Practical Manual Series No. 1). Babau, M.C. 1987. Rain, its Intensity and Energy.
WMO/TD-No. 206, 51 pp. (English) [PDF - 2.2 MB]

CAgM Report No. 1. El Bakry, M.M. 1977. Measurements of Minimum Temperature near the Surface. [PDF
- 2.6 MB]




2.3 CAgM Proceedings (AGM Reports)

   •   Strengthening Operational Agrometeorological Services at the National Level. 2006. Proceedings
       of the Inter-Regional Workshop, 22-26 March 2004, Manila, Philippines. Edited by R. Motha, M.V.K.

   •   Automated Weather Stations for Applications in Agriculture and Water Resources Management:
       Current Use and Future Perspectives. 2001. Proceedings of an International Workshop held in
       Lincoln, Nebraska, USA, 6-10 March 2000. Edited by Kenneth G. Hubbard and M.V.K. Sivakumar.
       AGM-3, WMO/TD No. 1074, Lincoln, Nebraska: High Plains Climate Center and Geneva, Switzerland:
       WMO.

   •   User Requirements for Agrometeorological Services. (Proceedings of the International Workshop
       held in Pune, India, 10-14 November 1997), India Meteorological Departement, Pune, India 1998.




2.4 CAgM Training Manuals

   •   Battista, P., G. Maracchi, F. Sabatini, M.V.K. Sivakumar and A. Zaldei. 2000. Instrumentation and
       Operations for Automatic Weather Stations for Agrometeorological Applications.




PART 3. interaction with international Agrometeorological Services

   •   INSAM, International Society of AgroMeteorology. Web discussion for shared rules for
       observation generation
   •   WAMIS, World AgroMeteorological Information Service is officially an operational Website.
       WAMIS is a dedicated Web server to host and make available national agrometeorological

WMO Commission for Agricultural Meteorology (CAgM)                                                    3/6
Last Update: 24/04/2006

       bulletins and advisories issued by WMO Members to the global agricultural community. Here to
       made available free access to technical rules as well as QMS topics for NAgMS’s (National
       Agrometeorological Services)
   •   FAO, Food and Agriculture Organisation. Shared rules for observation generation



PART 4. QMS-oriented internal organisation of CAgM

   1) The CAgM is now based on a Management Group (MG) and three main OPAG’s (Open
      Program Area Group).
         I. OPAGAS, Agrometeorological Services for Agricultural Production
        II. OPAGSS, Support Systems for Agrometeorological Services
       III. OPAGCND, Climate Change/Variability & Natural Disasters in Agriculture

   2) Each OPAG consists of an ICT (Implementation/Coordination Team ) and an Expert
      Team (ET)
   3) OPAG during this period were to assemble the expert teams (now completed), and
      addresses its results to the MG
   4) Interactions in common project. I.e. GAW (Global Atmosphere Watch). Terrestrial UVB
      monitoring network for Biometeorological and Agrometeorological purposes (USDA)




Figure 1. CAgM structure




WMO Commission for Agricultural Meteorology (CAgM)                                          4/6
Last Update: 24/04/2006

   5) Despite QM is a quite a new task for NMHS’s (and for Agrometeorological Services,
      both at National or local level), some contributions has been done to the first step of
      QA/QC of observational data (i.e. proceedings of Nebraska meeting on AWS, 2000)



PART 5. Preliminary comments / recommendations for ICTT-QMF

   ! It is easy to make things more difficult but it is difficult to make things easy. Be sure
     not to introduce obstacles in normal procedures
   ! Some authors still report problems in reconstructing long term series of air
     temperature observations made in traditional shelter (Stevenson screen) and in new
     double shields. Does a unique QC/QA procedure exists to link past observations?
   ! Unique adoption of widely accepted definitions on quality management elements
   ! web-based distribution of technical rules for meteorological observations as well as
     step by step description of procedures of QA/QC
   ! Examples of QC for specific processes (i.e. AWS Network management) published on
     Internet to help services
   ! Required resources: training of specialists on QM, to directly interact with certification
     firms to reduce final costs




WMO Commission for Agricultural Meteorology (CAgM)                                        5/6
Last Update: 24/04/2006

Annex 1. List of Acronyms


 Abbreviation                                   Acronym
CAeM              Commission for Aeronautical Meteorology
CAS               Commission for Atmospheric Sciences
CBS               Commission for Basic Systems
CCl               Commission for Climatology
CHy               Commission for Hydrology
CIMO              Commission for Instruments and Methods of Observations
EC                Executive Council
ET                Experts Team
FAO               Food and Agriculture Organisation
FWIS              Future Weather Information System
GCOS              Global Climate Observing System
GOS               Global Observing System
ICT               Implementation/Coordination Team
ICTT              Inter - Commission Task Team
INSAM             International Society of AgroMeteorology
ISO               International Standard Organisation
JCOMM             Joint Commission on Oceanography and Marine Meteorology
NMHSs             National Meteorological and Hydrological Services
OPAG              Open Programme Area Group
QA                Quality Assurance
QC                Quality Control
QM                Quality Management
QMF               Quality Management Framework
WAMIS             World AgroMeteorological Information Service
WMO               World Meteorological Organization




WMO Commission for Agricultural Meteorology (CAgM)                          6/6