International Coordination Office (ICO) Find more information at of the Polar Preditction Project www.polarprediction.net PolarPredictNews Newsletter #04 Nov. 2017 Oracadas Base on South Orkney Islands (see news item #07 this issue; photo: Gustavo Siles) Dear Colleagues! terms of observations. Feedback from the com- 01 munity on how to improve the YOPP Observations / It is my pleasure to welcome you to the fourth Layer would be much appreciated. 10 issue of PolarPredictNews. Among others, this latest issue provides you with a brief report from Finally, I would like to point out two important the first YOPP Online Conference. I thought that milestones in terms of user-engagement this event was important, given some interesting highlighted in this issue—namely the establish- and valuable discussion and suggestions from the ment of the platform “Polar Prediction Matters” participants. A link to the recording of this event and publication of the scoping document entitled is provided in this newsletter; and I would like to “Navigating Weather, Water, Ice and Climate”, invite you to join us on 1 December 2017 for the which is a high-level document discussing rese- second YOPP Online Conference. arch needs in relation to the use and provision of environmental forecast in the Arctic and Antarctic. Another important element, described in this issue of PolarPredictNews, is the development of Happy reading, the YOPP Observations Layer, which allows you to Thomas Jung check who will be doing what, when and where in The Year of Polar Prediction (YOPP) is a major international activity that has been initiated by World Mete- orological Organization’s World Weather Research Programme (WWRP) as a key component of the Polar Prediction Project (PPP). It takes place from mid-2017 to mid-2019. The overarching goal of YOPP is to sig- nificantly advance our environmental prediction capabilities for the polar regions and beyond. As an inter- nationally coordinated period of intensive observing, modelling, prediction, verification, user-engagement, and education activities which involves various stakeholders, the YOPP contributes to the knowledge base needed to manage the opportunities and risks that come with polar climate change. Newsletter #04 // Nov. 2017 International Coordination Office (ICO) Find more information at of the Polar Prediction Project www.polarprediction.net Content ning of the upcoming YOPP Special Observing Periods (SOPs). SOPs will 01 YOPP Online Conference #01 take place in winter (February–March) 02 YOPP Observations Layer and summer (July–September) 2018 in 03 Polar Prediction Matters the Arctic and during summer 2018/19 04 Operational Support (mid November 2018–mid February 05 Workshop on Arctic Airborne Observations 2019) in the Antarctic. The presentation 06 Navigating Weather, Water, Ice and Climate by Thomas Jung was followed by a ques- Information tion and answer session, which allowed 07 In Operation! – Medical Evacuation from participants to engage in the planning. South Orkney Islands 08 Project ARICE Funded This conference has been the first in a num- 09 Chukchi Sea Radiosondes Help ber of YOPP Online meetings that will be held Detecting Hurricane Irma during the coming months. To listen to the con- 10 Feeling the Arctic to Better Understand – ference on YouTube, please click here. The next Arctic Circle 2017 Assembly conference is scheduled for 01 December 2018, 4 11 Subtitles to Polar Prediction Animation pm (GMT). In order to register, please follow this 12 YOPP-endorsed! – CAALC link. 13 Upcoming Events 02 YOPP Observations Layer|In order to pro- vide a better overview on observational acti- 01 YOPP Online Conference #01 | The first vities that will take place during the Year of YOPP Online Conference took place on 17 Oc- Polar Prediction, the International Coordina- 02 tober. During the first of a series of YOPP Online tion Office has developed a layer (kmz file) to / Conferences, the chair of the Polar Prediction be opened e.g., with Google Earth. This file dis- 10 Project Steering Group, Thomas Jung, has provi- plays information about extra observations such ded an update on the planning of the Year of Polar as buoys, automatic weather stations and radio- Prediction. He flagged activities such as extra sonde launches during the Special Observing Pe- routine observations that contribute to the plan- riods of the Year of Polar Prediction (YOPP SOPs). Observations during YOPP: Extra radiosondes, buoys, and aircraft can be explored at a kml file to be downloaded from www.polarprediction.net (Figure: Google Earth) Newsletter #04 // Nov. 2017 International Coordination Office (ICO) Find more information at of the Polar Prediction Project www.polarprediction.net Currently known details on airborne observations gue between polar forecast providers and users. have also been included to the layer and can be What kind of information is needed by the cap- browsed along different time slots. tain of a vessel navigating polar waters, or by the One of the main sources for this file has been in- pilot of an aircraft operating in Antarctica? Our formation received from national weather centres knowledge of what really matters at the end of replying to a letter WMO officially sent out early the forecast chain is rather limited. One important this year to inform Permanent Representatives of goal of YOPP is to foster the dialogue between po- WMO Member States about YOPP SOPs. Obser- lar forecast providers and users, in order to guide vations taking place during field campaigns of research towards significantly improved and YOPP-endorsed projects are also included. This applied polar prediction capabilities in a way that file is available for download at the website and, is meaningful to the various stakeholder groups as a living resource, will continuously be updated involved. in response to any new information. A spreads- heet with information on planned airborne obser- The dialogue platform Polar Prediction Matters vations is currently under development and will which is hosted by the German Helmholtz Asso- soon be shared with the community for input. For ciation specifically aims to foster the exchange any comments and updates, please contact the between forecast users and experts on polar pre- ICO at [email protected]. diction by sharing individual insights of polar en- vironmental forecast users. These user perspecti- 03 Polar Prediction Matters | Together with ves will be complemented with contributions by partners APPLICATE, Blue-Action, and the forecast providers, such as natural scientists wor- PPP-SERA subcommittee, the YOPP Coordina- king at meteorological and sea-ice services or at tion Office has launched the Polar Prediction universities, but also by social scientists trying to Matters dialogue platform at https://blogs. shed light on how forecast information and pro- 03 helmholtz.de/polarpredictionmatters/. Polar ducts are created, delivered, and utilised. / Prediction Matters aims to strengthen the dialo- 10 In our first two contributions, a former master of the German research ice- breaker Polarstern and two Icelandic coast guards provide their views on the role of available environmental information for practical planning of an ice passage and for managing a se- arch and rescue situation in the harsh Arctic environments. For any questions related to Polar Pre- diction Matters, please contact office@ polarprediction.net. 04 Operational Support | A number of operational services, in particu- lar related to weather and sea-ice information, offer support for Arctic field campaigns during the Year of Polar Prediction. A way to assist col- leagues while working in the field is to provide and promote opportunities Fostering dialogue: Polar Prediction Matters is hosted by the Ger- for operational support as delivered man Helmholtz Association and the Alfred Wegener Institute. by different weather and ice services. Newsletter #04 // Nov. 2017 International Coordination Office (ICO) Find more information at of the Polar Prediction Project www.polarprediction.net The YOPP Coordination Office is keen to facilitate for concerted efforts of the polar aircraft rese- operational support in particular for field cam- arch community in the years to come. As logisti- paigns that are going to take place during the cal hurdles are taken and funding decisions are Year of Polar Prediction, including those that have made, the coordination of airborne activities will been endorsed by YOPP (for more information on be a “moving target” that requires continuous YOPP-endorsed activities see the YOPP Explorer). exchange within the community. Consequently, a major outcome of the workshop is the develop- A number of operational services, in particular ment of a “living document” that summarises all related to weather and sea-ice information, offer relevant information on planned campaigns. The operational support for YOPP-related campaigns document will soon be shared with the commu- in the Arctic. Possible services include the disse- nity in order to continuously be updated, and mination of existing services, open data, operati- content will be incorporated into the YOPP Obser- onal and site-specific forecasts, or aviation brie- vations layer to facilitate coordination. fings. More details can be found here. A follow-up meeting is tentatively scheduled for Operational services that would like to offer simi- spring/summer 2018, to be held at AWI in Bre- lar products or services are invited to contact the merhaven, Germany. YOPP