URBANIZATION AND MEGACITIES: GAW Urban Research Meteorology and Environ- IMPACT BASED FORECASTS AND RISK ment Project (GURME) GURME is an integral part of urban research and services, and BASED WARNINGS its activities include: Multiple hazards in urban areas defining meteorologial and air quality measurements that support urban forecasting Poor air quality, providing cities access to air quality numerical pre- extreme heat/cold weather and human thermal diction systems and monitoring information which stress serve as the basis for health-related prediction ser- hurricanes, typhoons, extreme local winds vices, and flooding, promoting city pilot projects for different cities to de- sea-level rise due to climate change, monstrate successful expansion of MeteoServices for ur- energy and water sustainability, ban environment issues. public health issues caused by the above, and climate change: 70% of greenhouse gas emissions Go to http://mce2.org/wmogurme/ for list of projects. from urban areas India Commonwealth Games GURME Pilot Project The Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, Air Quality Integrated Urban Weather, Water, Environ- is spearheading the country's first major initiative named ment and Climate Services a "System of Air Quality Forecasting and Research Products and A priority of WMO is to enhance the capabilities of (SAFAR)", which was successfully tested during the com- National Meteorological and Hydrology Services in monwealth Games 2010 for National Capital Region Delhi. conducting research and providing services for cities The vision is to spread the SAFAR to other major cities in Services to deal with weather, water, climate and environmen- India. http://safar.tropmet.res.in/ tal problems. From the Global to SAFAR at a glance Urban Scale [email protected] Air Quality Products and Services from the Global to Urban Scales Global forecast of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) is a global GLOBAL AND REGIONAL AIR QUALITY relevant to human health, weather and climate programme of the World Meteorological Organization FORECASTS AND ASSESSMENTS established 27 years ago. GAW coordinates long-term observations and analyses of atmospheric composition Atmospheric composition matters to air quality and (aerosol, greenhouse gases, reactive gases, deposition, human health, ecosystem sustainability and biodiversity, ozone and UV radiation) and its changes over space weather and climate, agricultural food production, avia- and time, emphasizing quality assurance and quality tion safety, and much more. control. GAW delivers integrated products and Atmospheric models, constrained by observations from services of relevance to users. ground-based and mobile platforms (e.g. aircrafts) and http://www.wmo.int/gaw/ satellites, are critical in providing information on global and regional air quality, and on the intercontinental Global forecast of ground-level ozone relevant to Elements of the GAW Programme transport of pollutants. Models can also be used to ex- human health and agricultural food production plore the future impact of natural and anthropogenic change on atmospheric pollution to better inform policy -makers, businesses and citizens. GAW is actively contributing to the development of a portfolio of new products and services, building on years of experience with numerical weather forecasting, integrating knowledge on physical and chemical process- es in the atmosphere, cutting-edge computing capabili- ties, and in-situ and satellite observations. Core tasks include: Sand and Dust Storms Warning Advisory and demonstrating the usefulness of exchanging atmos- pheric composition observations in near real time in Assessment System (SDS-WAS) support of forecasting and assessment applications A joint activity of GAW and the World Weather Research related to natural and anthropogenic air pollution, Programme designed to provide health-relevant advisories and related to sand and dust storms. http://www.wmo.int/sdswas exchanging and facilitating best practices. GAW’s mission The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service Reduce environmental risks to society and meet (CAMS) is an important contributor to GAW by pro- the requirements of environmental conventions, viding near-real-time data analyses and forecasts on Strengthen capabilities to predict climate, weather multiple atmospheric chemical constituents of relevance and air quality, and to air quality and other environmental issues at a global Contribute to scientific assessments in support of and regional scale. environmental policy. https://atmosphere.copernicus.eu/about-cams .