SUMMARY - Meetings - Online Registrationmeetings.wmo.int/JCOMM-5/English/3. SESSION ARCHIV… · Web viewObservations Coordination Group (OCG) promotes the development of standards

World Meteorological Organization &Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (of UNESCO)JOINT WMO/IOC TECHNICAL COMMISSION FOR OCEANOGRAPHY AND MARINE METEOROLOGYFifth SessionDenpasar, Bali, Indonesia, 25 to 29 October 2017

JCOMM-5/Doc. 7.3Submitted by:

Secretariat29.VIII.2017

DRAFT 1

AGENDA ITEM 7: INTEGRATED OBSERVING SYSTEMS

AGENDA ITEM 7.3: OBSERVING BEST PRACTICES AND STANDARDS

SUMMARY

Observations Coordination Group (OCG) promotes the development of standards and best practices (S&BP) across marine/ocean observing networks, working with the community of networks under the JCOMM OCG. It is necessary to have a coordinated approach to S&BP through updating existing information, that is, publications, regulatory materials, manuals and guides of GOS, CIMO, WIGOS and IOC; and promoting the use of S&BP within and across marine/ocean observing networks. A framework for S&BP will assure the standardization of practices and traceability of ocean data, and will maintain the quality of systems and resulting data at the highest possible levels.

DECISIONS/ACTIONS REQUIRED:

(a) Adopt draft Decision 7.3/1 — SOT-Identifier Scheme;

(b) Adopt draft Recommendation 7.3/1 — Changes to Ship Masking Scheme;

(c) Adopt draft Recommendation 7.3/2 — Reducing number of VOS classifications;

(d) Adopt draft Recommendation 7.3/3 — Freezing publication WMO-No.47, and moving to WIGOS metadata structures.

CONTENT OF DOCUMENT:

The Table of Contents is available only electronically as a Document Map1.

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JCOMM-5/Doc. 7.3, DRAFT 1, p. 2

DRAFT DECISION

Draft Decision 7.3/1 (JCOMM-5)

SOT-IDENTIFIER SCHEME

THE JOINT WMO/IOC TECHNICAL COMMISSION FOR OCEANOGRAPHY AND MARINE METEOROLOGY,

Noting:

(1) The report of the ninth Session of the Ship Observations Team (SOT-9) (London, United Kingdom, 27-31 March 2017), where SOT recommended to adopt the SOT identifier (SOT-ID) scheme for platforms and instrument systems as described in the Annex to this Recommendation,

(2) The report of the eighth Session of the Observations Coordination Group (OCG, Qingdao, China, 22-25 May 2017), where OCG concurred with SOT recommendations in this regard,

Considering that:

(1) The SOT proposal with regard to SOT-ID would provide unique identifiers for marine stations as follows:

a) The SOT station ID list would be maintained by JCOMMOPS and the platform IDs would be issued according to the wider JCOMM ship list within the WIGOS metadata scheme (that is, SOT instrument packages would get IDs assigned by JCOMMOPS),

b) Instrument packages with SOT-ID are mounted on hosting ships; the hosting ships may also contribute to more than one observing programme such as the Voluntary Observing Ship Scheme (VOS), the Ship of Opportunity Programme (SOOP) and the Automated Shipboard Aerological Programme (ASAP); therefore, all instruments should refer to a shared JCOMM ship list, which SOT proposed should use the ICES code as unique identifier,

c) VOS, SOOP and ASAP could continue using traditional WMO identifiers for ships, but eventually all could be assigned by JCOMMOPS (on behalf of the Members),

(2) The link between an instrument package with an SOT-ID and hosting ship could be hidden from the public if a ship must be “masked” per national requirement, meaning that all instrument metadata are then available, but not the ship metadata,

Concurs with the SOT proposal for new SOT-IDs;

Decides to adopt the SOT-ID proposal as described in the Annex to this Decision and to promote the use of the JCOMM Ship list across all networks.

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Annex: 1


Annex to draft Decision 7.3/1 (JCOMM-5)

SOT-IDENTIFIER SCHEME

Recommendations from SOT

SOT-9 recommended to adopt a new SOT Station ID (SOT-ID) scheme that would provide unique identifiers for marine stations. The Recommendation includes the following:

(a) JCOMMOPS will issue WIGOS Station IDs for marine stations with a dedicated <issuer of identifier> assigned to JCOMMOPS;

(b) The local identifier will be exactly 7 characters: n1n2n3n4n5n6n7; n1,n4,n5,n6 will be letters or digits; n2,n3,n7 will be letters. This will also form the SOT Station ID;

(c) No information, such as type of platform, link to ship, operator, etc., will be encoded into the SOT Station ID;

(d) Changes to the assigned SOT Station ID will be governed according to decision trees below (Figures 1 – 4);

(e) Each platform or ship hosting or deploying instruments shall be assigned a unique hull or platform ID as part of a wider JCOMM station metadata list. The ICES Ship Code should be used for this purpose, with new codes requested when a new platform is recruited.

The usage of the proposed SOT Station ID scheme would mean that:

With the new ID scheme, every station installed on, or deployed from, a specific vessel or platform will be able to be uniquely identified, even when there are several stations installed on that vessel. Changes (e.g. flag, callsign, name of the vessel, etc.,) will not trigger a change of the SOT Station ID, therefore the data from that specific station and vessel can always be distinguished from other data by use of the unique SOT Station ID. With the new SOT Station ID scheme the direct link to the vessel making the observations can be hidden – effectively acting as a vessel masking scheme. However, the link, between the vessel hosting the station and the station, will be maintained through the separate JCOMM station metadata list and the hull or platform ID.

Background information:

Boundary conditions considered in the new scheme:

(a) IDs in TurboWin allow a maximum of seven characters. Increasing this will increase the cost of transmission;

(b) IDs need to be unique, therefore other ID schemes need to be considered to avoid duplicates. Schemes to be considered:


(i) ITU callsign regulation;

(ii) JCOMM/WMO identifier schemes (such as buoys);

(iii) Third party station and masking schemes.

(c) Requirements of different SOT panels need to be considered (multiple stations in single ship);

(d) WIGOS identifier scheme:

<WIGOS identifier series>-<issuer of identifier>-<issue number>-<local identifier>

JCOMMOPS will issue IDs for marine stations with dedicated <issuer of identifier>

Local identifier: n1n2n3n4n5n6n7 (n1,n4,n5,n6: letters or digits, n2,n3,n7: letters)

(e) Decision tree:

(i) Instrumentation moved to different platform: new SOT ID;

(ii) Change in network operator or recruiting country: new SOT ID;

(iii) Significant instrumentation change (likely to change bias or error characteristics): new SOT ID;

(iv) Replacement of instruments (like for like, no change to bias or error characteristic): no new SOT ID;

(v) Change of platform owner, flag, callsign, name, etc. but no change of instrumentation: no new SOT ID;

(vi) Additional instrument installed or removal of instrument: no change of SOT ID.

Figure 1: Decision tree governing changes to the SOT Station ID when there is a change in ownership of the hosting platform.


Figure 2: As figure 1 but for a change in instrumentation.

Figure 3: As figure 1 but for a change in network operator / recruiting country.

Figure 4: As figure 1 but for a change in hosting platform.

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DRAFT RECOMMENDATIONS

Draft Recommendation 7.3/1 (JCOMM-5)

CHANGES TO SHIP MASKING SCHEME


Recalling Resolution 27 (EC-59) - Ship Owners and Masters’ Concerns with regard to VOS Data Exchange,

Noting:

(1) The report of the ninth Session of the Ship Observations Team (SOT) (London, United Kingdom, 27-31 March 2017), where the SOT recommended to (a) move forward with the implementation of a new seven digit WIGOS SOT ship identifier (SOT-ID) scheme and (b) to discontinue development and/or use of ship identifier masking and encode/decode schemes,

(2) The report of the eighth Session of the Observations Coordination Group (OCG, Qingdao, China, 22-25 May 2017), where OCG concurred with SOT-9 recommendations in this regard,

Considering that:

(1) The structure of the new proposed SOT ID scheme associated with a separation of platform metadata (such as sensor information) from ship metadata (such as IMO number), permits hiding the ship reference in the platform metadata to non-authorized users,

(2) Implementing an encode/decode solution of ship identifiers within FM-94 BUFR reports would require a complex governance and procedure with the nomination of a JCOMM focal point for the management and regular submission of public/private encryption keys,

(3) Changes to national procedures in ship identifier masking schemes are being considered, such as:

(a) Canada investigating ending the use of the “SHIP” masking scheme and using other options instead, such as Encode/Decode or the new SOT-IDs,

(b) The United Kingdom, United States of America, Japan and Australia considering to end use of all ship identifier masking schemes and moving to using the SOT-ID Scheme instead,

Recognizing that:

(1) Security issues (piracy) as initial driver for the implementation of ship identifier masking schemes are less important today,

(2) Progress with satellite Automatic Identification System (AIS) now allows for even global and continuous ship tracking on public websites, and shipping companies are now more open to softening security policies,


Mindful that the use of current ship identifier masking schemes such as “SHIP” does not facilitate quality monitoring of ship data, and is, de facto, limiting access to VOS data to some users,

Having been informed that:

(1) The transition to SOT-IDs and the use of Automatic Identification System (AIS) for tracking vessels, along with the full transition to FM-94 BUFR-formatted data distributions, results in existing ship identifier masking schemes being no longer effective in hiding ship identities and tracks,

(2) The use of the proposed SOT-ID allows all masking schemes to eventually be discontinued as SOT-ID can also serve as a pseudo-mask,

(3) Due to the above considerations, many NMHS’s are now moving away from masking altogether,

Recommends to the Executive Council:

(1) To no longer keep in force Resolution 27 (EC-59);

(2) To adopt a new Resolution and request Members to discontinue using existing ship identifier masking and encode/decode schemes, and to use the new proposed SOT ID scheme instead;

Calls upon the SOT to draft the new WMO Executive Council Resolution for its submission to EC-70 through the Management Committee.

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REDUCING NUMBER OF VOS CLASSIFICATIONS


Noting:

(1) The report of the ninth Session of the Ship Observations Team (SOT-9) (London, United Kingdom, 27-31 March 2017), where the SOT recommended to reduce the number of VOS classes from eight down to three,


Considering the SOT proposal, to consider the following three classes of VOS as follows:

(a) NMHS Operated: Ships that are recruited by a national meteorological service which also supplies the necessary observing instruments, sensors and equipment,

(b) NMHS Cooperative: Ships that are recruited by a national meteorological service but use their own instruments, sensors and equipment,

(c) Independent: Third party support ships that are not recruited by a national meteorological service but contribute to the VOS Scheme,

Considering further that a change to three new classes will require modifications to the VOS metadata scheme and how these classes are reported and documented by Port Meteorological Officers (PMOs),

Concurs with the reduction of VOS classes to the three proposed by SOT;

Requests the SOT to:

(1) Fully define the new classes, propose required changes to VOS metadata formats, reporting procedures for PMOs, and make proposals on how the new third party ships should be administered and supported in the future;

(2) Develop and propose the required changes in WMO-No. 544, WMO-No. 488, andWMO-No. 306;

Invites the Commission for Basic Systems to accept the changes proposed by the SOT the above regulatory and guidance material;

Recommends to the Executive Council to:

1) Approve the recommended changes to VOS Classifications to be reflected in the Manual on the Global Observing System, Volume I – Global Aspects (WMO-No. 544) and Guide to the Global Observing System (WMO-No. 488), and transitioned to the Manual on the WMO Integrated Global Observing System (WMO-No. 1160) and Guide to the WMO Integrated Global Observing System (WMO-No. 1165) as appropriate per WIGOS Pre-Operational Phase implementation;


2) Make appropriate amendments to the code tables of the Manual on Codes, Vol I.2 (WMO-No. 306) using the “Simple (Fast-track) procedure” of Resolution 12 (EC-68).

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FREEZING WMO-NO. 47 AND MOVING TO WIGOS METADATA STRUCTURES


Noting:

(1) The report of the ninth Session of the Ship Observations Team (SOT) (London, United Kingdom, 27-31 March 2017), where the SOT recommended that publication WMO-No. 47 should be frozen at the current version 4.2, be archived, and contents transferred into JCOMMOPS database (with an appropriate subset to be submitted into OSCAR/WIGOS framework),


Mindful that:

(1) By freezing current publication WMO-No. 47, metadata format, and creating and implementing a new, composite format, SOT observing networks would be better positioned to make the changes required to comply with WIGOS metadata requirements,

(2) By offering the flexibility currently available to other marine meteorological and oceanographic observing networks (for example, data buoys) and not being subject to the specific WMO regulations such as publication WMO-no. 47, modification of the metadata structure would be much faster and more efficient and would ensure that changes are possible within the WIGOS implementation period,

(3) By establishing JCOMMOPS as the main metadata repository, this would not only reduce the need for duplication of effort by national VOS operators, but would also reduce the need for national metadata databases altogether, and would ensure that all relevant WIGOS metadata are directly uploaded into the OSCAR database,

Concurs with the transfer of WMO-No. 47 database from E-SURFMAR to JCOMMOPS;

Recommends to the Executive Council to:

(1) Approve the freezing and archival of publication WMO-No. 47, at version 4.2, and discontinue the publication;

(2) Approve the submission of ship metadata from Members directly to JCOMMOPS;

(3) Approve the full integration of publication WMO-No. 47 within the WIGOS Metadata Standard, and the transfer of WMO-No. 47 Database to OSCAR/Surface, via JCOMMOPS.

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BACKGROUND INFORMATION SUPPORTING DECISIONAND RECOMMENDATIONS

NOT TO BE INCLUDED IN THE SESSION REPORT

References:

(1) Report of the ninth Session of the Ship Observations Team (SOT), (London, United Kingdom, 27-31 March 2017)

(2) Report of the eighth Session of the Observations Coordination Group (OCG), (Qingdao, China, 22-25 May 2017)

REDUCING THE NUMBER OF VOLUNTARY OBSERVING SHIP (VOS) SCHEME CLASSES

At present, there are ten main VOS Classes specified under the vssIM code in table 2202. In addition to these ten, an additional eleventh entry “other” is also still permitted for use within WMO-No. 47. The traditional classes for manual reporting ships; selected, supplemental, VOSClim, Auxiliary, were largely related to the number of elements in the FM-13 WMO Ship Code. However, the traditional alphanumeric codes (TAC) such as the FM-13 SHIP Code have now been superseded by the binary Table Driven Code (TDC) for international data exchanges between national Meteorological Services (FM94 BUFR). Consequently, the need to link VOS Classes to SHIP Code parameters no longer exists. Below is a list of the current VOS Classes specified in table 2202:

(a) Selected (b) Supplementary (c) VOSClim (d) Auxiliary(e) Third Party Support (f) Selected (AWS) (g) Supplementary (AWS) (h) Auxiliary (AWS) (i) VOSClim (AWS) (j) Third Party Support (AWS)(k) Other

It is expected that the use of the FM13 Ship Code aboard ships for transmitting data ashore will likely continue for a few more years. Electronic logbook software, such as TurboWin, would allow the transmission of the BUFR compatible data formats such as FORMAT 101 created by ESURFMAR. This would allow the higher volume of higher resolution data to be gradually increased and shared internationally.

Recommendations from SOT-9 (London, 27-31 March 2017)

SOT agreed to reduce the number of VOS classes from the present ten down to three. Recommendations adopted include the following:

(a) That the number of VOS classes should be reduced to just three new classes as proposed by the Task Team on VOS Recruitment and Programme Promotion;

(b) That the Task Team on VOS Metadata should include these three new classes in their work on the development of new WIGOS compliant metadata;

http://www.jcomm.info/index.php?option=com_oe&task=viewDoclistRecord&doclistID=111

http://www.jcomm.info/index.php?option=com_oe&task=viewDoclistRecord&doclistID=111


(c) That the use of the metadata field “other”, currently used for field vssIM (type of meteorological reporting ship) in WMO-No. 47, should be discontinued in the new metadata requirements for WIGOS and that ships considered as contributing to the VOS Scheme should in the future be restricted to one of the proposed three new classes;

(d) That the newly structured Task Team, Recruitment Promotion and Training, (combined TT-VRPP and TT-Training), together with the Task Team on VOS Metadata, should develop precise definitions for the three classes and make proposals on how the new third party ships should be administered and supported in the future. Below are the recommendations for these three classes and it should be noted that this consideration was generally supported by the Task Team on WMO-No. 47 Metadata, who are planning to include them within their considerations for a new WIGOS compatible metadata list for VOS.

The Three New VOS Classes are as follows:

(a) NMHS Operated: Ships that are recruited by a national meteorological service which also supplies the necessary observing instruments, sensors and equipment;

(b) NMHS Cooperative: Ships that are recruited by a national meteorological service but use their own instruments, sensors and equipment;

(c) Independent: Third party support ships that are not recruited by a national meteorological service but contribute to the VOS Scheme.

FREEZING WMO-NO. 47 AND MOVING TO WIGOS METADATA STRUCTURES

Preamble

The WMO International list of Selected, Supplementary and Auxiliary Ships (WMO-No. 47) was established in 1955 as a means of cataloguing ships participating in the Voluntary Observing Ships Scheme, along with their associated list of comprehensive metadata, which is of vital importance in the quantification of observations.

The WMO Integrated Global Observing System (WIGOS) Metadata Standard (WMDS) is a semantic standard that specifies the metadata elements for observations that exist and that can be recorded and exchanged. With WIGOS implementation being made in three phases between 2016 and 2020, it was recognized that action was urgently needed to meet the mandatory criteria (listed in WMO-No. 9, Vol. A), or those which are of critical importance to the Observing System Capability Analysis and Review tool (OSCAR)) and that WMO-No. 47, in its current format, was not sufficient in capturing the additional WIGOS fields. It was acknowledged that this new standard would eventually supplant WMO-No. 47.

Accordingly, initial energy was devoted to transitioning and harmonizing current WMO-No. 47 metadata requirements with those prescribed in the Manual on WIGOS (WMO-No. 1160, Appendix 2.4). Following detailed discussions at SOT-9 it was, however, decided thatWMO-No. 47 should be frozen in its current format (version 4.2) and a new composite WIGOS compliant metadata structure should be created in its place.

Recommendations from SOT-9 (London, 27-31 March 2017)

SOT agreed to freeze publication WMO-No. 47, archive the present version, and move forward with implementing a database at JCOMMOPS to include the present content of publication WMO-No. 47 and any additional metadata to support WIGOS and OSCAR.


Recommendations adopted include the following:

(a) That WMO-No. 47 should be frozen in its current format (version 4.2) and should be archived for historical records when the new composite metadata structure for VOS becomes operational (copies of the latest version (4.2) of the guidance document for WMO-No. 47 metadata to be uploaded to the SOT-VOS website2 and to the WMO website3 until such time as this document can be archived);

(b) That a new composite metadata document should continue to be drafted for the VOS based on WIGOS requirements, with a view to eventually replacingWMO-No. 47;

(c) That increased working flexibility is needed to ensure that changes to metadata requirements that are needed to introduce new WIGOS compliant metadata, can be introduced much faster than at present, for example, structural changes toWMO-No. 47 currently require formal approval by JCOMM. This will also bring consistency with other JCOMM networks;

(d) That the JCOMMOPS database should in future be regarded as the main metadata repository, that is, when the E-SURFMAR metadata database has been fully migrated to JCOMMOPS; and that JCOMMOPS should continue to submit only the mandatory WMO-No. 47 fields to OSCAR;

(e) That OCG should be invited to consider the need to establish a cross-cutting working group to oversee and ensure consistency in the way that JCOMM observing networks are collecting metadata and to benefit from synergies.

The outcome of these recommendations means that:

By freezing the current WMO-No. 47 metadata format and creating and implementing a new, composite format, SOT observing networks will be better positioned to make the changes required to comply with WIGOS metadata requirements. By offering the flexibility currently available to other JCOMM observing networks (for example, DBCP) and not being subject to the current JCOMM validation procedures, modification of the metadata structure will be much faster and more efficient and will ensure that changes are possible within the WIGOS implementation period. By establishing JCOMMOPS as the main metadata repository, this will not only reduce the need for duplication of effort by national VOS operators, but it will reduce the need for national metadata databases altogether and will ensure that all relevant WIGOS metadata are directly uploaded into the OSCAR database. JCOMMOPS is hosted and maintained by CLS, with its professional operational data centre and daily backups to the French Space Agency, which provides members with more than adequate security.

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2 http://sot.jcommops.org/vos/resources.html3 http://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/www/ois/pub47/pub47-home.htm

http://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/www/ois/pub47/pub47-home.htm

http://sot.jcommops.org/vos/resources.html

Documents

SUMMARY - Meetings - Online Registrationmeetings.wmo.int/JCOMM-5/English/3. SESSION ARCHIV… · Web viewObservations Coordination Group (OCG) promotes the development of standards