Challenging times require new responses: The programme
Atmospheric sciences and their actors – NMHSs, research organizations and private sectors, scientists advising on climate change assessment, adaptation and mitigation, consultants, manufacturers, etc. – are more and more closely involved with a broad range of authorities, practitioners, and decision-makers within various societal and economic sectors (safety on roads, seas and air, climate negotiation, infrastructure protection, public health, energy production predictions, agriculture, and many more) where immediate impacts (from prevailing weather) and long-term climatic changes are becoming mixed.
Furthermore, with respect to science and governance, pan-European organizations and activities such as EUMETNET, ECMWF, EUMETSAT, and Copernicus are becoming more and more active and concur further on this integration of actions, needs, and actors. Through the concept of a weather-ready globe, this integration will be achieved by enhancing collaboration across the entire weather enterprise (public, private, academic, users, and NGOs) to benefit societies worldwide. Consequently, international and especially pan-European projects, programmes, and initiatives should find room at this conference for networking, dissemination, and brainstorming.
Facilitating these interactions and convergence of science branches, applications, and actors is the core objective of the EMS Annual Meetings. Therefore the Programme and Science Committee has developed a framework for the session programme that highlights the core purposes, channels, and challenges of meteorological and climatological research and applications and thus offers better opportunities for cooperation and multidisciplinarity.
EMS programme stream definitions
Engagement with Society (ES)
Sessions will address our efforts and challenges in creating stronger links between meteorological and climate activities and the socio-economic environment, providing a platform for users to present their requirements and use of applications. Such links help optimize how forecasts, advice, and warnings are effectively communicated to launch appropriate actions, in particular to cope with weather and climate extremes with high impacts. This in turn suggests multi-level (from executive to practitioners and services) partnerships and dialogue to transfer requirements, information, knowledge, products, and services between our community and socio-economical players: decision-makers, practitioners, and the public. The intertwined relation of meteorology and climate sciences with society requires the development of education and training as well as ways to communicate scientific advances. This also entails the need to attract more young people to our science, to support career development, and to develop certification procedures.
ES sessions will connect and trigger activities reported in the UP and OSA programme streams.
Operational Systems and Applications (OSA)
Sessions will address our efforts to develop and optimize the end-to-end process of state-of-the-art operational weather, climate, and atmospheric composition services. This encompasses a wide range of methodologies, analyses, and applications that take stock of scientific advances combined with evolving capacities: HPC, GIS, new observations, internet, telecommunications, big data, etc. This entails developing methods for consolidating the wealth of available data into easily and quickly interpretable information for the users (both forecasters and authorities). The timely operational delivery of end-products, such as accurate and reliable forecasts and warnings, are also essential to ensure the safety, continuity, fluency, and sustainability of socio-economic activities.
OSA sessions build on findings from UP sessions and are tailored through ES channels.
Understanding Weather & Climate Processes (UP)
Sessions will address our recent progress and future challenges in observing and understanding atmospheric processes and the climate system. This includes interactions with related subsystems: the hydrosphere, cryosphere, biosphere, and pedosphere, and changes and feedback mechanisms within an integrated Earth system approach. The relationships between observables, processes, and modelled quantities have to be investigated. Higher-resolution models imply both new understanding and formulation of physical parameterizations and new types of observations and data to test and run the models. Finally, the scientific community must respond to the evolving needs of society towards new knowledge in order to predict the future of the Earth system.
UP sessions respond to the needs of ES and OSA sessions.
