The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) and the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), which are both implemented by ECMWF on behalf of the European Commission, held their General Assemblies in September and October 2018.
C3S
C3S’s General Assembly took place at the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, Berlin, from 24 to 28 September. Participants reviewed a particularly exciting year for C3S and looked ahead to a new era.
Since 2015, C3S has moved on from a proof-of-concept phase to become a fully operational service that supplies climate information to tens of thousands of users, ranging from policy-makers and businesses to scientists and citizens. After consolidating links with users and data providers and developing initial service elements, such as the provision of monthly climate bulletins and sectoral climate impact indicators, 2018 saw the launch of the C3S Climate Data Store (CDS). The CDS is a gateway for accessing climate data and data processing tools, freely available and open for everyone to use.
Several sessions of the General Assembly focused on the CDS, including its data content and tools and how to ensure and improve service quality. Other sessions covered topics such as the Sectoral Information Systems, which aim to provide information to help specific sectors deal with climate change (see the separate article in this Newsletter). The meeting also included a training session for C3S scientists and contractors. The mix of plenary talks and thematic fairs enabled maximum interaction between C3S contributors and provided a comprehensive view of the progress achieved so far. Several smaller meetings dedicated to specific technical topics were organised with C3S contractors, who are instrumental in implementing C3S by providing data and creating a wide range of applications.
The General Assembly enabled C3S data providers and users to share their knowledge and experience of the various components of the service. It gathered user requirements and feedback on the service so far and, perhaps most importantly, it facilitated networking and brainstorming for the climate change community in the context of an operational C3S. Looking to the future, C3S is planning to integrate even more datasets into the CDS, which will cover a wider variety of climate variables and indicators.
CAMS
Participants in the CAMS General Assembly, which took place in Lisbon from 16 to 18 October, were also able to review a string of exciting developments over the past year. The Assembly was opened by Prof. Miguel Miranda, president of IPMA and President of ECMWF’s Council. The agenda included updates on all aspects of the Service, from input data to user uptake and communications activities. The two highlights of the past year – the successful inclusion of Sentinel-5P observations in the CAMS global system (see the separate article in this Newsletter) and the completion of the CAMS global reanalysis of atmospheric composition – of course featured highly in the programme.
One of the days was dedicated to presentations and discussions with users and potential users of CAMS, with a special focus on Portuguese public and commercial entities. A poster and demonstration session enabled further exchanges between users and providers, with opportunities to showcase and discuss their activities related to CAMS. Participants also heard about a range of major developments planned for 2019 and beyond, in particular the ADS (Atmosphere Data Store), which will be built as a new instance of the CDS to serve all CAMS products.
