Contributors from 15 COST countries and 4 non-COST countries

1. A EUROPEAN NETWORK FOR A HARMONISED MONITORING OF SNOW FOR THE BENEFIT OF CLIMATOLOGY, HYDROLOGY AND NUMERICAL WEATHER PREDICTION Contributors from 15 COST countries and 4 non-COST countries

2. CONTENTS • Importance of snow information • Reasons for the Action • Objectives and benefits of the Action • Scientific programme - tasks of the working groups • Deliverables and milestones • Potential users and stakeholders • Organisation and dissemination • Early stage researcher plan and gender balance • Comments from EEP Consensus

3. Snow: It quenches our thirst/it cools our planet

4. Snow modifies the atmospheric and surface energy balance => impacts on weather, climate and the water cycle

5. Snow information is needed for understanding and predicting climate change Changes in snow are projected to occur in the future as a response to temperature increase and either increases or decreases in precipitation, depending on the world region Emissions 20-model mean changes in snow water equivalent under the A1B scenario Ref: Räisänen (2008)

6. OBSERVATIONS SNOW ANALYSIS NWP MODEL WEATHER FORECAST SNOW MODEL ROAD MODEL (+SNOW ANALYSIS) AVALANCHE SNOW DRIFT WARNING FORECASTER WITH (STATISTICAL) TOOLS Snow information is necessary for forecasting weather and delivering natural hazard warnings => Strong socio-economical relevance

7. Reasons for the Action Hundreds of researchers and observers are measuring snow on the ground, from space, on the ice … in many different ways

8. Measuring is not easy … Increasing Difficulty to Measure Courtesey of Kelly Elder Rocky Mountain Research Station, US Forest Service, Fort Collins, CO, kelder@fs.fed.us Snow depth Snow water equivalent Snow temperature profile and ground temperature Snow surface and air temperature Snow surface roughness Snow stratigraphy Grain shape Liquid water content Soil moisture Ground surface roughness Soil temperature profile Snow grain bonds Snow matrix structure (3-D) Measurement location Snow matrix structure (2-D, SMP) Snow density Grain size Increasing Uncertainty in Measurement

9. - macro scale - - regional/global scale - development, parameterization Snow microphysics model (1D) Snow physics model (1D) NWP or climate model (3D) parameterization - micro scale - calibration development calibration validation data assimilation validation Measurementsin-situ (campaigns)remote sensing Measurementsin-situ (regular)remote sensing Snow processes need modelling over all scales

10. This COST Action on SNOW aims at building a better connection between snow measurements and models, between snow observers, researchers and forecasters, for the benefit of various stakeholders and the entire society Aim of the Action: To enhance the capability of the research community and operational services to provide and exploit quality-assured and comparable regional and global observation-based data on the variability of the state and extent of snow.

11. Why COST ? • Snow occurrence, processes and issues concern most countries, even (and even more so) if snow is not a recurrent phenomenon (e.g. winter 2012-13 in Western Europe) => Wide interest in many countries (and even more than at the time of the proposal). • There are many issues which need preliminary deciphering and thus that can be solved only through networking and inclusiveness to share the various experience, expertise and situations. • The activities coordinated by the Action are multidisciplinary, as the topics being addressed range from measurements (in situ and remote sensing), instrumentation, sensor data processing, data assimilation, data analyses and fusion to physical processes, numerical modelling, and climatic conditions. • COST is the ideal instrument for such inclusive and broad collaboration, coordination and training. Specifically, the Action aims at providing significant progress on harmonising measurement practices and instrumentation for reliable snow data retrieval and collection, and on enhancing coherent subsequent analysis, use and interpretation for applications. • The Action will be integrated in global initiatives (through eg.. WMO)

12. Complementarity with other research programmes • EUMETSAT Hydro-SAF: Satellite Application Facility on support to operational hydrology and water management, 2005-2017 • The GMES/Copernicus Services on snow • DUE-GlobSnow, 2008-2014 (Data User Element project, European Space Agency) • Nordic Centre of Excellence SVALI (Stability and Variations of Arctic Land Ice): a major Nordic collaborative venture for studies of climate, energy and the environment, 2011-2015 • EuRuCAS: EU/FP7 European-Russian Centre for cooperation in the Arctic and Sub-Arctic environmental and climate research, 2012-2015 • SNAP (Snow, Ice and Avalanche Applications): EU Northern Periphery Programme, 2011-2014 • WG “From quantitative stratigraphy to microstructure-based modelling of snow” of the International Association of Cryospheric Sciences (IACS), 2012 – 2016 • Expert Team on Land Surface Parameterisations and Data Assimilation in the EUMETNET programme C-SRNWP (Coordination on Short-Range Numerical Weather Prediction) • Cryosphere-atmosphere interactions in a changing Arctic climate (CRAICC): a Nordic Centre of Excellence project investigating the interactions between ice and the atmosphere. • ESF Research Networking Programme “Micro-Dynamics of Ice (Micro-DICE)”, 2010-2015. • Svalbard Integrated Arctic Earth Observing System –Preparatory Phase Project (SIOS-PP), EU FP7-ESFRI Infrastructure, 2010-2014. • CLiC (Climate and Cryosphere) core project of the World Climate Research Programme WCRP.

13. Overall Objectives & Benefits • Establish a European-wide science network on snow measurements for their optimum use and applications benefitting on interactions across disciplines and expertise. • Assess and harmonise practices, standards and retrieval algorithms applied to ground, air- and space-borne snow measurements => Foster their acceptance by key snow network operators at the international level. • Develop a rationale and long term strategy for snow measurements, their dissemination and archiving. • Advance snow data assimilation in European NWP and hydrological models and show its benefit for relevant applications. • Establish a validation strategy for climate, NWP and hydrological models against snow observations and foster its implementation within the European modelling communities. • Training of a new generation of scientists on snow science and measuring techniques with a broader and more holistic perspective linked with the various applications.

14. Scientific Programme • The Action will scrutinise activities related to snow science in terms of • (1) observations, (2) instrumentation and (3) data assimilation, aiming at better • effectiveness, harmonisation and coverage of snow data. • Harmonization activities will focus on the critical nodes of the measurement chain. • Getting the best support from remote sensing for weather forecasts via data • assimilation requires mastering the whole spectrum of scales and resolutions. • The proposed Action will be based on a number of on-going development projects • carried out by the participants, and will act as a platform for national and EU research • and/or infrastructure proposals. • The Action will bring together diverse disciplines, applications and techniques to • work together within the 3 focal activities by combining new techniques and • applications in innovative ways, encouraging developments towards better • inter-compatibility, effective use of upgraded measurements, and cross-community • validations. • Three WGs will be defined according to the 3 focuses in the scientific programme.

15. The Action focuses on observations and data assimilation

16. WG1: Physical Characterization of Snow properties Task 1.1: Identifying and assessing the essential snow variables Task 1.2: Physical characterization of the essential snow variables Task 1.3: Snow network optimization, data quality control and homogenization Task 1.4: Harmonization of snow observations in terms of the measured variables

17. WG2: Instrument and Method Evaluation Task 2.1: A review of existing space-borne and ground-based sensors/instrumentation applied for measurement of different snow characteristic, estimation of their uncertainties. Task 2.2: Guidelines for in-situ snow observations and related training Task 2.3: Spectroradiometry for snow studies Task 2.4: Methods to measure snow grain size Task 2.5: Methods to measure mechanical properties of snow

18. WG3: Snow data assimilation and validation methods for NWP and hydrological models Task 3.1: An overview assessment for understanding the future perspectives of how the various snow observations are used in NWP, hydrology and climate studies. Task 3.2: Development of methods to update non-observed forecasted physical snow properties (such as snow temperature, wetness, density profiles, and mechanical properties) based on the observed ones (such as snow depth and extent). Task 3.3: Advance in the assimilation of new and developing satellite observations of different snow properties and their combination with conventional in-situ snow measurements. Task 3.4: Finding ways towards more extended usage of conventional snow observations in NWP, hydrological and climate models, including observations from high-resolution national networks. Task 3.5: Reaching better knowledge on model and observational errors relevant for data assimilation, by establishing links between model and measurement communities via WG1 and WG2.

19. Overall of Deliverables • A web-based overview/data portal of snow observations, measurements and instruments with links to existing real-time snow databases • A review and practical guide on snow measurements considering different user needs • A catalogue of snow measurement instrumentation and best practices • A review on snow data assimilation in European NWP and hydrological models • Multidisciplinary articles in scientific journals (including above review results) • A synthesis and strategic recommendations report.

20. Milestones & Deliverables

21. Milestones & Deliverables

22. TIMELINES

23. TIMELINES

24. TIMELINES

25. TIMELINES

26. Measurementsites/facilities:Sodankylä, FMI ArcticResearch Centre Micrometeorological mast Spectrometer mast Snow depth Snow temperature profile

27. Measurement sites/facilities:DAVOS, Swiss Federal Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research Snow profiling Variety of measuring systems

28. Measurement sites/facilities:COL DU PORT, Snow research Centre, CNRS/Meteo France

29. Measurement sites/facilities:Longyearbyen (Svalbard), University Centre in Svalbard (Norway)

30. Potential Users & Stakeholders National bodies: • National Weather Services • National Hydrological Services • National roadauthorities International organizations: • ESA • EUMETSAT • EUMETNET • WMO • IPCC • ECMWF • IACS • GCW The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, can be a potential user, since they are interested in road snow cover and snow structure evolution; they are also in the project as observing participants. (Dr.TiborFulop,GOODYEAR Innovation Center *Luxembourg) Contactsbetween the Action and Users/Stakeholders will be based on mutual representation and existing contacts of the Action partners

31. Dissemination I • A large number of European National Meteorological and Hydrological Institutes will be involved in the Action and invited to participate to the meetings more broadly as well as experts on snow-related matters from outside the Action. • The recommendations of the Action will be disseminated to ECMWF, WMO, EUMSETSAT, ESA, European Meteorological/Hydrological Services/Agencies , as well as to the Joint Research Centre (Institute for Environment and Sustainability) and its European Floods Awareness System (EFAS), the EEA (European Environment Agency) and national/regional environmental agencies.

32. Dissemination II • Conference proceedings and journal publications will be made about scientific and technical results of the Action and its WGs. • All deliverable DOCUMENTS will be posted on the publicly accessible part of the Action web site. • Create brochures that explain the importance of snow monitoring • The Snow field training school and dedicated workshops will also address a younger generation of scientists who hopefully will find through the activities of the Action motivation to embrace a career dealing with snow-related issues.

33. Organisation • The Action is planned for 4 years • MC will comply with COST rules (COST 4159/10) • STSMs for early stage researchers • The Action invites experts from key institutions, e.g. WMO, EUMETSAT, ECWMF, ESA, the scientific community (e.g., IACS) • MC twice a year, WGs semi-annually, all the Action meetings combined with other workshops, measurement campaigns or training courses, if possible • 2 workshops, 2 measurement campaigns, 1 training school, internal website linked to public website

34. Early Stage Researcher Plan • ESRs will be supported to act as national delegates • At least 8 short term scientific missions / year • Up to 3 support grants to non COST conferences • A training course for ESRs • Facilitating ESR network • ESR mentoring program • ESR meetings prior to Action workshop • Rotation of MC/WG meetings in the participating countries to allow ESRs easy participation without financial support

35. Gender Balance • Specific members of the MC will monitor the gender balance • At least 40% female members in WGs • Chairing positions in MC and WGs will be assigned with a gender-balance approach • The Action will encourage networking between female researchers • The Action will offer a mentoring programme targeted to female researchers

36. Non-COST participants(already partners in several projects) RUSSIA: • Dr. Leonid Bobylev, Nansen International Environmental and Remote Sensing Centre, St. Petersburg.Expertise: polar meteorology, remote sensing data analysis, polar climate. • Prof. Vladimir Kotlyakov, Dr. Nikolai Osokin, and Dr. Valeria Popova, Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences , Moscow. Expertise: glaciology. • Prof. VadimKuzmin, Russian State HydrometeorologicalUniversity, St. Petersbourg. Expertize: hydrology CHINA: • Prof. Zhang Zhanhai, Polar Research Institute of China, Shanghai. Expertise: atmosphere-ice-snow interactions. JAPAN: • Dr. TeruoAoki, MeteorologicalResearch Institute, Tsukuba. Expertise: snowmeasurements and modelling, radiativetransfer in snow, blackcarbon. Prof. Kouichi Nishimura,Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University Expertise: snowavalanche. USA: • Prof. Mark Flanner, University of Michigan. Expertise: snowmetamorphism, blackcarbon in snow,cryosphere-climate feedbacks. USA, CANADA: NASA SNOW REMOTE SENSING WORKING GROUP

37. The transfer of knowledge after the ACTION • The results will not stop one library shelf in 4 years but will live on through other activities (such as WMO for the measurements and instruments), assimilation of new/better data (with ECMWF and Hydrological institiutes), remote sensing programmes (ESA, EUMETSAT) and climate series harmonisation (IPCC, WMO/WCRP)

38. Thank your for your attention!