Publication: The Value of Surface-based Meteorological Observation Data
Loading...
Date
2021
ISSN
Published
2021
Editor(s)
Abstract
Weather forecasting generates significant societal benefits, which can be increased by improving accuracy and lead-time through better meteorological monitoring, modeling and computing. Forecasting relies on numerical weather prediction (NWP), which is significantly impacted by the availability of meteorological observations, with space-based observations being the most important. Surface-based observations also contribute substantially to NWP performance, but current availability in Antarctica, Africa, South America, the Pacific and parts of Asia is insufficient. More observations from these regions would improve global NWP and forecasting quality, particularly in the data-sparse regions themselves, but also over the rest of the globe. It is estimated that improvements in the coverage and exchange of surface-based observations to meet the World Meteorological Organization’s Global Basic Observing Network (GBON) specification can deliver additional global socioeconomic benefits of over five billion annually. This is a conservative estimate omitting non-financial benefits such as potential lives saved and improvements to well-being, so underestimates the full benefits, particularly for developing countries. Investing in improving surface-based observations in data sparse regions is also highly economically efficient, yielding a global benefit to cost ratio of over twenty-five. Assuming sufficient observational coverage, international data exchange is a very efficient multiplier of the value of observations. However, exchange is currently insufficient across all regions. In view of the growing climate- and weather-related challenges facing humanity and recognizing that climate services similarly rely on meteorological monitoring, surface-based observations should be treated as a critical public good, with public oversight and open exchange within the meteorological and climatological communities.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Kull, Daniel; Riishojgaard, Lars Peter; Eyre, John; Varley, Robert A.. 2021. The Value of Surface-based Meteorological Observation Data. © World Bank, WMO, and British Crown, Met Office. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35178 License: CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Weather and Climate Resilience : Effective Preparedness through National Meteorological and Hydrological Services(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2013-09)The importance of weather, climate, and water1 information is rising because of the need to serve more elaborate societal needs, minimize growing economic losses, and help countries adapt to climate change. Weather, climate, and water affect societies and economies through extreme events, such as tropical cyclones, floods, high winds, storm surges, and prolonged droughts, and through high-impact weather and climate events that affect demand for electricity and production capacity, planting and harvesting dates, management of construction, transportation networks and inventories, and human health. The key players are the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs), which are the backbone of the global weather and climate enterprise. By international agreement under the auspices of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), they are the government's authoritative source of weather, climate, and water information, providing timely input to emergency managers, national and local administrations, the public, and critical economic sectors. The report underscores the urgent need to strengthen NMHSs, especially those in developing countries, and provides cost-benefit estimates of the return that countries can hope to achieve. It also offers a recommended approach that has been tested and implemented in Europe, in Central and South Asia, and countries in other regions. The NMHSs make a significant contribution to safety, security, and economic well-being by observing, forecasting, and warning of pending weather, climate, and water threats.Publication Weather and Climate Services in Europe and Central Asia : A Regional Review(Washington, DC : World Bank, 2008)This paper reviews the status of weather and climate services in Europe and Central Asia (ECA).Worldwide, the accuracy and value of weather and climate services are rising, bringing great economic benefits. However, many National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) in Europe and Central Asia are in decline. As a result, these potential gains are often missed. Much more could be done to mitigate weather disasters, support the productivity of smallholding and commercial agriculture, conserve energy, and promote safe aviation and transport by road and rail. Although NMHS capacity deficiencies are serious, they could be significantly remedied by relatively modest but sustained investments. Economic assessments indicate substantial benefit-to-cost ratios for such initiatives. A strategy for NMHS service improvement requires assessment of national climate, user needs, NMHS status and provision of services, and the economic benefits of an upgrade to weather and climate services. recommendations for agency modernization should include (a) a prioritized plan for improving data delivery to national users, (b) identification of the highest-priority infrastructure investments, and (c) a reasonable phasing plan for overall modernization.Publication Strengthening National Hydrometeorological Services through Cascading Forecasting(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016-03)Low-income countries’ hydrometeorological services often face considerable constraints in delivering the information needed to effectively drive early warning and climate adaptation, which, if improved, could generate socioeconomic benefits of about US$1.4 billion per year. Modern weather forecasting adopts a cascading approach where numerical products developed by global producing centers feed regional and national models, with national forecasters assimilating these and other data to produce information customized for local users. The system depends on global producing centers sharing their products, often through voluntary action without dedicated financing, which is not sustainable and does not fully leverage the capacity of global producing centers to provide tailored information. It would be economically viable for global producing centers to provide their full suite of services to low-income countries, producing likely global socioeconomic benefits of US$200 million to US$500 million per year, outweighing the costs by about 80 to one. Existing global producing centers’ capacities and their potential benefits for lowincome countries fulfill the utilitarian principal. Global numerical weather prediction should therefore be treated as a global public good. However, although recent global development and climate agreements clearly suggest that improving forecasting in low-income countries should be a target of international cooperation, official development assistance financing of high-income country global producing centers to provide products to low-income countries would be considered tied aid. Specialized mechanisms, such as the Green Climate Fund, could provide legitimate means to finance global producing centers to provide global public services in support of low-income countries. However, to realize the potential benefits, significant investment is needed in regional and national forecasting, early warning, and preparedness capacities.Publication A Cost Effective Solution to Reduce Disaster Losses in Developing Countries : Hydro-Meteorological Services, Early Warning, and Evacuation(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2012-05)In Europe, it can be estimated that hydro-meteorological information and early warning systems save several hundreds of lives per year, avoid between 460 million and 2.7 billion Euros of disaster asset losses per year, and produce between 3.4 and 34 billion of additional benefits per year through the optimization of economic production in weather-sensitive sectors (agriculture, energy, etc.). The potential for similar benefits in the developing world is not only proportional to population, but also to increased hazard risk due to climate and geography, as well as increased exposure to weather due to the state of infrastructure. This analysis estimates that the potential benefits from upgrading to developed-country standards the hydro-meteorological information production and early warning capacity in all developing countries include: (i) between 300 million and 2 billion USD per year of avoided asset losses due to natural disasters; (ii) an average of 23,000 saved lives per year, which is valued between 700 million and 3.5 billion USD per year using the Copenhagen Consensus guidelines; and (iii) between 3 and 30 billion USD per year of additional economic benefits. The total benefits would reach between 4 and 36 billion USD per year. Because some of the most expensive components of early warning systems have already been built (e.g., earth observation satellites, global weather forecasts), these investments are relatively modest, estimated here around 1 billion US per year, reaching benefit-cost ratios between 4 and 36.Publication Beyond Downscaling : A Bottom-Up Approach to Climate Adaptation for Water Resources Management(World Bank Group, Washington, DC, 2014-09-11)This report focuses on how we achieve water sustainability over long timescales - decades, even centuries from now. These timescales are important and relevant to our decisions about planning, infrastructure, and institutions today. Many of the methods we use to manage water, directly or indirectly, commit us to future decision pathways and restrict us from making other, alternative decisions. Across the first four chapters, this report describes the challenges of including climate change in water management decision-making and provides an overview of current practices in the adaptation field. After considering the pros and cons of these practices, the book concludes with a framework for an adaptation approach supported by Alliance for Global Water Adaptation (AGWA).
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Global Economic Prospects, June 2024(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-06-11)After several years of negative shocks, global growth is expected to hold steady in 2024 and then edge up in the next couple of years, in part aided by cautious monetary policy easing as inflation gradually declines. However, economic prospects are envisaged to remain tepid, especially in the most vulnerable countries. Risks to the outlook, while more balanced, are still tilted to the downside, including the possibility of escalating geopolitical tensions, further trade fragmentation, and higher-for-longer interest rates. Natural disasters related to climate change could also hinder activity. Subdued growth prospects across many emerging market and developing economies and continued risks underscore the need for decisive policy action at the global and national levels. Global Economic Prospects is a World Bank Group Flagship Report that examines global economic developments and prospects, with a special focus on emerging market and developing economies, on a semiannual basis (in January and June). Each edition includes analytical pieces on topical policy challenges faced by these economies.Publication Women, Business and the Law 2024(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-03-04)Women, Business and the Law 2024 is the 10th in a series of annual studies measuring the enabling conditions that affect women’s economic opportunity in 190 economies. To present a more complete picture of the global environment that enables women’s socioeconomic participation, this year Women, Business and the Law introduces two new indicators—Safety and Childcare—and presents findings on the implementation gap between laws (de jure) and how they function in practice (de facto). This study presents three indexes: (1) legal frameworks, (2) supportive frameworks (policies, institutions, services, data, budget, and access to justice), and (3) expert opinions on women’s rights in practice in the areas measured. The study’s 10 indicators—Safety, Mobility, Workplace, Pay, Marriage, Parenthood, Childcare, Entrepreneurship, Assets, and Pension—are structured around the different stages of a woman’s working life. Findings from this new research can inform policy discussions to ensure women’s full and equal participation in the economy. The indicators build evidence of the critical relationship between legal gender equality and women’s employment and entrepreneurship. Data in Women, Business and the Law 2024 are current as of October 1, 2023.Publication State and Trends of Carbon Pricing 2024(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-05-21)This report provides an up-to-date overview of existing and emerging carbon pricing instruments around the world, including international, national, and subnational initiatives. It also investigates trends surrounding the development and implementation of carbon pricing instruments and some of the drivers seen over the past year. Specifically, this report covers carbon taxes, emissions trading systems (ETSs), and crediting mechanisms. Key topics covered in the 2024 report include uptake of ETSs and carbon taxes in low- and middle- income economies, sectoral coverage of ETSs and carbon taxes, and the use of crediting mechanisms as part of the policy mix.Publication Falling Long-Term Growth Prospects(World Bank : Washington, DC, 2024-02-01)A structural growth slowdown is underway across the world: at current trends, the global potential growth rate is expected to fall to a three-decade low over the remainder of the 2020s. Nearly all the forces that have powered growth and prosperity since the early 1990s have weakened, not only because of a series of shocks to the global economy over the past three years. A persistent and broad-based decline in long-term growth prospects imperils the ability of emerging market and developing economies to combat poverty, tackle climate change, and meet other key development objectives. These challenges call for an ambitious policy response at the national and global levels. This book presents the first detailed analysis of the growth slowdown and a rich menu of policy options to deliver better growth outcomes.Publication State and Trends of Carbon Pricing 2020(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2020-05-27)This report provides an up-to-date overview of existing and emerging carbon pricing instruments around the world, including international, national and subnational initiatives. It also investigates trends surrounding the development and implementation of carbon pricing instruments and how they could accelerate the delivery of long-term mitigation goals. Specifically, this includes the use of carbon taxes, emissions trading systems and crediting mechanisms. International cooperation on carbon pricing and the status of work surrounding Article 6 of the Paris Agreement is also canvassed.