Frequently Asked Questions

 

WMO-ISES-COSPAR Coordination Team (WICCT)

The Final Report of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN COPUOS) Expert Group on Space Weather was published in 2022. To address Recommendation 1 in the report, the secretariat of the UN COPUOS invited the WMO, ISES and COSPAR to take a leadership role in advancing international cooperation and coordination for improved international space weather capabilities. WMO, ISES and COSPAR formally agreed to accept this invitation and to take an active role in advancing international coordination by endorsing and signing the "Coimbra Declaration". WICCT was subsequently established to move forward on the recommendation and to foster collaboration efforts between international organizations and other actors in the field of space weather. In November 2023 the International Space Weather Coordination Forum, organized by WICCT, was held at WMO in Geneva, bringing together a number of international organizations engaged in space weather to identify areas where coordination is lacking and to explore pathways to increased coordination of activities. 

 

Organizations/initiatives/entities

On this website we use the term 'organizations' to encompass organizations, initiatives and other entities engaged in space weather activities.

 

Definitions

Understanding the current, primary interest/focus/activity/expertise of an international organization, or that of the associated activities of its members, is essential for establishing effective partnerships. These primary foci can be grouped into categories: ‘Operational End-User Services’, ‘Research and Development’ and ‘Facilitating Integration’’. 

  • “Operational End-User Services” encompasses continuous operational activities undertaken by institutions, agencies or service providers to monitor, forecast and disseminate time-critical information related to current and forecasted space weather conditions. These entities provide real-time and continuous services; typically routine and reliable time-critical predictive services are provided such as space weather forecasts, alerts and warnings to end-users. A human-in-the loop approach and time-critical interpretation addressing end-user needs is typically involved.  Example organizations:
    • ISES and its members (NOAA SWPC, MOSWOC, …)
    • ICAO space weather services

    • Note: Although not directly serving end-users, (instrument) data services could also fall in this category of activities if they are being undertaken with a primary objective of being utilized for Operational End-User Services.

 

  • “Research and Development” includes a wide range of activities from fundamental research to practical applications. Researchers run and develop models, tools, instrumentation and techniques to advance knowledge and understanding, and to improve space weather monitoring, analyses and forecasting/prediction capabilities. Activities can also include (automated) continuous provision of data products: measurement data, continuous real-time simulations and forecasts, where the primary objective is not to serve the end-user directly but to demonstrate and investigate the potential of new observations, models and knowledge to improve operational space weather capabilities. Example organizations:
    • COSPAR
    • Pre-event community-wide ensemble forecasting Scoreboards

 

  • “Facilitating Integration” refers to a combination of activities around developing infrastructure and policies for facilitating coordination, cooperation and strategic planning. For example, developing and establishing regulations, standards, guidelines, protocols, and processes that make it easier for different entities to work together (towards common endeavors) - bringing together different data sources, models or services related to space weather monitoring, prediction and communication. For example:
  • Facilitating open data sharing both for research and near real-time services
  • Communication integration - ensuring unified/consolidated alerts reach the public seamlessly
  • Removing barriers that hinder collaboration, the use of data/models/services
  • Enhance coordination so that stakeholders can work more effectively together.
  • Strategic planning for the future.

Example organizations:

  • WMO
  • UN/ISWI

 

  • Intersection between “Operational End-User Services” and “Research and Development” 

Activities include data integration - bringing together space weather data from various sources into a comprehensive dataset and establishing e.g. associated meta-data standards - towards better discoverability/availability. An example organizations:

  • GONG

 

  • Intersection between “Facilitating Integration” and “Operational End-User Services”

Example organizations:

  • CGMS
  • IGS GNSS

 

  • Intersection between “Facilitating Integration” and “Research and Development”

Example organizations:

  • SuperMAG
  • SuperDARN
  • WIPPS
  • GIRO (but being used for operations)
  • AGATA-SCAR