First Steps to Design, Test and Implement a System for Seamless Coupling of Data and Information Between the WMO/GEO SDS-WAS and the GEOSS GeoPortal and GEONETCast

The serious consequences of airborne dust (for health, safety, agriculture, marine ecosystems, weather, climate) have encouraged more than 40 nations to recommend action by the World Meteorological Organization to develop a worldwide system to detect, monitor and predict airborne dust events. The plan for an International Sand and Dust Storm Warning Advisory and Assessment System (SDS-WAS) calls for research, observations, and advisories to support national weather services and other potential users worldwide. A federated system of regional centres form the core of the new SDS-WAS, providing several nodes for state of the science information on current conditions for sand and dust storms around the globe. A proposal for a Pan-American Centre is under construction, needing a plan for data assembly and distribution. This workshop will address that core responsibility: enabling data sharing within the Centre and with its partners and clients extant through the GEOSS. We hope to take away from this workshop an outline of a Concept Paper or Prospectus for funding this activity and a volunteer drafting team.

Workshop Agenda
Workshop Handout

Presenters: Bill Sprigg, Menas Kafatos, Karl Benedict, Stan Morain