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Value chain approaches to improve early warning systems
25 January 2024, 3:00 pm–5:30 pm
Beth Ebert from the Bureau of Meteorology in Melbourne Australia joins the WRC for a seminar on the weather information value chain
This event is free.
Event Information
Open to
- All
Availability
- Yes
Cost
- Free
Organiser
-
UCL Warning Research Centre
Location
-
Room C3.14Institute of Education20 Bedford WayLondonWC1H 0AL
Warning services are delivered through a multitude of complex and malleable value interactions often established through co-design, co-creation and co-provision. The weather information value chain provides a framework for characterising this production, communication, and use of information by all stakeholders in an end-to-end warning system. The value chain is a useful concept to describe the structure and logic of value propagation, as the basis for socio-economic evaluation of the performance of a service, and as a support for decision making about investments in different parts of the value chain.
This presentation will draw on the work of a 4-year international project under the WMO World Weather Research Programme, which is using value chain approaches to describe and evaluate warning systems for high impact events by integrating physical and social science. The project is creating a database of high impact weather warning case studies from around the globe that will facilitate scientists and practitioners to review, analyse and learn from previous experience through the lens of the value chain. A detailed case study template is available for collecting and analysing information on warning chains for high-impact weather and geohazard events. It has been used in Australia to derive insights and learnings from the Black Summer bushfires in 2019-20 and major flood events in 2021 and 2022.
The project is also exploring the value chain as both a way of thinking and a methodology. A framework is being drafted for using value chain approaches to help describe, improve, value and co-design an early warning service, with relevant guidance, tools and examples. The framework will be published in mid-2024.
The Event:
The event will take place on UCL's campus, however the event will be hybrid, so do select an online-only ticket at checkout to join us, wherever you are in the world! Zoom links for registered attendees will be sent in good time prior to the event to the email address used when booking an online ticket.
We will also be joined by panellists who will discuss topics raised.
About the Speakers
Beth Ebert
at Bureau of Meteorology
Dr Beth Ebert is a Senior Principal Research Scientist and Forecast Quality Team leader in the Bureau of Meteorology's Research program. Prior to that she managed the Weather and Environmental Prediction research program in the Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research, which included staff from both the Bureau and CSIRO. She has a long-standing interest in forecast verification and evaluation, developing novel object-based and neighbourhood-based approaches for verifying high spatial resolution weather forecasts. She chaired the World Meteorological Organization (WMO)/World Weather Research Programme (WWRP) Joint Working Group on Forecast Verification Research from 2008-2014. She now leads a 4-year WMO/WWRP project on Value Chain Approaches to Evaluate the End-to-End Warning Chain that brings natural and social scientists together to conduct research on improving weather warnings. Beth also works at the nexus of weather and health, contributing to the development of new forecast services for heatwave, smoke, and pollen. In 2017 she was part of a cross-disciplinary team that developed the world’s first early warning system for thunderstorm asthma. She joined the Bureau of Meteorology in 1989 after completing her PhD in Atmospheric Science at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Professor Brian Golding (Panellist)
Professor Brian Golding is a Fellow in Weather Impacts at the Met Office, visiting professor at Bristol University and co-chair of the World Meteorological Organisation’s 10-year High Impact Weather project (HIWeather). His first degree in Mathematics at Leeds University was followed by a PhD at Reading University in the study of baroclinic instability in dry and moist atmospheres. In a 50-year career at the Met Office, Brian’s research has spanned numerical modelling, data assimilation, nowcasting, flood and ocean wave prediction, interactive forecaster graphics, and weather impacts in aviation, defence, road maintenance and health amongst others. From 1990-1992 he was on sabbatical at the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, applying mesoscale NWP to Australian weather systems. From 2005-2012 he was Deputy Director of Weather Science at the Met Office. Following his retirement from this role, he was awarded the OBE for services to weather forecasting and the prediction of hazardous weather.
Dr Ting Sun (Panellist)
Dr Ting Sun is a Lecturer in Climate and Meteorological Hazard Risks at the UCL Institute for Risk & Disaster Reduction. A climate scholar with expertise that spans hydrology, meteorology, and the built environment, his research delves into the impacts of weather and climate extremes—such as heatwaves and extreme rainfall—in urban settings. He focuses on urban climate modelling across various scales, from neighbourhoods to the global level, exploring their connections with public health and building energy sectors. Discover more about Dr Sun.