TCC Activity Report for 2013
In 2013, the Tokyo Climate Center (TCC) continued to support the climate services of NMHSs
in Asia-Pacific countries by providing and enhancing data and products, holding training seminars, sending experts and hosting visitors.
1. Highlights of 2013
1.1 Pilot project on Information Sharing on Climate Services
TCC plays a leading role in the implementation of the WMO RA II Pilot Project on Information Sharing on Climate Services. In 2013, the Center collected climate information provided by NMHSs as well as details of good practices on the application of climate information in society via a questionnaire survey. Based on the information received, TCC workedon the development of a dedicated website.
1.2 Issuance of special reports on extreme events
In its role as a WMO Regional Climate Center (RCC) in RA II, TCC monitors world climate conditions with focus on Asia and the surrounding area. The Center issues reports on
extreme climate events and summaries of the Asian summer/winter monsoon on its website at
http://ds.data.jma.go.jp/tcc/tcc/products/clisys/reports/index.html.
In 2013, Japan experienced extremely hot summer conditions. During this period on 13
August, TCC issued a preliminary report on the heat. To support the issuance of a more comprehensive statement on this extreme event, the Center invited members of its Advisory Panelon Extreme Climate Events (TCC News No. 28) to investigate and discuss related factors.
The preliminary report and the statement were issued both in Japanese and in English on theJMA website, and the English versions were also made available on the TCC website.
TCC also closely monitored a number of extreme events, especially those listed below, andissued related media releases in Japanese. These are available on the JMA website at
http://www.data.jma.go.jp/gmd/cpd/monitor/extreme_world/index.html.
- Heavy rainfall in Europe from May to the middle of June
- Heavy rainfall in India in June
- Heavy rainfall from central China to the northern part of the Korean Peninsula in July
- Heat-wave and dry conditions in southern China in July/August- Heavy rainfall over the Amur River basin (Russian Federation) from July to September- Heavy rainfall over the Indochina Peninsula mainly in September
In its role as an RCC in RA II, TCC informed WMO of events in the region to assist in thepreparation of the WMO Statement on the Global Climate in 2013.

1.3 JRA-55
JMA recently completed the second Japanese reanalysis, known as JRA-55, thereby
providing a comprehensive atmospheric dataset suitable for the study of climate change andmulti-decadal variability. The data cover a period of 55 years extending back to 1958 whenregular radiosonde observations became operational on a global basis. JRA-55 is the firstglobal atmospheric reanalysis to apply four-dimensional variational data assimilation(4D-Var) to the last half century including the pre-satellite era. The JRA-55 product is available for research purposes. For details, see the JRA-55 web page at
http://jra.kishou.go.jp/JRA-55/index_en.html.
1.4 RA II RCC portal site modification
In 2013, the Russian Federation’s North Eurasia Climate Centre (NEACC) was formallydesignated as a new RCC in RA II. In response, TCC modified the RA II RCC website(http://www.rccra2.org/) in collaboration with BCC by adding links to NEACC climate dataand products.
2. Enhancement of data/products/tools on the TCC website
TCC strives to continuously enhance its services in the provision of data, products andtools. In 2013, the following data and products were made available on its website:
27 February:
21 May:1 July:Table showing historical El Niño and La Niña Events (El Niño Monitoring)Time series of anomaly correlation in the tropics (NWP Model Prediction)
Regional map of ten-day/half-monthly mean temperatures and total precipitation (World Climate)
Some of these new data/products were made available in response to requests by NMHSs,and are also expected to be useful to other parties. The Center will continue to accommodate
requests from NMHSs wherever possible.
3. Capacity development
TCC holds annual training seminars as part of capacity-development activities related to itsrole as an RCC in RA II. In addition to running annual training seminars, it also arranges expert visits to and hosts visitors from NMHSs to support exchanges of views on climate services and the effective transfer of technology.
3.1 Training seminar
In 2013, TCC held the Training Seminar on Seasonal Prediction Products from 11 to 15
November at JMA Headquarters in Tokyo. The event was attended by 16 experts fromNMHSs in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Hong Kong (China), Indonesia, Lao People's Democratic
Republic, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, SriLanka, Thailand and Viet Nam. The seminar focused on familiarizing the participants withthe outputs of JMA's numerical prediction model and improving their skills in generating
seasonal prediction products using statistical downscaling methods. Presentations given by
the lecturers are available on the TCC website (TCC News No. 34).
3.2 Expert visits
In February, TCC sent experts to Indonesia for follow-up work relating to the visit by experts from Indonesia’s Meteorological, Climatological and Geophysical Agency (BMKG) inJuly 2012 (TCC News 29). The main purpose of the visit was to install a module forsite-specific probabilistic guidance for one-month forecasting, which is expected to contributeto enhancing BMKG’s Climate Early Warning System. The experts also led discussions andexchanged views with attendees on improving climate services and engaging in future collaboration.
In October, a TCC expert visited the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) to install a module for site-specific probabilistic
guidance for one-month forecasting. The expert also gave technical guidance on the module
to support its use on an operational basis in the near future.
3.3 Visitors
In November, three experts from Indonesia’s BMKG visited TCC for further follow-up activity toward the installation of a module to support site-specific probabilistic guidance forone-month forecasting. During the visit, TCC provided the experts with technical guidance
focusing on verification procedures for one-month forecasting. The attendees also participatedin the TCC Training Seminar on Seasonal Prediction Products.
4. International meetings
4.1 Regional Climate Outlook Forums
RCCs are expected to actively contribute to discussions in Regional Climate Outlook Forums (RCOFs). In 2013, TCC experts participated in the following RCOFs in Asia:- Ninth session of the Forum on Regional Climate Monitoring, Assessment and Prediction for Regional Association II (FOCRA II) held in Beijing, China, from 8 to 10 April- Fourth session of the South Asian Climate Outlook Forum (SASCOF-4) held in Kathmandu, Nepal, from 18 to 19 April- Fifth session of the North Eurasian Climate Outlook Forum (NEACOF-5) held in Moscow, Russian Federation, from 29 October to 1 November- First session of the East Asia winter Climate Outlook Forum (EASCOF), held in
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, from 4 to 6 November- Inaugural session of the Asian Climate Outlook Forum (ASEANCOF) held in Singapore from 3 to 5 December

TCC attendees gave presentations on seasonal predictions based on JMA’s numerical model and participated in discussions toward the formulation of a consensus statement on regional
forecasts.
4.2 WMO Workshop on Operational Long-range Forecasting: GPCs and RCCs, insupport of NMHSs and RCOFs
TCC experts participated in the WMO Workshop on Operational Long-range Forecasting:
GPCs and RCCs, in support of NMHSs and RCOFs (November, Brasilia, Brazil), giving
presentations on examples of information/data/products output by RCC Tokyo and GPC Tokyo (a Global Producing Center for long-range forecasts). The Workshop made recommendations on steps needed to strengthen the process of generating regional seasonal forecasts
through increased capability for the synthesis of prediction information on global, regionaland national scales.
4.3 Other meetings
On 28 October, the Second Joint RA VI Regional Climate Centres Network Coordination
Meeting took place in conjunction with NEACOF-5. The TCC representative who attended
NEACOF-5 was also present at this meeting, which provided valuable opportunities to learn
about the activities and coordination of the RA VI RCC Network and to introduce TCC’swork.
In 2013, TCC was also represented at other meetings including the first session of the Intergovernmental Board on Climate Services (IBCS-1, July, Geneva, Switzerland) and the International Workshop on Climate Data Requirements and Applications (March, Nanjing,China). At the Operational Climate Services: A Dialogue on Practical Action session held aspart of IBCS-1, TCC gave a poster presentation on JMA’s contribution to improving climate
risk management highlighting a new dedicated website to promote the use of climate information in such management.
5.

Publications
TCC has published its newsletter (TCC News) on a quarterly basis since 2005. The publication is intended to enhance communication and provide information to NMHSs and related
communities about recent TCC developments, events and activities as well as details of theCenter’s reports on the state of the climate, monitoring results and outlooks. In 2013, TCC
News Nos. 31 – 34 were issued and made available on the TCC website.
Other English-language publications related to the climate, such as Climate Change Monitoring Report 2012 and Annual Report on the Climate System 2012, were also published onthe TCC website.

6.

Other activities
TCC’s Ryuji Yamada, who serves as Chairman of the RA II Working Group on Climate
Services (WG-CS consisting of Expert Groups on Climate Services (EG-CS) and Agrometeorology (EG-AgM)) developed a work plan for the Working Group in collaboration withco-coordinators and theme leaders from each Expert Group.
7. Plans for 2014
- Contribution to the Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS)
The implementation of the GFCS has made international collaboration through RCCs evenmore important, and TCC plans to further strengthen its activities to lead RA II’s contribution
to the Framework. In light of the important roles played by NMHSs in climate-related disasterrisk management (one of the key sectors in the GFCS), TCC plans to enhance regional climate watch observation by more actively providing NMHSs with relevant information asnecessary. A portal site for the Pilot Project on Information Sharing on Climate Services will
be launched in spring, and TCC will continue to collect pertinent information from NMHSs tobe shared with Members.
- New/upgraded data and products
In January, the web-based ClimatView interactive climate database will be upgraded. Toview ClimatView graphics in the previous version, a plug-in (Adobe SVG Viewer for Windows Internet Explorer) was required, and graphics could not be displayed with other browsers. The new version is designed to allow browsing without plug-ins using PHP and its
graphic library. It enables viewing with web browsers including Firefox and Google Chromein addition to Internet Explorer.
JMA plans to upgrade its one-month numerical prediction system in March. Hindcast experiments have already been executed using the new system with the target period of 1981 –2010. Forecast data and products as well as hindcast gridded data with the new system will bemade available on the TCC website.
In response to the release of JRA-55 data, all climate products generated using JRA-25 data
will be replaced by versions generated using JRA-55 data in March.
In spring, TCC plans to start monthly issuance of comprehensive information on climatemonitoring and seasonal prediction to assist NMHSs in the creation of seasonal forecasts. The
document, provisionally named Monthly Climate Discussion on Seasonal Outlooks, will contain results of climate system monitoring and other observations from the previous month aswell as interpretation of seasonal prediction products from GPC Tokyo, and will be publishedon the TCC website.
In spring, TCC will also start releasing Extreme Forecast Index (EFI) maps via its website
to show areas at high risk of extreme weather conditions in the next two weeks, such ashigh/low temperatures, heavy precipitation/drought conditions or strong winds. The maps will
be produced using one-month forecast products from GPC Tokyo.
- Capacity development
In the last quarter of the year, TCC will hold its annual training seminar with a dozen invited experts as attendees. The Center will also continue to dispatch experts to NMHSs asnecessary and host visitors from NMHSs upon request.
- Hosting of EASCOF
In autumn, TCC will host the second session of the East Asia Winter Climate Outlook Forum (EASCOF) with the participation of experts engaged in climate services at NMHSs andresearchers from China, Japan, Mongolia and the Republic of Korea. At the event, the climate
conditions of the previous season will be reviewed, and the current status of the climate system as well as the seasonal Asian winter monsoon forecast for winter 2014/2015 will be discussed.
(Teruko Manabe, Ryuji Yamada, Tokyo Climate Center)