WMO 9th Workshop on the Impact of Observing Systems on Numerical Weather and Earth System Predictions and Implications for Observing System Design and Evolution

The ninth WMO Impact Workshop brings together experts to share scientific evidence on how observing systems improve numerical weather prediction (NWP) and Earth system prediction (ESP), and how that evidence should shape the design and evolution of observing networks.

About the workshop

The workshop is organised by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and hosted by the Meteorological Service of Canada (MSC), Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC). It will take place at the McGill Faculty Club and Conference Centre, McGill University, Montreal, from 27 to 30 September 2027. The workshop is hybrid, so participants can attend in person or online. It will be conducted in English.

Held roughly every four years, the Impact Workshop series is a key forum for presenting evidence on the impact of surface-based and space-based observing systems on forecasting from short to long range, including climate monitoring. It is held under the WMO INFCOM Standing Committee on Earth Observing Systems and Monitoring Networks (SC-ON) Expert Team on Earth Observing System Design and Evolution (ET-EOSDE). Its conclusions guide how the current global observing system is used and how it evolves.

What's new in 2027

Observing systems and NWP systems have changed significantly since the last workshop. NWP is increasingly coupled with ocean, land, cryosphere and atmospheric composition models in pursuit of full Earth system prediction. Impact assessment now goes beyond observing system experiments (OSEs and OSSEs) to include adjoint- and ensemble-based Forecast Sensitivity Observation Impact (FSOI and EFSOI) and other quantitative techniques.

The ninth workshop will therefore:

• keep NWP at its core while extending impact assessment to all Earth system domains and applications;
• evaluate data from satellites, ground-based remote sensing, private sector providers, the Internet of Things (IoT), Analytics of Things (AoT), uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) and citizen science;
• highlight artificial intelligence (AI) as a cross-cutting enabler for impact assessment, forecasting, modelling and observing system design;
• link impact assessment more closely to observational requirements in the WMO OSCAR/Requirements database.

Themes

Theme 1 – Assessing observational needs: current and future
Outcomes of the WIGOS Rolling Review of Requirements (RRR), including technology-agnostic requirements, and greater visibility for the RRR.

Theme 2 – Assessing the impact of observing systems
Regular impact assessment of Earth-based networks and space-based systems on:

• NWP systems;
• non-NWP applications, including high-resolution nowcasting and NWP, hydrology, climate, cryosphere, ocean and Earth system prediction.

Theme 3 – Assessing the impact of observing systems using AI

• Impact assessment with AI-based global NWP, compared with traditional NWP.
• Impact assessment in applications that use AI-based global NWP.

Theme 4 – Assessing the impact of emerging and new observing systems
Internet of Things, Internet of Animals (for example, instrumented mammals) and citizen data.

Theme 5 – Local measurement, global impact
Test cases showing the impact of geographically isolated Earth-based measurements on NWP and other applications, highlighting the value of individual stations.

Theme 6 – Observing system design and evolution: tools, best practices and links to impact assessment

• Satellite constellation design and evolution.
• Earth-based network design and evolution.
• Combined space-based and Earth-based system design.
• AI-based approaches to observing system design.

Theme 7 – Impact assessment of global and regional observing networks
Including the Global Basic Observing Network (GBON) and Regional Basic Observing Networks (RBON); the GCOS networks GSN, GSRN, GUAN and GRUAN; the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) networks; and other relevant networks.

Expected outcomes

• Impact-based recommendations on where observing systems give the greatest benefit, where gaps or inefficiencies exist, and how to better target future investment.
• Scientific input to observing system design for global, regional and national observing strategies, with attention to coordinating space-based and Earth-based components.
• Stronger links between impact assessment and observational requirements, including feedback on how OSCAR/Requirements is interpreted and applied.
• Closer dialogue across communities: impact and modelling experts, observing system designers and operators, space-based and Earth-based communities, and public and private stakeholders.
• A workshop report with key findings, conclusions and recommendations, published as a WMO technical publication together with the presentations.

Who should attend

The workshop is open to all experts working on observing system impact studies, at NWP centres or in other Earth system prediction communities. This includes academia and the private sector. It is also open to those involved in designing, evolving and optimising observing systems and networks.

We especially welcome contributions from those with impact assessment results. Results will be discussed in plenary sessions, with the aim of reaching consensus and drawing conclusions to guide the WMO Integrated Global Observing System (WIGOS).

How to participate

Submit an abstract
Experts who wish to present should submit one or more abstracts through this website (you will asked to create a user account). The Scientific Organizing Committee will review them and select oral and poster presentations. Abstracts should clearly state the type of impact assessment, the amount of evidence gathered and the conclusions it supports.

Abstract submission opens on 15 October 2026 and closes on 15 May 2027.

For abstracts submission, please click here. Please note that you will be asked to create a user account.

Important dates