World Meteorological Organization

Mission

JWGFVR aims to advance the development and application of improved diagnostic and verification methods to assess and enable improvement of the quality and value of weather forecasts, including forecasts from numerical weather prediction systems and climate models. The JWGFVR is under the World Weather Research Programme (WWRP) and the Working Group on Numerical Experimentation (WGNE), co-sponsored by the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) and the WMO Research Board.

• The JWGFVR should engage in the plans and implementation of the verification component of the WWRP projects from their outset.
• For verification issues and challenges common to several projects (e.g., addressing observation uncertainty and representativeness in verification practices), the JWGFVR should serve as catalist and take the lead to tackle some of these fundamental verification research questions, while working in concert -and favouring the communication- between the different WWRP projects and WGs involved.
• The JWGFVR will periodically organize workshops and tutorials in the field of forecast verification to facilitate the further development and advancement of the existing diagnostic capacity of weather and climate researchers, further than promoting verification good practices and facilitating the technological transfer from research to operations and services, hence building a professional community in the field.
• The JWGFVR should provide verification expertise on weather and climate products with focus on precipitation, to bring forward collaborative research for integrating climate and weather verification techniques. 
• The JWGFVR should provide and develop verification expertise on climate predictions, with focus on verification of longer scale predictions (e.g., decadal). 
• The JWGFVR should develop and enhance expertise on the assessment of Earth system modelling (ESM) coupling and physical processes, to enrich process-based and ESM verification efforts, with focus on diagnostics for modelers, and to enhance collaborations with the WCRP. 

Working Group Members

• Co-Chair: Barbara CASATI, Environment Canada
• Co-Chair: Caio COELHO, CPTEC/INPE
• Raghavendra ASHRIT, NCMRWF 
• Eric GILLELAND, NCAR
• James BENNETT, CSIRO
• Angie PENDERGRASS, Cornell University
• Ramon de ELIA, Servicio Meteorológico Nacional (SMN)
• Javier GARCIA-SERRANO, University of Barcelona
• Alfred L. KONDOWE, Tanzanian Meteorological Agency (TMA)
• Zied BEN BOUALLEGUE, ECMWF

Recent Activities and News

• 💡 Second announcement: the 9th International Verification Method Workshop

Past International Workshops and Tutorials

• 21-25 June 2021, Online Verification Tutorials:
  • MPE-CDT & JWGFVR: Forecast verification summer school
• 9-20 November 2020, Online: 8th International Verification Method Workshop (Barbara Casati) https://jwgfvr.univie.ac.at
  • Casati et al (2022) BAMS meeting summary 
• 3-11 May 2017, Berlin: 7th International Verification Workshop & Tutorials (Martin Goeber)  https://www.7thverificationworkshop.de
  • Dorninger et al (2018) ed. Met Zet special issue; 
  • Dorninger et al (2020) ed. Met Apps special issue.
• 13-19 March 2014, New Delhi: 6th International Verification Workshop & Tutorials (Raghu Ashrit)
• 1-7 Dec 2011, Melbourne: 5th International Verification Workshop & Tutorials (Beth Ebert)
  • Ebert et al (2013) Met Apps, review article
• 4 -10 June 2009, Helsinki: 4th International Verification Workshop & Tutorials (Pertti Nurmi) https://space.fmi.fi/Verification2009/
• 31 Jan – 2 Feb 2007, Reading: 3rd International Verification Workshop & Tutorials (Anna Ghelli) https://www.ecmwf.int/en/learning/workshops-and-seminars/past-workshops/2007-international-verification-methods 
  • Ebert and Ghelli (2008) ed. Met Apps Special Issue
  • Casati et al (2008) Met Apps, review article
• 15-17 Sept 2004, Montreal: 2nd International Verification Workshop (Laurie Wilson)
• 30 July – 1 Aug 2002, Boulder: “Making Verification More Meaningful” (Barb Brown)

Activities and Links

• WMO Verification Challenges
  • The 1st international verification challenge, to Develop and Demonstrate the Best New User-Oriented Forecast Verification Metric
  • The 2nd International Verification Challenge for the Best New Verification Metric Making Use of Non-Traditional Observations
• Spatial Verification Intercomparison Projects
• Forecast Verification FAQ web page
• Join the Verification Discussion Group, a discussion forum for verification related questions, and a distribution mailing list for announcements related to verification research activities (e.g., workshops, tutorials).

JWGFVR verification recommendation reports and WMO publications

• WWRP 2017-1, B.Casati, T. Haiden, B. Brown, P. Nurmi and J.-F. Lemieux (2017) “Verification of Environmental Prediction in Polar Regions: Recommendations for the Year of Polar Prediction"
• WMO 1132, L.J. Wilson, … (2014 “Forecast Verification for the African Severe Weather Forecasting Demonstration Projects”
• WWRP 2013-7, B.G. Brown, E.E Ebert, T.Fowler, E.Gilleland, P.Kucera, L.J. Wilson (2013) “Verification Methods for Tropical Cyclone Forecasts” WWRP/WGNE Joint Working Group on Forecast Verification Research, WWRP 2013-7, 89 pp.
• WWRP 2012-1, M. Mittermaier, A. Ghelli, E.E. Ebert, L.J. Wilson, P. Nurmi (2012) “Recommended Methods for Evaluating Cloud and Related Parameters”. WWRP/WGNE Joint Working Group on Forecast Verification Research, WWRP 2012-1, 34 pp.
• WWRP 2009-1, L.J. Wilson, … (2009) “Recommendations for the Verification and Intercomparison of QPFS and PQPFS from Operational NWP Models” – Revision 2, WWRP/WGNE Joint Working Group on Forecast Verification Research,  - October 2008 (WWRP 2009-1, WMO TD No. 1485), 37 pp.
• WWW-8, WMO/TD-No. 358, H.R. Stanski, L.J. Wilson, and W.R. Burrows  (1989) “A Survey of Common Verification Methods in Meteorology”, 81 pp.