The Social Metwork

Gwyneth Matthews g.r.matthews@pgr.reading.ac.uk
Helen Hooker h.hooker@pgr.reading.ac.uk 

ECMWF- CEMS – C3S – HEPEX – GFP 

What was it? 

The workshop was organised under the umbrella of ECMWF, the Copernicus services CEMS and C3S, the Hydrological Ensemble Prediction EXperiment (HEPEX) and the Global Flood Partnership (GFP). The workshop lasted 3 days, with a keynote speaker followed by Q&A at the start of each of the 6 sessions. Each keynote talk focused on a different part of the forecast chain, from hybrid hydrological forecasting to the use of forecasts for anticipatory humanitarian action, and how the global and local hydrological scales could be linked. Following this were speedy poster pitches from around the world and poster presentations and discussion in the virtual ECMWF (Gather.town).  

What was your poster about? 

Gwyneth – I presented Evaluating the post-processing of the European Flood Awareness System’s medium-range streamflow forecasts in Session 2 – Catchment-scale hydrometeorological forecasting: from short-range to medium-range. My poster showed the results of the recent evaluation of the post-processing method used in the European Flood Awareness System. Post-processing is used to correct errors and account for uncertainties in the forecasts and is a vital component of a flood forecasting system. By comparing the post-processed forecasts with observations, I was able to identify where the forecasts were most improved.  

Helen – I presented An evaluation of ensemble forecast flood map spatial skill in Session 3 – Monitoring, modelling and forecasting for flood risk, flash floods, inundation and impact assessments. The ensemble approach to forecasting flooding extent and depth is ideal due to the highly uncertain nature of extreme flooding events. The flood maps are linked directly to probabilistic population impacts to enable timely, targeted release of funding. The Flood Foresight System forecast flood inundation maps are evaluated by comparison with satellite based SAR-derived flood maps so that the spatial skill of the ensemble can be determined.  

What did you find most interesting at the workshop? 

Gwyneth – All the posters! Every session had a wide range of topics being presented and I really enjoyed talking to people about their work. The keynote talks at the beginning of each session were really interesting and thought-provoking. I especially liked the talk by Dr Wendy Parker about a fitness-for-purpose approach to evaluation which incorporates how the forecasts are used and who is using the forecast into the evaluation.  

Helen – Lots! All of the keynote talks were excellent and inspiring. The latest developments in detecting flooding from satellites include processing the data using machine learning algorithms directly onboard, before beaming the flood map back to earth! If openly available and accessible (this came up quite a bit) this will potentially rapidly decrease the time it takes for flood maps to reach both flood risk managers dealing with the incident and for use in improving flood forecasting models. 

How was your virtual poster presentation/discussion session? 

Gwyneth – It was nerve-racking to give the mini-pitch to +200 people, but the poster session in Gather.town was great! The questions and comments I got were helpful, but it was nice to have conversations on non-research-based topics and to meet some of the EC-HEPEXers (early career members of the Hydrological Ensemble Prediction Experiment). The sessions felt more natural than a lot of the virtual conferences I have been to.  

Helen – I really enjoyed choosing my hairdo and outfit for my mini self. I’ve not actually experienced a ‘real’ conference/workshop but compared to other virtual events this felt quite realistic. I really enjoyed the Gather.town setting, especially the duck pond (although the ducks couldn’t swim or quack! J). It was great to have the chance talk about my work and meet a few people, some thought-provoking questions are always useful.