[CF-metadata] Invitation to serve on the CF Standard Name Committee

From: Pamment, JA <J.A.Pamment>
Date: Thu, 25 Jan 2007 14:23:28 -0000

Hi Karl,

This is excellent news. I am completely in agreement that there is a
need
to get the committees up and running as soon as possible.

Currently, one of the hardest things in my role as standard names
manager is
deciding when a community consensus has actually been reached. There
have
been occasions when a mailing list discussion has apparently petered out
and
I have moved to bring the discussion formally towards a close, only to
find
that this has caused concern and prompted another flurry of activity.
Generally speaking, I am pleased if my interventions prompt discussion -
it
is part of my job to keep things moving - but there does need to be a
way of
drawing a line so that debates don't drift on indefinitely without ever
reaching a conclusion. Clearly there has to be a balance between
allowing
the community ample opportunity to express their views and the need,
ultimately, to make decisions.

I very much hope that input from committee members will help move things

forward - it is simply not possible for one individual acting as
standard
names manager to be an expert in every scientific field where CF might
be
used. I echo your encouragement to committee members, and indeed to
others,
to involve themselves wherever possible in the mailing list discussions.
If
only two or three people join in the discussion of a particular subject,
as
often happens now, it is difficult to be confident that the views of the

community as a whole are being reflected. I would very much welcome the

opportunity to meet members of both committees at the next GO-ESSP
meeting
as I am sure that would assist us in working together.

Recently I have given a lot of thought to the timing of updates to the
standard name table. Something that committee members and the CF
community
in general should be aware of is that I have a somewhat atypical working
pattern, which impacts on my availability to perform updates. Also,
recent
experience has taught me that it often takes many weeks for standard
names
to be agreed and if there is a schedule of monthly updates there may
well be
occasions when there are no new names to add. Balanced against this is
the
need to avoid long delays in adding names once agreement has been
reached.

Based on the considerations outlined above, I propose to update the
standard
name table on a bi-monthly basis. Updates will be performed on the
second
Tuesday of the month in January, March, May, July, September and
November.
I hope that having definite dates for change, published in advance, will

help to expedite the process of adding agreed names. Users of the table

will also benefit by knowing when they need to check for updates.

The reasons for arriving at the above timetable are essentially
pragmatic,
based on the timing of major public holidays in the UK and my own
working pattern. I have designed it in this way because I believe there
is a
realistic chance of my being able to deliver it. I think it is
preferable
to schedule less frequent updates, and actually perform them, than to
promise a monthly schedule and not be able to deliver.

By way of background, I should explain that I am employed at BADC on a
part-
time basis and over a calendar year my working hours constitute just
over
fifty per cent of full time. However, the majority of my working hours
are
condensed into the term-time periods of UK schools. During school
vacations
I usually work the equivalent of only one day per week. The bi-monthly
schedule deliberately avoids the periods when UK schools would normally
be
closed for any length of time. I have chosen the second Tuesday of the
month to allow for the fact that most UK public holidays occur on a
Monday.
It also avoids the possibility of updates falling due on New Year's Day
and
during Easter (both public holidays in the UK).

Best wishes,
Alison

------
Alison Pamment Tel: +44 1235 778065
NCAS/British Atmospheric Data Centre Fax: +44 1235 445858
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory Email: J.A.Pamment at rl.ac.uk
Chilton, Didcot, OX11 0QX, U.K.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Karl Taylor [mailto:taylor13 at llnl.gov]
> Sent: 24 January 2007 23:21
> To: Jonathan Gregory; crucifix at climate.be; Manuel.Fuentes at ecmwf.int;
> ngalbraith at whoi.edu; rkl at bodc.ac.uk; Burkhardt.Rockel at gkss.de;
> christiane.textor at aero.jussieu.fr; Lawrence, BN (Bryan); Pamment, JA
> (Alison)
> Cc: ktaylor at pcmdi.llnl.gov
> Subject: Invitation to serve on the CF Standard Name Committee
>
> Dear Friend of CF:
>
> At its last meeting in September, the WGCM (Working Group on Coupled
> Modeling) formally accepted responsibility for promoting the CF
> conventions across WCRP (World Climate Research Programme) programs
and
> providing a home for the conventions within the scientific community.
I
> have been asked by the WGCM to serve as chair of the Governance Panel
> for the CF conventions, but unfortunately the panel itself has not yet
> been appointed. Nevertheless, given the current active discussion on
> the CF mail list, there is a need to activate the "Standard Name" and
> "Conventions" committees.
>
> Until the CF Governance Panel convenes and can formally appoint these
> two committees, I hope you will consent to serve as an "acting" member
> so we can move forward. I trust that the Governance Panel will
concur,
> since you all have generously volunteered to serve and provide a
> valuable service to our community. Judging from the ongoing email
> discussion, interest in the CF conventions is continuing to increase,
> and it is clear that official involvement of committee members is now
> needed.
>
> Recently, Jonathan Gregory, Steve Hankin, Bryan Lawrence and I held a
> preliminary discussion on how the process of arriving at modifications
> to the CF convention might be improved, which is the business of the
> Conventions Committee. We developed a straw man that I will post
> separately to the CF email list.
>
> Modifications to the standard names table are being facilitated by
> Alison Pamment, the manager of standard names employed by the BADC,
who
> has taken on the role of summarising and moderating debates about
> proposals for changes. She aims to make updates to the standard name
> table about once a month, reflecting the conclusions of these debates.
> An important reason for convening the committees was to engage a
larger
> group in the debates. In order to reach the best conclusions, it is
> useful to have several people considering each issue. We would
therefore
> like to encourage you to get involved in any of the ongoing
discussions
> as far as your time allows, as part of the role of committee
membership.
>
> In addition we are hoping to reserve one day of the next GO-ESSP
meeting
> to discuss CF and to allow for face-to-face meetings of the two CF
> committees. We expect the meeting to be held in Paris in early June,
but
> firms dates are not yet available. I hope most of you will be able to
> participate in that meeting.
>
> I invite your ideas about the above. Please could you comment to the
> email list rather than replying to this email, as we think it is
> important for discussion about CF governance to take place in public.
>
> Thanks very much for volunteering your time for this (almost) noble
cause.
>
> Sincerely,
> Karl Taylor
>
> P.S. Thanks to Jonathan Gregory, Steve Hankin, and Bryan Lawrence for
> their input to this invitation.
>
> ----------------------------------
> Nominated Standard Name Committee:
>
> Bryan Lawrence (chair)
> Alison Pamment (secretary)
> Michel Crucifix
> Manuel Fuentes
> Nan Galbraith
> Jonathan Gregory
> Roy Lowry
> Burkhardt Rockel
> Christiane Textor
Received on Thu Jan 25 2007 - 07:23:28 GMT