Japan Weather Association (JWA)

Japan Weather Association
Sunshine 60 Bldg. 55, 3-1-1 Higashi-Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku,
Tokyo 170-6055, Japan
http://www.jwa.or.jp/english
Outline
Established in 1950 as the first private weather forecasting company in Japan, Japan Weather Association (JWA) has
been bringing timely weather information to everywhere in Japan. As a pioneer of the Japanese weather service industry,
we are expanding our business through developing weather related disaster prevention technologies and promoting
public awareness of its technical area as well as environmental technology development and consultancy services.
[Our Management Philosophy]
- JWA contributes to the creation of a safe, stable and pleasant society through its meteorological business,
environment business, disaster prevention and information system business.
- To achieve this, JWA utilizes our advanced and comprehensive technology and intellectual capital to provide a wide
range of services trusted by our clients.
- JWA aims to generate profits through our sound and transparent management and achieve sustainable growth as a
vibrant organization.
[Our Services]
■ Disaster Mitigation Solutions Department - For safer society We provide one-stop solution services - from investigation and analysis, system design and development to informationproviding services - in such fields as:
 Disaster risk reduction and management of rivers, dams and erosion control systems,
 Disaster prevention and mitigation plans for local municipalities and private enterprises, and
 Optimization and resilience management for transport infrastructure and distribution systems.
■ Environment and Energy Department - For industrial development compatible with environmental
sustainability We provide optimum solutions on the basis of wealth of experience to both the traditional and alternative energy-related
businesses including electric power companies, new electricity retailers like PPS (Power Producer and Supplier), gas
companies, and power electronics manufacturers. Some typical examples are as follows.
 Assisting with the Environmental Impact Assessment process in infrastructure construction projects like power
plants, railways, and waste incineration plants, and
 Air quality research and analysis such as PM2.5 concentration prediction, through modeling and analysis or
atmospheric simulation.
■ Media and Consumer Services Department - For improved convenience in daily life We provide reliable weather- and disaster-related information in a timely manner through the mass media, including TV,
radio and newspapers. Moreover, we communicate weather information useful in daily life and seasonal event
information to the public in an easy-to-understand manner via various kinds of media, including our weather site ‘tenki.jp’,
portal sites, mobile application services and digital signage.
★ Research and Development
We are focusing on research and development to provide innovative services in addition to sales and marketing.
 Development of the original comprehensive numerical weather prediction system ‘SYNFOS’ and meteorological
information comprehensive on-line service ‘MICOS’, both of which are up-to-date with information technology,
 Development and improvement of various types of specific numerical weather prediction models for different
weather elements - such as solar radiation, snow fall and localized torrential rain - and product development which
makes the best use of those models,
 Adaptation of new technologies in service provision, including mobile application services, digital content and digital
signage, and
 Joint research projects with universities and institutions for further development of weather technology.
★ Non-profit Activities
We sponsor and take part in fairs, events and lectures related to weather, natural disaster, environment or energy to
spread related knowledge and promote public awareness of disaster prevention.
Research Achievements and Challenges
[Approach to quality improvement of disaster information with infrasound
monitoring system]
■ Introduction
Sound wave
Using a sensitive microbarograph, we can observe microGravitational
atmospheric pressure fluctuations such as Infrasound with a
Wave
Infrasound Audible sound Ultrasonic wave
resolution of a few to several tens of mPa. Infrasound has the
20Hz
0.0033Hz
20kHz
feature to propagate a long distance holding the sound source
Atmospheric boundary waves
information because it is a long period wave and hardly
Micro atmospheric pressure
fluctuations
attenuates. Making use of this feature, an infrasound monitoring
network for watching nuclear testing is being constructed with 60 Figure 1 Definition of Micro-atmospheric pressure
stations under the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
fluctuations
(CTBT).
The CTBT IMS infrasound monitoring stations in
and around Japan recorded unequivocal signals
associated with the Great East Japan Earthquake
disaster occurred at Mar. 11, 2011. JWA and the
joint institutes identified them as atmospheric
boundary waves excited by the uplift and
subsidence of the ocean surface (tsunami
generation), on the basis of the coincidence of
the waveform characteristics and the data from
ocean-bottom pressure gauges.
■ Concept
of
tsunami
early
detection system with infrasound
observations
Atmospheric pressure variation
■ Tsunami monitoring
Atmospheric pressure changes associated
with tsunami generation
Excitation of atmospheric signals
Peak arrived at around
15:00 (local time)
Largest tsunami hit
Ofunato at 15:15
Tsunami
Uplift and subsidence generation
Earthquake occurrence
Figure 2 Observed signals at Mar. 11, 2011
Earthquake occurrence
Detection of atmospheric boundary waves
It is expected to improve the tsunami warning
atmospheric
Estimating detailed information of tsunamis source
boundary
information by using information based on not
based on Observation Data
waves
hypocenter
only a simulation but also an observation data.
Observation
Data
Estimation
Advantages of the tsunami early detection
Observation
data
Tsunamis
source
system with infrasound observation are as
Information provision
at multiple points
areas
follows:
Tsunami heights and arrival
Tsunami heights
Waveform of
1. It allows us to know the sea level changes on
times at the coast
at source areas
atmospheric pressure
tsunami sources.
2. It allows us to get information of tsunamis
Figure 3 Concept of tsunami early detection system
before the arrival of tsunami waves.
3. It provides useful information even though a tsunami occurs in the far distance.
4. Since it monitors tsunamis in a safe inland area, it will not be affected by tsunami directly.
5. It costs one-tenth to one-hundredth of the construction cost of a general wave observation system.
■ Potential of infrasound monitoring







Earthquakes
Tsunami waves
Snow avalanches / landslide
Thunderstorms
Ocean waves
Volcanic Eruptions
Meteors
Suggestions for the Disaster Research Roadmap
JWA will contribute to the conduction of natural disaster prevention on the basis of wealth of experience as a private
meteorological company. In order to realize effective natural disaster prevention, JWA would like to continue joint
research projects with universities and institutions for further development of weather technology.
In order to reduce disaster risk, JWA will contribute to “Bridging the Gap Between Weather Services and Users”.
There are three types of bridging:
1. Provide weather data to the public
Target: Developing countries, and others.
Needs: Meteorological observation, rain gauge, radar, and others.
2. Provide value-added products to the specific users
Target: Management of rivers and roads, transport facilities, private companies, and others.
Needs: Disasters risk consulting, weather information business, and others.
3. Creation of new demands and services
Target: Government, private companies, and others.
Needs: Climate change assessment, introduction of new technology
It is also necessary to bridge the climate change information to the public.
 GCM outputs such as CMIP3, CMIP5 are available via network access.
 Meteorological researchers are familiar with the usage of the GCM data, but the most of researchers other than
meteorology such as agriculture, civil engineering, etc., are not familiar with the GCM.
 There are some difficulties to use GCM;
1) to download the enormous quantity of data
2) to understand the netCDF data format
3) to understand the GCM methodology, parameters and grids
 For the purpose of providing a quick access way to GCM, we developed the Climate Change Information
Database for Hydrological Analysis.
(http://mhri.dpri.kyoto-u.ac.jp/database/index.html?LANG=EN)
 The objectives of the database are to bridge the difference of GCM resolution and to provide the analysis data
of climate change amount or factors for the each meteorological element.