In this issue

Weather and climate know no national borders. The transformation of the International Meteorological Organization into the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in 1950 was an essential response to the need to strengthen global cooperation in this scientific area. In 1960, the Executive Council of WMO established World Meteorological Day to build public awareness of the services provided by National Meteorological Services and WMO. These services involve the observation, collection, processing and dissemination of meteorological, hydrological and other related data and products. The 23rd of March was chosen for the commemoration as it marks the date of entry into force of the WMO Convention.

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The World Weather Watch at 50

The World Weather Watch (WWW) is one of the crowning achievements of WMO. The celerity with which WMO responded to the introduction of meteorological satellites with the establishment of the WWW, and its subsequent adoption by all WMO Members, set a standard for international cooperation in operational programmes that remains unequalled today.

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World Weather Watch successes and challenges for the future - An interview with Alan Thorpe

Professor Alan Thorpe is the Director-General of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) and a founding member of THe Observing system Research and Predictability EXperiment (THORPEX) programme. Under the skillful leadership of the Professor and Dr Mel Shapiro, Co-chairs of the THORPEX International Science Steering Committee, the THORPEX International Science Plan – which lays a foundation for the initiative and provides a 10-year plan for its development – was completed in 2004. THORPEX is a core component of the WMO World Weather Research Programme (WWRP).

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The Global Observing System

Three jewels shine particularly brightly in the crown of the World Weather Watch: the Global Observing System (GOS), the Global Telecommunication System (GTS) and the Global Data-processing and Forecasting System (GDPFS). As envisaged in the original, visionary plan for the WWW, these individual components deliver their achievements not in isolation but through their connection from end-to-end and through the strong user requirements process that underpins them. The combined achievement is far greater than the sum of the parts, and no single component would be able to deliver the intended benefits on its own. However, GOS is arguably unique in being the foundation on which the others stand, in providing the essential observations subsequently disseminated through the GTS and assimilated and processed into forecasting products through the GDPFS.

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NOAA’s Eyes in the Sky -
After five decades of weather forecasting with environmental satellites, what do future satellites promise for meteorologists and society?

While today’s environmental satellites serve many important functions, one of the most critical is to provide meteorologists with data that are crucial to making accurate, life-saving weather predictions. These “eyes in the sky” constantly orbit above us. They make atmospheric observations that are ingested into numerical weather prediction (NWP) computer models and provide meteorologists with images of weather phenomena that allow them to monitor storms around the globe, identify volcanic ash and smoke from wildfires, and track hurricane development. For all of these reasons, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has long recognized that environmental satellites are essential to meeting its mission to protect life and property, and why it will continue to maintain and improve this critical capability.

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The Tiksi International Hydrometeorological Observatory -
An Arctic members Partnership

The global community has recognized over the last few years the importance of the weather and climate of the Earth’s Polar Regions.Particularly sensitive to human activities, the Polar Regions have also demonstrated the potential for impacting reciprocally on the livability of the more heavily populated lower and mid-latitudes. In response, the WMO Polar Observations, Research and Services (PORS) was developed to “…promote and coordinate relevant programmes that are carried out in the Antarctic and Arctic regions by nations and by groups of nations.” The Polar Activities resolution of the WMO Executive Council Panel of Experts on Polar Observations, Research and Services also encourages “Members, particularly those that have operational activities in Polar Regions, to consider the possibility of cooperating with other Members in sharing the costs of re-opening and operating previously functioning stations, in expanding existing stations or in deploying new observing and communication systems.” The Tiksi International Hydrometeorological Observatory in the Russian North on the shore of the Laptev Sea is a unique example of the kind of multi-national effort that is recommended by the Polar Activities resolution.

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ARISE - A European research infrastructure combining three measurement techniques

Technology first used to listen for secret H-bomb tests could help forecasters tell us what the weather is going to be like up to a month in advance. That is one of the aims of an exciting new international research project, Atmosphere dynamics Research InfraStructure in Europe (ARISE), which kicked-off in January 2012. Following studies that showed that the upper layers of the Earth’s atmosphere could provide crucial information for more accurate longer-term weather forecasts, on timescales up to four weeks ahead, twelve partners from eight European member states and one associated country have joined forces to combine measurements of the stratosphere and mesosphere taken by three different kinds of instruments.

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The Instruments and Methods of Observation Programme (IMOP)

Established by WMO’s predecessor, the International Meteorological Organization, the Commission for Instruments and Methods of Observation (CIMO) ensures the accuracy of weather observation by facilitating the creation of international standards and, thus, the compatibility of measurements. The Commission is responsible for developing the guidelines and recommendations implemented through the Instruments and Methods of Observation Programme (IMOP), one of the key components of the World Weather Watch (WWW) Programme. For over a century it has coordinated collective actions by Members in respect to their observing systems, so that the end results of their efforts far exceed what each could individually accomplish to meet its critical needs; the Commission then disseminates those results worldwide.

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WMO Fellowships: Enhancing Practical Forecasting Skills

Two fundamental requirements for effective running of the World Weather Watch (WWW) are adequacy of human resources and of physical infrastructure. When the WWW was established in the 1960s, these two requirements formed the most important obstacles for WMO and its partners to deliver an efficient and effective cooperation framework for global weather monitoring. Since the inception of the WWW, WMO has cooperated with diverse partners in order to respond to the human resources needs of developing countries through its Education and Training Programme. Through strategic interventions considerable support has been rendered to countries in enhancing their human resource and infrastructural capabilities. One example is WMO cooperation with China, which has promoted training and scientific research in the fields of meteorology and hydrology and enhanced regional environment monitoring and protection, especially in Africa. Under this agreement, WMO fellows have been able to benefit from training at Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology (NUIST). A group of WMO fellows who have just benefited from such training present their experience in this article.

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Valuing Investments In Data Processing and Forecasting Systems - The Implications of the KMA Experience

The three main operational components of daily weather production systems are real-time observing and data collection, routine global exchange of data and information and the systematic operational processing of data to produce meteorological analyses, numerical weather predictions (NWP) and weather forecasts and warnings. Thus, these three components – the Global Observing System (GOS), the WMO Information System (WIS), and the Global Data-processing and Forecasting System (GDPFS) – have formed the backbone of the World Weather Watch (WWW) System.

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The World Weather Open Science Conference -
15-21 August 2014, Montreal, Canada

Theme: Seamless Prediction of the Earth System: from nowcasting through medium range to seasonal forecasts

Weather prediction is achieving immense progress. Driven by research and by the development of ever more sophisticated infrastructure – in telecommunications, computerization and observation systems – predictive skill now extends, in some cases, beyond 10 days. Warnings of severe weather events are now issued many days in advance. Partly due to these advances, the needs of the users have simultaneously diversified, and now routinely encompass “environmental” prediction products related to air quality or hydrological processes.

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