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Recent events International
Workshop on Agrometeorological Risk Management: Commission for Agricultural Meteorology—14th session Technical Exchange Conference (TECO) on the WMO Information System (WIS) Extraordinary Session of the Commission for Basic Systems (CBS-E) Sixth International Workshop on Tropical Cyclones
International
Workshop on Agrometeorological Risk Management: In many parts of the world climate change and extreme climatic events such as severe droughts, floods, storms, tropical cyclones, heat waves, freezes and extreme winds are large production risks, as well as uncertainty factors impacting agricultural systems performance and management. Coping with agrometeorological risk and uncertainties is the process of assessing agrometeorological risks and uncertainties and then developing strategies to cope with these risks. WMO, in collaboration with a number of co-sponsors, organized this workshop to address these issues, which was attended by 188 participants from 78 countries.
Weather and
climate events and risks to farming from droughts, floods,
cyclones and high winds, and extreme temperatures were
identified through risk and risk characterization.
Approaches to dealing with risks highlighted preparedness
planning, risk assessments and improved early warning
systems which can lessen the vulnerability of society to
weather and climate risks. Enterprise diversification,
contract hedging, crop insurance, weather derivatives and
weather index insurance play a key role in developing
agricultural risk management strategies. The use of crop
insurance strategies and schemes to reduce the
vulnerability of the farming communities to risks posed by
weather and climate extremes was examined. A number of
strategies were identified to cope with risks. These
include the use of seasonal forecasts in agriculture,
forestry and land management to assist alleviation of food
shortages, drought and desertification. The use of
integrated agricultural management and crop simulation
models with climate forecasting systems give the highest
benefits. Strategies to improve water management and
increase the efficient use of water included crop
diversification and better irrigation. Especially
important was the application of local indigenous
knowledge. A
combination of locally adapted traditional farming
technologies, seasonal weather forecasts and warning
methods were important for improving yields and incomes.
Many challenges to coping strategies were identified.
Particularly important was the impact of different
sources of climate variability and change on the frequency
and magnitude of extreme events. Lack of systematic data
collected from disasters impeded future preparedness, as
did the need for effective communication services for the
timely delivery of weather and climate information to
enable effective decision-making. A range of policy options to cope with such risks were
presented. These included contingency planning, use of
crop simulation modelling, and use of agrometeorological
services.
Commission
for Agricultural Meteorology—14th session A total of 88 participants from 55 countries and five international organizations participated in this meeting, which was chaired by the president of the Commission, R.P. Motha (USA). The Commission noted with satisfaction the progress made in the implementation of the WMO Agricultural Meteorology Programme during the intersessional period and was pleased with the large number of publications issued. The Commission noted that its new working structure was effective and had enabled it to address a number of emerging issues such as the locust invasion of 2004 and natural disasters, in an efficient fashion.
Activities during the next intersessional period would be focused on the theme “Agricultural products, services and coping strategies to sustain agricultural development for both effective short-term daily operational farming decisions and proactive long-term strategic agricultural planning measures”. M.J. Salinger (New Zealand) and L.S. Rathore (India) were elected president and vice-president of the Commission, respectively. See:
http://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/wcp/agm/agmp_en.html
Technical
Exchange Conference (TECO) on the WMO Information System (WIS) Key results/outcomes
Extraordinary
Session of the Commission for Basic Systems (CBS-E)
Key
results/outcomes Global
Telecommunication System (GTS) Enhanced guidance on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for GTS and use of Internet by National Meteorological and Hydrological Services, including security aspects procedures
for more effective exchange messages, digital information,
files Enhanced
procedures Enhanced for effective exchange of data related
to tsunami warning: sea-level, seismic, watch and
warnings, acknowledgement of receipt. Data
management Agreement
on WMO core metadata standard based on the International
Organization for Standardization (ISO) standard for all
WMO programmes and actions for further development,
including increased interaction with ISO. Data
representation and codes Review
of strategy for migration to table-driven code forms, and
enhanced coordination with other commissions, programmes
and organizations, especially the Commission for
Aeronautical Meteorology and the International Civil
Aviation Organization. WMO
Information System (WIS) Agreement
on fundamental WIS services and phased implementation:
collection/exchange of time-critical and
operations-critical data (GTS); data discovery; access and
retrieval service to authorized users (Internet portals),
and timely delivery service Established
WIS trust fund for facilitating additional financial and
human resources to accelerate implementation of WIS Agreement
on governance principles and procedures for designation of
WIS centres (Global Information System Centres and Data
Collection or Product Centres). Agreement
on needed actions, priorities and resources to move WIS
implementation forward, including involvement of WMO
technical commissions, regional associations and interdisciplinary
users
communities, especially those relating to disaster
prevention and mitigation goals. Radio-Frequency
Management Agreement
on need for preparatory activities for World
Radiocommunication Conference 2007 (October-November
2007), that includes a number of important issues (weather
radars, passive sensing). Severe
Weather Forecasting Demonstration Project Very
high degree of support from Regional Association I
(Africa). This project is a pilot for a coordinated
capacity building initiative to increase the access to and
use of numerical weather prediction (NWP) in developing
and Least Developed Countries.
It combines resources from developed and developing
countries to improve NWP guidance in five developing
countries in south-eastern Africa.
It began in November 2006 and will runs until
October 2007. Discussions addressed follow-on efforts, including
demonstration projects in other regions. Operation of the surface-based and space-based subsystems The
importance of sustainable operation of the Global
Observing System, especially in developing and Least
Developed Countries was reiterated, and continued
optimization of observing elements, to include development
and deployment of an advanced composite system, was
encouraged. Impact
of new instrumentation The
Secretariat was tasked to continue monitoring of
upgrades and replacement of certain radiosonde systems,
especially in developing countries and introduction of new
technologies. Quality
management framework Overall
approach including proposals to develop a closer working
relationship with the International Organization for
Standardization was endorsed.
Sixth International Workshop on Tropical Cyclones (San Jose, Costa Rica, 21-30
November 2006)
The sixth of the series of WMO International
Workshops on Tropical Cyclones (IWTC-VI) was organized in
San Jose, Costa Rica, from 21 to 30 November 2006. C.Y.
Lam and Johnny Chan co-chaired this meeting under the
special theme topic “Quantitative forecasts of tropical
cyclone landfall in relation to an effective warning
system”. Hosted by the Instituto Meteorológico Nacional of Costa Rica, the workshop provided an international forum for researchers and weather forecasters to discuss prediction and trends in tropical cyclones. The 125 participants from 34 WMO Member countries were tropical cyclone researchers (51%) and forecasters (46%) as well as experts on hydrology, storm surges, disaster mitigation and private risk modelling agencies (3%).
IWTC-VI
featured 32 presentations and nine break-out sessions for
informal discussions allowing for in-depth analyses and
experience sharing. A set of recommendations for future
research was
formulated with
special regard to the varying needs of the different
tropical cyclone regions and
to improving operational tropical cyclone forecasting and
warning practices. The
recent high-impact tropical cyclone events around the
globe and unusually active hurricane seasons have created
a new sense of urgency for increased cooperation among
tropical cyclone specialists around the world. This is needed not only to reduce the damage caused by
these natural hazards but also to resolve the link between
variations in tropical cyclones and climate change. A
special session was convened to draft a workshop statement
on the links between human-induced climate change and
tropical cyclones. Both the statement and summary are
available online at: http://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/arep/index_en.html For more details of the
workshop, please refer to: http://severe.worldweather.org/iwtc/
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