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The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) 57th Executive Council
This meeting was held
was held on 23 June to 1 July 2005 in Geneva.
The HMEI Secretariat staff represented HMEI at this EC meeting. The
report below was compiled by the HMEI Executive Secretary, Bruce Sumner,
for the HMEI Members. This report focuses on items the HMEI Executive
Secretary found of particular interest for HMEI members and is not
intended to be definitive.
The official WMO report of the meeting is
at the HMEI office.
WMO
57th Executive Council
The
Secretary-General opened the session, and made reference to activities
during the past 12 months, including the incorporation of AMDAR (aviation
program) into the World Weather Watch, the implementation of the new WMO
Space Programme, and cross-cutting approaches to observation collection,
distribution and archival. He mentioned that there is a strong need to
maintain and expand on cooperation between WMO and international agencies.
He also mentioned the new Disaster Mitigation and Reduction Programme.
Water issues and climate were also mentioned as areas of concern that need
expanded efforts.
Report
of the Presidents of the Technical Commissions
In
the Report of the Presidents of the Technical Commissions, it was noted
that there is a need to strengthen the activities of the WMO Regional
Instrument Centres, especially in developing countries, and particularly
in regard to calibration, maintenance and repair of meteorological
instruments and systems.
Disaster
Prevention and Mitigation
There was an interesting discussion on disaster prevention and
mitigation and resource mobilization. The Global Telecommunications
Network needs to be upgraded to allow for more data and products and
better reliability. There needs to be links to other organizations, such
as seismology centres. The possibility of regional grouping of
Meteorological Services to pool their resources was proposed.
Working
Group on Climate and Environment
The Working Group on Climate and Environment made a statement that there
is a need to strengthen links with international organizations, UN
agencies and the private industry sector. The Technical Conference
“Climate as a Resource”, to be held immediately prior to CCl-XIV in
Beijing in November 2005, needs sponsorship from donors to assist with
attendance from members of developing countries. Indeed HMEI has already
been approached as a sponsor, but had to decline, as this is not within
our mandate, even if we had the resources, which we don’t.
Climate
Database Management Systems
It was
noted that Climate
Database Management Systems (CDMS’s) are being developed by a number of
Met Services, and are being developed and installed
in less developed countries to assist them with the management of climate
data in their service. There is a need to install other such systems
during the coming 12 months. To minimize costs these database systems are
developed by the major Met Services.
Global
Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS)
The GEOSS presentation made reference to the fact that there will be a
100-fold increase in data volume shortly, and that better
telecommunications, data management and visualization tools will be
required to handle this large amount of data.
Cessation
of Production of the RS80 Radiosonde
There was a presentation on the results of a questionnaire on the
cessation of production of the RS80 Radiosonde. The stations that would be
affected by the lack of such sondes were listed, and the impact on the
upper-air network was discussed. In summary, only four critical stations
were identified, as stations that a part of the GUAN and RBSN high quality
network. A mention was made that interoperability of being able to use
different radiosondes with a universal type of ground system was a valid
option for stations that need to upgrade.
HMEI
made a statement on this issue that was given at the Commission
for Instruments and Methods of Observation part of the EC. Please
see that section of this report for the statement.
Commission
of Agriculture (CAgM)
There is a Commission of Agriculture (CAgM) Expert Team meeting on
Data Management and Validation, to be held in Botswana in November 2005.
Commission
for Hydrology (CHy)
The President of the Commission for Hydrology (CHy) advised that the
Cost Rica Worksop and Exhibition has been moved to 13 to 17 March 2006. He
also advised that there will be a Regional Hydrology Workshop on 16 to 18
October 2005 in Fiji. He also advised that work has to be done on
stream-flow instrument calibration, and asked for collaboration with CIMO
and HMEI.
National
Meteorological and Hydrological Services and Co-operation with Private
Sector
It was particularly stressed in one paper that National Meteorological
and Hydrological Services (NMHS’s – the national Met Services that are
members of WMO) need to be encouraged to recognize the importance of
partnerships with respect to issues such as resource mobilization,
visibility and delivery of services. In this regard NMHS’s are being
encouraged to relate better with the private sector, including equipment
manufacturers and suppliers.
Global
Climate Observing System
Dr Goodrich from the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) mentioned that
there is a pressing need to upgrade several GSN (surface) and GUAN
(upper-air) stations, with a particular emphasis on upgrades to the
upper-air network.
Commission
for Instruments and Methods of Observation
The acting President for the Commission for Instruments and Methods of
Observation (CIMO) mentioned at the beginning of his presentation that
HMEI has been an essential part of the CIMO programme for the past several
years, and that HMEI has a unique collaboration within WMO.
HMEI was again mentioned several times in regard to instrument Intercomparisons,
including the rainfall intensity laboratory Intercomparison of 19 pairs of
instruments from 18 manufactures, with most manufacturers being members of
HMEI.
The Mauritius radiosonde Intercomparison was stated to have cost about CHF
500,000, of which only CHF 25,000 came from WMO, the rest came from the
involved manufacturers. The acting President thanked the manufacturers for
their attendance and the funding, without which the Intercomparison could
not have been conducted.
The results of the Intercomparison were
summarized, with the summation that all sondes performed well. Three
sondes are recommended for humidity, three for temperature and five for
height.
The future of Intercomparisons was addressed and it was noted that WMO has
limited resources for Intercomparisons, often only sufficient for planning
meetings. HMEI was specifically asked to encourage its members to continue
to participate in Intercomparisons, as their co-operation logistically and
in bearing a major part of the costs, was vital for the success of Intercomparisons
in the future.
HMEI
made a statement regarding the RS80 radiosonde cessation, stating that
solutions from all manufacturers need to be looked at when WMO members are
seeking upgrade solutions. The HMEI Member Products Catalogue was
mentioned as a source of such information. A CD-ROM of the catalogue was
giving to all Members of the WMO Executive Council (37 Permanent
Representatives, mostly the heads of national Meteorological Services).
The HMEI Executive Secretary also stated that HMEI appreciated the
consultative status it had with WMO, and that we look forward to working
with and providing expertise to all the Commissions and Expert Teams
within WMO, as well as providing guidance on hydro-meteorological
instruments and systems to WMO members (the Meteorological Services).
Bruce
Sumner
2
July 2005
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