Report - Regional Association 6 (RA-VI) (Europe) 15th Session,
Brussels, Belgium, 16-24 September 2009

HMEI Members attending as HMEI representatives at this meeting were:
Rémy Pepin - Modem; Allyson Turnbull - EEC; Mike Ueltzen - The Republic Group; and Rob Doornbos - Vaisala.

Allyson Turnbull and Michael W. Ueltzen from Enterprise Electronics Corporation provided the following report for which HMEI thanks them. They also noted that the Belgium venue was a very useful one. They spent much of their time meeting many Met Service personnel from approximately 20 European countries. EEC had excellent visibility via the booth they had in the coffee area. There was great interest by all of the delegates to visit with them during the coffee breaks and often even after the meetings had concluded.

HMEI REPORT OF THE 2009 RA VI MEETING, Bruxelles, Belgium
The Belgium Meteorological Service (KMI) was a very gracious host to all participants and the highlight of one of the evening receptions was a visit sponsored by the KMI to the ATOMIUM. The RA VI meeting was well attended by the European, Middle Eastern and North African NHMS Directors and International Scientists.

The following issues were discussed in great detail:

1.) Enhanced Capabilities of Members to Produce Better Weather Forecasts and Warnings:

• Improved quality, greater availability and more effective use of NWP products in forecasting and warning services.
• Increasing the number of new and advanced scientific tools in operational forecasting in warnings of hazards.

2.) Enhance Capabilities of Members to Provide Better Climate Predictions and Assessments:

• Climate monitoring and assessment.
• Climate prediction and modelling research.
• Climate information and prediction services.
• Capacity building for improved climate predication and assessments.
• WCC-3.

3.) Enhanced Capabilities of Members to Provide Better Hydrological Forecasts and Assessments:

• Issues related to Hydrology and Water resources.

4.) Integration of WMO Observing Systems

5.) Development and Implementation of the new WMO Information Systems (WIS):

• Strategy.
• Operation-critical data exchange and management, including GTS, data representation.
• Non real-time data exchange and management.

6.) Enhanced Capabilities of Members in Multi-Hazard Early Warning and Disaster Prevention and Preparedness:

• Roles of NMHSs in governance and institutional coordination in DRR.
• New initiatives to support hydrometeorological risk assessment projects.
• Technical capacity development projects and strengthening cooperation in support of early earning systems with a multi-hazard approach.
• Strengthening partnerships in DRR.

The agenda for this RA is available here. Other documents for this meeting are available from the link  at: http://www.wmo.int/pages/meetings/cbodies_en.html