World Meteorological Organization

"WMO" redirects here. For other uses, see WMO (disambiguation).

المنظمة العالمية للأرصاد الجوية World Meteorological Organization Organisation météorologique mondiale Organización Meteorológica Mundial Всемирная Метеорологическая Организация 世界气象组织
WMO flag
Org type	UN agency
Acronyms	WMO OMM
Head	Michel Jarraud (Secretary-General) David Grimes (President)
Status	Active
Established	1950
Headquarters	Geneva, Switzerland
Website	www.wmo.int

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is an intergovernmental organization with a membership of 191 Member States and Territories. It originated from the International Meteorological Organization (IMO), which was founded in 1873. Established in 1950, WMO became the specialised agency of the United Nations for meteorology (weather and climate), operational hydrology and related geophysical sciences. It has its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, and is a member of the United Nations Development Group. The current Secretary-General is Michel Jarraud. and the current president is David Grimes.

The organization

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations. It is the UN system's authoritative voice on the state and behavior of the Earth's atmosphere, its interaction with the oceans, the climate it produces and the resulting distribution of water resources.

WMO has a membership of 191 member states and territories (as of 1 January 2013). The Convention of the World Meteorological Organization was signed 11 October 1947 and established upon ratification in 1950. WMO became the specialized agency of the United Nations in 1951 for meteorology (weather and climate), operational hydrology and related geophysical sciences. It originated from the International Meteorological Organization (IMO), which was founded in 1873.^{[citation needed]}

The WMO hierarchy:

• The World Meteorological Congress determines the policy of WMO and meets every four years. Each Member country is represented by a Permanent Representative with WMO. The Permanent Representative should be the director of the National Meteorological or Hydrometeorological Service.
• The Executive Council (EC) implements Congress decisions and meets once a year.
• Six regional associations for addressing regional concerns:
  • Region I Africa
  • Region II Asia
  • Region III South America
  • Region IV North America, Central America and the Caribbean
  • Region V South-West Pacific
  • Region VI Europe
  • (Antarctica is outside the regions) - an EC Panel has been established since 2009 to coordinate WMO related activities in Polar Regions
• Eight technical commissions provide technical recommendations for WMO and the national services.
• The secretariat headed by the Secretary-General coordinates the activities of WMO with a regular staff of more than 250 employees.

Activities

As weather, climate and the water cycle know no national boundaries, international cooperation at a global scale is essential for the development of meteorology and operational hydrology as well as to reap the benefits from their application. WMO provides the framework for such international cooperation.^{[citation needed]}

Since its establishment, WMO has played a unique and powerful role in contributing to the safety and welfare of humanity. Under WMO leadership and within the framework of WMO programs, National Meteorological and Hydrological Services contribute substantially to the protection of life and property against natural disasters, to safeguarding the environment and to enhancing the economic and social well-being of all sectors of society in areas such as food security, water resources and transport.^{[citation needed]}

The WMO and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) jointly created the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). It is also directly responsible for the creation of the Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW). The IPCC has received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 "for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change."

WMO promotes cooperation in the establishment of networks for making meteorological, climatological, hydrological and geophysical observations, as well as the exchange, processing and standardization of related data, and assists technology transfer, training and research. It also fosters collaboration between the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services of its Members and furthers the application of meteorology to public weather services, agriculture, aviation, shipping, the environment, water issues and the mitigation of the impacts of natural disasters.^{[citation needed]}

WMO facilitates the free and unrestricted exchange of data and information, products and services in real- or near-real time on matters relating to safety and security of society, economic welfare and the protection of the environment. It contributes to policy formulation in these areas at national and international levels.^{[citation needed]}

In the specific case of weather-, climate and water-related hazards, which account for nearly 90% of all natural disasters, WMO's programs provide vital information for the advance warnings that save lives and reduce damage to property and the environment. WMO also contributes to reducing the impacts of human-induced disasters, such as those associated with chemical and nuclear accidents, forest fire and volcanic ash. Studies have shown that, apart from the incalculable benefit to human well-being, every dollar invested in meteorological and hydrological services produces an economic return many times greater, often ten times or more.^{[citation needed]}

WMO plays a leading role in international efforts to monitor and protect the environment through its programs. In collaboration with other UN agencies and the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services, WMO supports the implementation of a number of environmental conventions and is instrumental in providing advice and assessments to governments on related matters. These activities contribute towards ensuring the sustainable development and well-being of nations.^{[citation needed]}

WMO publishes the International Cloud Atlas, the international standard cloud atlas since 1896.^{[citation needed]}

Meteorological codes

In keeping with its mandate to promote the standardization of meteorological observations, the WMO maintains numerous code forms for the representation and exchange of meteorological, oceanographical, and hydrological data. The traditional code forms, such as SYNOP, CLIMAT and TEMP, are character-based and their coding is position-based. Newer WMO code forms are designed for portability, extensibility and universality. These are BUFR, CREX, and, for gridded geo-positioned data, GRIB.^{[citation needed]}

World Meteorological Day

WMO seat in Geneva shared with the GICHD, the GCSP and the Group on Earth Observations

  WMO member states

  WMO member territories

• World Meteorological Day is held annually on March 23.^{[citation needed]}

Awards and prizes

• International Meteorological Organization Prize
• Vilho Väisälä Award
• Norbert Gerbier-Mumm International Award
• WMO Research Award for Young Scientists

WMO conference on climate prediction and information for decision-making

World Climate Conference-3 (WCC-3) was held from 31 August to 4 September 2009 in Geneva, Switzerland, under the auspices of WMO. Its goal was to address advancements in seasonal to multi-decadal climate predictions and to spur their applications to decision-making in socio-economic sectors, including food, water, energy, health, tourism and development sectors. The Conference aimed to contribute to the achievement of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals and broader UN climate goals through support for climate adaptation.

Membership

As of February 2013, member states of the organisation include 183 of the 193 UN members, the Cook Islands and Niue, for a total of 185 member states. Additionally there are 6 member territories, listed below.

There are 10 states that are members of the United Nations, but not of the WMO. These are: Andorra, Equatorial Guinea, Grenada, Liechtenstein, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and San Marino; the most populous of these countries is Equatorial Guinea, with nearly 700000 inhabitants. Non-members of either organisation include the Vatican City and the states with limited recognition.^{[citation needed]}

The six member territories are: the British Caribbean Territories (joint meteorological organisation and membership),French Polynesia, Hong Kong, Macau, Curaçao and Sint Maarten (joint meteorological service and membership), and New Caledonia. Below is a table of all members with admission dates.^{[citation needed]}

Current member states

States that joined the WMO before they joined the UN are marked with a blue background. States that are members of the WMO, but not of the UN are marked with a green background. For comparison, see Member states of the United Nations. The dates are the dates of the ratification of the WMO Convention by the member, or the date of accession.

Member states	Date of admission
Afghanistan	01956-09-1111 September 1956
Albania	01957-07-2929 July 1957
Algeria	01963-04-044 April 1963
Angola	01977-03-1616 March 1977
Antigua and Barbuda	01988-11-1616 November 1988
Argentina	01951-01-022 January 1951
Armenia	01992-09-1616 September 1992
Australia	01949-03-1414 March 1949
Austria	01955-02-2323 February 1955
Azerbaijan	01993-12-2727 December 1993
Bahamas	01973-11-2929 November 1973
Bahrain	01980-04-2121 April 1980
Bangladesh	01973-08-2424 August 1973
Barbados	01967-03-2222 March 1967
Belarus	01948-04-1212 April 1948
Belgium	01951-02-022 February 1951
Belize	01982-05-2525 May 1982
Benin	01961-04-1414 April 1961
Bhutan	02003-02-1111 February 2003
Bolivia (Plurinational State of)	01954-05-1515 May 1954
Bosnia and Herzegovina	01994-06-011 June 1994
Botswana	01967-10-1616 October 1967
Brazil	01950-03-1515 March 1950
Brunei Darussalam	01984-11-2626 November 1984
Bulgaria	01952-03-1212 March 1952
Burkina Faso	01960-10-3131 October 1960
Burundi	01962-10-3030 October 1962
Cambodia	01955-11-088 November 1955
Cameroon	01960-12-1717 December 1960
Canada	01950-07-2828 July 1950
Cape Verde	01975-10-2121 October 1975
Central African Republic	01961-06-2828 June 1961
Chad	01961-02-022 February 1961
Chile	01957-05-099 May 1957
China	01972-02-2525 February 1972
Colombia	01962-01-055 January 1962
Comoros	01976-03-1515 March 1976
Congo	01960-11-2121 November 1960
Democratic Republic of the Congo	01960-11-055 November 1960
Cook Islands	01995-10-1818 October 1995
Costa Rica	01960-12-1616 December 1960
Cote d'Ivoire !Côte d'Ivoire	01960-10-3131 October 1960
Croatia	01992-10-099 October 1992
Cuba	01952-03-044 March 1952
Cyprus	01963-04-1111 April 1963
Czech Republic	01993-01-2525 January 1993
Denmark	01951-07-1010 July 1951
Djibouti	01978-06-3030 June 1978
Dominica	01980-02-2121 February 1980
Dominican Republic	01949-09-1515 September 1949
Ecuador	01950-06-077 June 1950
Egypt	01950-01-1010 January 1950
El Salvador	01955-05-2727 May 1955
Eritrea	01993-07-088 July 1993
Estonia	01992-08-2121 August 1992
Ethiopia	01953-12-033 December 1953
Fiji	01980-03-1818 March 1980
Finland	01949-01-077 January 1949
France	01949-12-055 December 1949
Gabon	01961-06-055 June 1961
Gambia	01978-10-022 October 1978
Georgia	01993-09-011 September 1993
Germany	01954-06-1010 June 1954
Ghana	01957-05-066 May 1957
Greece	01950-01-2020 January 1950
Guatemala	01952-03-2121 March 1952
Guinea	01959-03-2727 March 1959
Guinea-Bissau	01977-12-1515 December 1977
Guyana	01966-11-2222 November 1966
Haiti	01951-08-1414 August 1951
Honduras	01960-10-1010 October 1960
Hungary	01951-02-1515 February 1951
Iceland	01948-01-1616 January 1948
India	01949-04-2727 April 1949
Indonesia	01950-11-1616 November 1950
Iran (Islamic Republic of)	01959-09-3030 September 1959
Iraq	01950-02-2121 February 1950
Ireland	01950-03-1414 March 1950
Israel	01949-09-3030 September 1949
Italy	01951-01-099 January 1951
Jamaica	01963-05-2929 May 1963
Japan	01953-08-1111 August 1953
Jordan	01955-07-1111 July 1955
Kazakhstan	01993-05-055 May 1993
Kenya	01964-06-022 June 1964
Kiribati	02003-03-2626 March 2003
Democratic People's Republic of Korea	01975-05-2727 May 1975
Republic of Korea	01956-02-1515 February 1956
Kuwait	01962-12-011 December 1962
Kyrgyzstan	01994-07-2020 July 1994
Lao People's Democratic Republic	01955-06-011 June 1955
Latvia	01992-05-1515 May 1992
Lebanon	01948-12-2222 December 1948
Lesotho	01979-08-033 August 1979
Liberia	01974-02-077 February 1974
Libya	01955-12-2929 December 1955
Lithuania	01992-06-033 June 1992
Luxembourg	01952-10-2929 October 1952
The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia	01993-06-011 June 1993
Madagascar	01960-12-1515 December 1960
Malawi	01965-02-1515 February 1965
Malaysia	01958-05-1919 May 1958
Maldives	01978-06-011 June 1978
Mali	01960-11-1111 November 1960
Malta	01976-12-2828 December 1976
Mauritania	01961-01-2323 January 1961
Mauritius	01969-07-1717 July 1969
Mexico	01949-05-2727 May 1949
Micronesia (Federated States of)	01995-09-2020 September 1995
Republic of Moldova	01994-11-2121 November 1994
Monaco	01996-04-099 April 1996
Mongolia	01963-04-044 April 1963
Montenegro	02006-12-066 December 2006
Morocco	01957-01-033 January 1957
Mozambique	01976-06-2121 June 1976
Myanmar	01949-08-1919 August 1949
Namibia	01991-02-066 February 1991
Nepal	01966-08-1212 August 1966
Netherlands	01951-09-1212 September 1951
New Zealand	01948-04-022 April 1948
Nicaragua	01959-02-2727 February 1959
Niger	01960-10-2828 October 1960
Nigeria	01960-11-3030 November 1960
Niue	01996-05-3131 May 1996
Norway	01948-12-099 December 1948
Oman	01975-01-033 January 1975
Pakistan	01950-04-1111 April 1950
Panama	01967-09-1212 September 1967
Papua New Guinea	01975-12-1515 December 1975
Paraguay	01950-09-1515 September 1950
Peru	01949-12-3030 December 1949
Philippines	01949-04-055 April 1949
Poland	01950-05-1616 May 1950
Portugal	01951-01-1515 January 1951
Qatar	01975-04-044 April 1975
Romania	01948-08-1818 August 1948
Russian Federation	01948-04-022 April 1948
Rwanda	01963-02-044 February 1963
Saint Lucia	01981-03-022 March 1981
Samoa	01995-07-1111 July 1995
São Tomé and Príncipe	01976-11-2323 November 1976
Saudi Arabia	01959-02-2626 February 1959
Senegal	01960-11-011 November 1960
Serbia	02001-02-2121 February 2001
Seychelles	01977-02-1515 February 1977
Sierra Leone	01962-03-3030 March 1962
Singapore	01966-01-2424 January 1966
Slovakia	01993-02-1111 February 1993
Slovenia	01992-08-2020 August 1992
Solomon Islands	01985-05-066 May 1985
Somalia	01964-03-022 March 1964
South Africa	01950-01-1717 January 1950
South Sudan	02012-12-1414 December 2012
Spain	01951-02-2727 February 1951
Sri Lanka	01951-05-2323 May 1951
Sudan	01956-12-033 December 1956
Suriname	01976-07-2626 July 1976
Swaziland	01982-11-022 November 1982
Sweden	01948-11-1010 November 1948
Switzerland	01949-02-2323 February 1949
Syrian Arab Republic	01952-07-1616 July 1952
Tajikistan	01993-08-1010 August 1993
United Republic of Tanzania	01962-09-1414 September 1962
Thailand	01949-07-1111 July 1949
Timor-Leste	02009-12-044 December 2009
Togo	01960-10-2828 October 1960
Tonga	01996-02-2525 February 1996
Trinidad and Tobago	01963-02-011 February 1963
Tunisia	01957-01-2222 January 1957
Turkey	01949-08-055 August 1949
Turkmenistan	01992-12-044 December 1992
Tuvalu	02012-09-2222 September 2012
Uganda	01963-03-1515 March 1963
Ukraine	01948-04-1212 April 1948
United Arab Emirates	01986-12-1717 December 1986
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland	01948-12-1414 December 1948
United States of America	01949-05-044 May 1949
Uruguay	01951-01-1111 January 1951
Uzbekistan	01992-12-2323 December 1992
Vanuatu	01982-06-2424 June 1982
Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)	01950-06-1616 June 1950
Viet Nam	01976-07-022 July 1976
Yemen	01990-05-2222 May 1990
Zambia	01964-12-2828 December 1964
Zimbabwe	01981-01-1212 January 1981

Historical member states

Member states	Date of admission	Date membership ended	Note
Republic of China	01951-03-022 March 1951	01972-02-2525 February 1972	Seat in the UN transferred to the People's Republic of China (see China and the United Nations for details)
German Democratic Republic	01973-05-2323 May 1973	01990-10-033 October 1990	German reunification
Republic of South Vietnam	01955-03-022 March 1955	01976-07-022 July 1976	Reunification of Vietnam
Democratic Republic of Vietnam	01975-07-088 July 1975	01976-07-022 July 1976	Reunification of Vietnam
Yemen Arab Republic	01971-06-088 June 1971	01990-05-2222 May 1990	Yemeni unification
People's Democratic Republic of Yemen	01969-01-2828 January 1969	01990-05-2222 May 1990	Yemeni unification
Yugoslavia	01948-12-077 December 1948	?	Breakup of Yugoslavia

Member territories

Member territories	Date of admission
British Caribbean Territories	01953-09-2424 September 1953
Curaçao and Sint Maarten	01951-09-1212 September 1951
French Polynesia	01949-12-055 December 1949
Hong Kong, China	01948-12-1414 December 1948
Macau, China	01996-01-2424 January 1996
New Caledonia	01949-12-055 December 1949

See also

• Aircraft Meteorological Data Relay (AMDAR)
• Cloud atlas
• Global Atmospheric Research Programme (GARP)
• International Cloud Atlas
• Maria do Rosàrio Veiga
• Regional Specialized Meteorological Center

External links

• WMO.int - Official Website
• WMO country codes from the International Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set
• WCC-3