A Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre (RSMC) is responsible for the distribution of information, advisories, and warnings regarding the specific program they have a part of, agreed by consensus at the
World Meteorological Organization
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for promoting international cooperation on atmospheric science, climatology, hydrology and geophysics.
The WMO originated from the Internati ...
as part of the
World Weather Watch
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for promoting international cooperation on atmospheric science, climatology, hydrology and geophysics.
The WMO originated from the Internati ...
.
Environmental emergency response programme
As a result of the poor communications between countries following the
Chernobyl disaster
The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the No. 4 reactor in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, near the city of Pripyat in the north of the Ukrainian SSR in the Soviet Union. It is one of only two nuc ...
in the Spring of 1986, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) was requested by the
International Atomic Energy Agency
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was established in 1957 ...
(IAEA) and other international organizations to arrange for early warning messages about nuclear accidents to be transmitted over the
Global Telecommunications System The Global Telecommunication System (GTS) is a secured communication network enabling real-time exchange of meteorological data from weather stations, satellites and numerical weather prediction centres, providing critical meteorological forecastin ...
(GTS).
In addition some WMO member countries that lacked extensive forecasting capability requested that specialized pollutant transport and dispersion forecasts be provided during these emergencies. As a result, during 1989 Meteo-France
(MF),
Environment Canada
Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC; french: Environnement et Changement climatique Canada),Environment and Climate Change Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of the Environment ( ...
(EC) and the United Kingdom's
Met Office
The Meteorological Office, abbreviated as the Met Office, is the United Kingdom's national weather service. It is an executive agency and trading fund of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and is led by CEO Penelope E ...
(UKMO) were all set up as RSMCs under interim arrangements between the WMO and the IAEA.
Under these arrangements Meteo-France provided global coverage with the UKMO as the backup centre until each WMO region had at least two RSMCs for transport model products.
The need for the rationalization of transport and dispersion forecasts became even more apparent during the oil fire emergency after the
Persian Gulf War
The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...
, when several organizations provided personnel on the ground with predictions of the smoke plume behaviour which were often misleading as there was no existing and well-recognized system to sort out the predictions from less experienced sources.
After it had successfully demonstrated its RSMC capabilities to the WMO's Commission for Basic Systems (CBS) during November 1992, the United States
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...
was made the fourth RSMC effective on July 1, 1993.
This resulted in the WMO regions RA and RA IV having two RSMCs each which indicated the need to revise the interim arrangements.
The new arrangements came into force in August 1994, with EC and NOAA responsible for the Americas, while MF and the UKMO covered the remaining parts of the World.
The Australian Bureau of Meteorology was subsequently made an RSMC on July 1, 1995, while the Japan Meteorological Agency was made one in July 1997.
In 2021 there were ten meteorological centres for distribution of transport, deposition, and dispersion modeling, in the event of an environmental catastrophe that crosses international borders:
*
Beijing, China
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Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
*
Exeter, United Kingdom
*
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
*
Montréal, Canada
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-p ...
*
Obninsk
Obninsk (russian: О́бнинск) is a city in Kaluga Oblast, Russia, located on the bank of the Protva River southwest of Moscow and northeast of Kaluga. Population:
History
The history of Obninsk began in 1945 when the First Research In ...
,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
*
Offenbach,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
*
Tokyo, Japan
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...
*
Toulouse, France
Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Pari ...
*
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
,
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
*
Washington, D.C.
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, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
Tropical cyclones
A Tropical Cyclone Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre is responsible for detecting tropical cyclones in its designated area of responsibility, and for providing basic information about the
systems
A system is a group of interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. A system, surrounded and influenced by its environment, is described by its boundaries, structure and purpose and express ...
present and their forecast position, movement and intensity.
There are six such meteorological centres in addition to four regional Tropical Cyclone Warning Centres (TCWCs) that all provide public tropical cyclone advisory messages and assist other National Meteorological and Hydrological Services in preparing alerts and warnings for their respective countries.
In addition, all of the centres are responsible for naming tropical cyclones when they develop into or become equivalent to tropical storms in their area of responsibility, with the exceptions of RSMC La Reunion and TCWC Wellington.
* The United States
National Hurricane Center
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) is the division of the United States' NOAA/National Weather Service responsible for tracking and predicting tropical weather systems between the Prime Meridian and the 140th meridian west poleward to the 3 ...
(NHC/RSMC Miami) is responsible for the tracking of tropical cyclones within the Atlantic Ocean and Eastern Pacific basins.
* The United States
Central Pacific Hurricane Center
The Central Pacific Hurricane Center (CPHC) of the United States National Weather Service is the official body responsible for tracking and issuing tropical cyclone warnings, watches, advisories, discussions, and statements for the Central Pacifi ...
(CPHC/RSMC Honolulu) provides satellite fixes for the Western Pacific and Southern Pacific basins and tropical cyclone warnings for the Central Pacific basin and in the Eastern Pacific basin if the NHC is too busy with the Atlantic basin or is incapacitated in any way.
* The
Japan Meteorological Agency
The , abbreviated JMA, is an agency of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. It is charged with gathering and providing results for the public in Japan that are obtained from data based on daily scientific observation an ...
(JMA/RSMC Tokyo) is responsible for issuing advisories within the Western Pacific basin.
* The
India Meteorological Department
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) is an agency of the Ministry of Earth Sciences of the Government of India. It is the principal agency responsible for meteorological observations, weather forecasting and seismology. IMD is headquarter ...
(IMD/RSMC New Delhi) is responsible for tracking tropical cyclones within the North Indian Ocean.
*
Météo-France
Météo-France is the French national meteorological service.
Organisation
The organisation was established by decree in June 1993 and is a department of the Ministry of Transportation. It is headquartered in Paris but many domestic operatio ...
La Réunion (MFR/RSMC La Réunion) is responsible for the issuing advisories and tracking of tropical cyclones in the southwest Indian Ocean.
* The Australian
Bureau of Meteorology
The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM or BoM) is an executive agency of the Australian Government responsible for providing weather services to Australia and surrounding areas. It was established in 1906 under the Meteorology Act, and brought together ...
(BOM/TCWC Melbourne), the Indonesian
Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency
Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency ( id, Badan Meteorologi, Klimatologi, dan Geofisika, abbreviated BMKG) is an Indonesian non-departmental government agency for meteorology, climatology, and geophysics.
History
Its history began ...
(BMKG/TCWC Jakarta) and the Papua New Guinea National Weather Service (TCWC Port Moresby) are responsible for the naming and tracking of tropical cyclones within the Australian region.
* Within the Southern Pacific the
Fiji Meteorological Service
The Fiji Meteorological Service (FMS) is a Department of the government of Fiji responsible for providing weather forecasts and is based on the grounds of Nadi Airport in Nadi. The current director of Fiji Meteorological Service is Misaeli Funaki. ...
(FMS, RSMC Nadi) is responsible for the naming of tropical cyclones for the whole basin, however, the
Meteorological Service of New Zealand
Meteorological Service of New Zealand Limited (MetService - Te Ratonga Tirorangi) is the national meteorological service of New Zealand. MetService was established as a state-owned enterprise in 1992. It employs about 300 staff, and its headqua ...
(MetService, TCWC Wellington) issues forecasts for the area below 25°S.
See also
*
Tropical cyclone
A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...
*
Tropical cyclone naming
Tropical cyclones and subtropical cyclones are named by various warning centers to simplify communication between forecasters and the general public regarding forecasts, watches and warnings. The names are intended to reduce confusion in the ...
*
World Meteorological Organization
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for promoting international cooperation on atmospheric science, climatology, hydrology and geophysics.
The WMO originated from the Internati ...
References
External links
US National Hurricane Center- North Atlantic, Eastern Pacific
Central Pacific Hurricane Center{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110923144245/http://www.prh.noaa.gov/hnl/cphc/ , date=2011-09-23 - Central Pacific
Japan Meteorological Agency- NW Pacific
India Meteorological Department-
Bay of Bengal
The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line between ...
and the
Arabian Sea
The Arabian Sea ( ar, اَلْبَحرْ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Bahr al-ˁArabī) is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel ...
Météo-France - La Reunion- South Indian Ocean from Africa to
90°E
The meridian 90° east of Prime Meridian, Greenwich is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Asia, the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole.
It is the border between two trop ...
Fiji Meteorological Service- South Pacific east of
160°E, north of
25°S
Regional Specialized Meteorological Centres
World Meteorological Organization