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WMO Bulletin, Volume XXVIII, No. 1

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WMO Bulletin, Volume XXVIII, No. 1 WORLD METEOROLOGICAL ORGANIZATION JANUARY 1979 VOL. XXVIII No. I THE WORLD METEOROLOGICAL ORGANIZATION (WMO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations WMO was created: to facilitate international co-operation in the establishment of networks of stations and centres to provide meteorological and hydrological services and observations, to promote the establishment and maintenance of systems for the rapid exchange of meteorological and related information, to promote standardization of meteorological and related observations and ensure the uniform publication of observations and statistics, to further the application of meteorology to aviation, shipping, water problems, agri­ culture and other human activities, to promote activities in operational hydrology and to further close co-operation between Meteorological and Hydrological Services, to encourage research and training in meteorology and, as appropriate, in related fields. The World M eteorological Congress is the supreme body of the Organization. it brings together the delegates of all Members once every four years to determine general policies for the fulfilment of the purposes of the Organiza­ tion. The Executive Committee is composed of 24 directors of national Meteorological or Hydro meteorological Services serving in an individual capacity; it meets at least once a year to supervise the programmes approved by Congress. Six Regional Associations are each composed of Members whose task is to co-ordinate meteorological and related activities within their respective regions. Eight Technical Commissions composed of experts designated by Members, are responsible for studying meteorological and hydrological operational systems, applications and research. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE President: M. F. TAHA (Egypt) First Vice-President: Ju. A. ]ZRAEL (U .S.S.R.) (acting) Second Vice-President: J. E. EcHEVESTE (Argentina) (acting) Third Vice-President: (vacant) Regional Association presidents Africa([): C. A. ABAYOMI (Nigeria) North and Central America (IV): Asia (I!): A. G. J. AL-SULTAN (Iraq) S. AGUILAR ANGUIANO (Mexico) (acting) (acting) South-West Pacific (V): South America (Ill): Ho TONG YuEN (Malaysia) R. VENERANDO PEREIRA (Brazil) Europe (VI): R. CZELNAI (Hungary) Elected members N. ARIZUMI (Japan) (acting) B. J. MASON (United Kingdom) (acting) G. S. BENTON (U.S.A.) (acting) S. MBELE-MBONG (United Rep. of CHANG NAI-CHAO (China) Cameroun) (acting) A. E. CoLLIN (Canada) (acting) R. MITTNER (France) (acting) E . LINGELBACH (Fed. Rep. of Germany) J. K. MuRITHI (Kenya) (acting) (acting) M. SAMIULLAH (Pakistan) M. SECK (Senegal) TECHNICAL COMMISSION PRESIDENTS Aeronautical Meteorology: Instruments and Methods of Observation: R. R . Dooos H . TREUSSART Agricultural Meteorology: W. BAlER Marine Meteorology: K. P. VASIL' EV Atmospheric Sciences: A. VtLLEVIEILLE Special Applications of Meteorology and Basic Systems: J. R. NE IL ON Climatology: M. K. THOMAS Hydrology: R. H. CLARK The Secretariat of the Organization is located at 41 Avenue Giuseppe-Motta, Geneva, Switzerland W 0 R LD METEOROLOGICAL ORGANIZATION SECRETARY-GENERAL: D. A. DAVIES DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL: R. SCHNEIDER WMO BULLETIN The official journal JANUARY 1979 VOL. XXVIII No. of the World Meteorological In this issue ... 2 Organization Message from the Presid ent of WMO . 3 Published quarterly (January, April, July, First Garp Global Experim ent . 5 October) in English , French, Russian, and Project STORMFURY : Present status- future plans. 17 Spanish Amateur meteorologists in Belgium . 24 Subscriptions (1 year: Sw. fr. 24.-; Regional Association for· the South-West Pacific - 2 years: Sw. fr. 36.-; S eventh session, J akarta, July 1978 . 26 3 years: Sw. fr. 48 .-) and all other Geophysical aspects and consequences of changes in correspondence t he composition of the stratosphere -Symposium at about the WMO Bulletin Toronto (Canada), 26-30 June 1978 . 29 should be addressed to: The Secretary-General Organization and development of Meteorological and World Meteorological Hydrologi cal Services today and in the future- S cien­ Organization ti fic lectures at the thirti eth session of the Executi ve Case postale No. 5 Committee . 31 CH- 1211 Geneva 20 Switzerland World Weather Watch . 34 Contributions should Global Atmospheric Research Programme 35 reach the Editor at least twelve weeks before the Research and development . 36 month of publication Meteorological applications and the environment. 38 Permission to publish extracts from the World Climate Programme . 42 WMO Bulletin is granted provided the customary Meteorology and ocean affairs . 44 acknowledgment is made Technical co-operation 46 and that signed articles carry the author's name Education and training 54 Signed contributions Hyd rology a nd water resources development . 56 do not necessarily represent the views of News and notes . 62 the Organization News from the WMO S ecretariat. 68 Editor: H. Taba Cal endar of coming events 71 Assistant Editor: R. M. Perry Reviews . ...... 72 IN THIS ISSUE Presiding over the First World Meteorological Congress in 1951 , the late Sir Nelson Johnson drew attention to the fact that sister organizations were already looking to the newly-created World Meteorological Organization to provide advice on various problems connected with their respective fields of activity. Sir Nelson went on to observe that WMO would fail in its duty if it did not accept the responsibility for dealing with questions appertaining to the sphere of meteorology. The very substantial advances made since that time in the disciplines of meteorology and hydrology, stimulated by prodigious technological developments, have given a new dimension to the role of WMO in international action aimed at protecting the environment and giving advice and assistance to governments beset by social and economic problems, in the solution of which meteorology and hydrology have a role to play. As just one example, wi th the wo rld's population continuing to grow and our food-producing capacity still largely determined by weather and climate, there is now a much greater appreciation of what is at stake. Hence we find that the main theme of the message from the President of WMO on the eve of the E ighth World Meteorological Congress (page 3) is once again the need for WMO to be able to pl ay its full part in the common action by the United Nations and its specialized agencies for the economic and social progress of all peoples. A number of acti vities of WMO have been undertaken in response to requests made by the United Nations. One of these is the Global Atmospheric Research Programme (GARP). The application of the improved knowledge of weather and climate to be obtained from the implemen­ tation of this Programme is expected to lead to large economic and social benefi ts. The Global Weather Experiment, also known as the First GARP Global Experiment (FGGE), started on 1 December 1978 after several yea rs of intensive planning. Mr. B. Gosset, chairman of the Executive Committee Inter-gove rnmental Panel on the FGGE, contributes an article starting on page 5 which puts into perspective this unprecedented international scientific effort. As Mr. Gosset points out, meteorology needs to experiment in order to advance, and to gain a fundamental understanding of atmospheric processes it is not sufficient to study these pi ecemeal; they must also be treated as an integrated global sys tem. For a period of a year, the Global Weather Experiment will give us the means to do so . Each year tropical cyclones take their toll of human lives and property and bring added strains on some national economies. In response to a resolution of the UN General Assembly WMO has undertaken a Tropical Cyclone Project to mitigate the harmful effects of tropical cyclones or to minimize their destructive potential. Of great interest in this connexion are the studies and investigations which have been systematically pursued for a number of years by a group in the U .S.A. on the characteristics of tropical cyclones and on the possibility of reducing their destructive winds. In an article starting on page 17 Dr. R. C. Sheets brings us up to date with th e STORMFURY project (previously described in the WMO Bulletin for July 1969) being undertaken by the National Hurricane and Experimental Meteorology Laboratory. Even with the vast array of data which modern technology can provide for meteorologists , the collaboration of keen voluntary observers outside the national Meteorological Services will continue to be highly valued. On page 24 the president of the Belgian Astronomical, Meteoro­ logical and Geophysical Society suggests some ways of making the contributions of amateur meteorologists still more effective. Scientific discuss ions form an important feature of the annual session of the Executive Committee. The theme chosen for the thirtieth session (1978) was " Organization and develop­ ment of Meteorological and Hydrological Services today and in the future" . A summary of the lectures presented by Dr. R . L. Kintanar (Philippines), Mr. R. Yenerando Pereira (Brazil), and Mr. N. 0 . Popoola (Nigeria), describing their respective services will be found on page 31 . The sessions of the Regional Associations are important events in the activities of the Organiz­ ation. An account of the seventh session of Regional Association V (South-West Pacific) held at Jakarta in July 1978 appears on page 26. A WMO symposium on geophysical aspects and consequences of changes in the composition of the stratosphere, a subject
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