World Meteorological Organization GUIDELINES ON WEATHER BROADCASTING AND THE USE OF RADIO FOR THE DELIVERY OF WEATHER INFORMATION PWS-12 WMO/TD No. 1278 Lead author and coordinator of text: Gerald Fleming (Contributions by: Jon Gill, Samuel Muchemi,Ahmed H.M.Al-Harthy, Elena Cordoneanu,Aboul Aziz Diop, Claire Martin, Edwin Lai, Johan Groth, Stephen Palmer and Tanja Cegnar) Edited by: Haleh Kootval Cover design by: F.Decollogny © 2005, World Meteorological Organization WMO/TD No. 1278 NOTE The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the World Meteorological Organization concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or bound- aries. It should be noted that this Report is not an official WMO Publication and has not been subjected to the Organization’s standard editorial procedures. The views expressed by individuals or group of experts and published in a WMO Technical Document, do not neces- sarily have the endorsement of the Organization. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page PART I: GUIDELINES ON WEATHER BROADCASTING . 1 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION . 3 CHAPTER 2. BROADCAST METEOROLOGISTS . 4 CHAPTER 3. STRUCTURAL, CONTRACTUAL AND EDITORIAL CONSIDERATIONS . 5 3.1 NMHS ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS: . 5 3.2 UNDERSTANDING MEDIA EXPECTATIONS: . 6 3.3 TAILORING: . 6 3.4 EDITORIAL CONTROL OF THE FINAL DELIVERED PRODUCT: . 6 3.5 FRONTING THE BROADCAST: . 6 3.6 OVERALL AND FINAL APPEARANCE OF FORECAST PRODUCTS: . 6 3.7 TIMING AND LENGTH OF FORECAST PRODUCT: . 7 3.8 SPONSORSHIP: . 7 3.9 NEGOTIABLE CHANGES: . 7 CHAPTER 4. PRESENTING THE WEATHER – THE CHALLENGE . 8 CHAPTER 5. VISUALISING THE WEATHER STORY . .9 CHAPTER 6. EFFECTIVE USE OF LANGUAGE IN WEATHER BROADCASTING . 11 CHAPTER 7. DEVELOPING PERSONAL SKILLS IN TELEVISION WEATHER PRESENTING . 13 CHAPTER 8. ANATOMY OF A WEATHER BROADCAST . 16 8.1 THE INTRODUCTION . 16 8.2 THE PRESENT WEATHER . 16 8.3 THE FORECAST WEATHER . 16 8.3.1 SIGNIFICANT WEATHER: . 16 8.3.2 TEMPERATURES: . 17 8.3.3 WINDS: . 17 8.3.4 MARINE WEATHER: . 17 8.3.5 WEATHER AROUND THE WORLD: . 17 8.4 POSSIBLE ADDITIONAL ELEMENTS IN THE FORECAST PRESENTATION . 18 8.4.1 BIOMETEOROLOGY: . 18 8.4.2 ASTRONOMICAL INFORMATION: . 18 8.4.3 COMMUNICATION PLUS – EXTRA ELEMENTS TO BE CONSIDERED: . 18 8.4.4 DURATION OF WEATHER BULLETINS: . 19 8.4.5 SOME CONCLUDING POINTS: . 19 CHAPTER 9. COMMUNICATING UNCERTAINTY IN THE PRESENTATION OF WEATHER INFORMATION . 20 9.1 USER UNDERSTANDING . 20 9.2 DIFFERENT TYPES OF UNCERTAINTY INFORMATION: . 21 9.3 CONCLUDING POINTS: . 21 iv Contents Page CHAPTER 10. GUIDELINES ON DISSEMINATION TECHNOLOGY . 24 10.1 WEATHER GRAPHICS TECHNOLOGY AND INTERFACE . 24 10.1.1 TECHNOLOGY AS A TOOL – A BALANCE BETWEEN THE MESSAGE AND VISUALS:: . 24 10.1.2 USE OF GENERAL PURPOSE SOFTWARE PACKAGES AND THE RANGE OF CAPABILITY: . 24 10.1.3 A SIMPLE READY-TO-BROADCAST/PRINT PACKAGE FOR DEVELOPING NMHSS . 25 10.1.4 MORE SOPHISTICATED WEATHER GRAPHICS PACKAGES FOR MEDIA USE . 26 10.1.5 INTERNET RESOURCES WHICH MAY BE VALUABLE IN THE PREPARATION AND ENHANCEMENT OF WEATHER BROADCASTS. 26 10.1.6 INTERFACING WITH TELEVISION NETWORKS UNDER DIFFERENT WORKING ARRANGEMENTS . .27 10.2 EVOLVING AND EMERGING COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES . 27 10.2.1 MORE MOBILE / TIME-SPECIFIC / LOCATION-SPECIFIC PRODUCTS . 27 10.2.2 MORE MULTI-MEDIA / MULTI-LANGUAGE CHANNELS AND PERSONALISED / TAILOR-MADE DELIVERY . 27 10.2.3 IMPLICATIONS FOR THE DESIGN, PACKAGING AND DELIVERY OF WEATHER INFORMATION . .28 10.3 POOLING AND MOBILIZATION OF RESOURCES . 28 10.3.1 THE INGREDIENTS OF A GOOD WEATHER PROGRAMME . 28 10.3.2 CHALLENGES FOR NMHSs . 28 10.3.3 CHALLENGES FACING THE WMO COMMUNITY . 29 10.3.4 ALTERNATIVE RESOURCES . 30 PART II: GUIDELINES ON THE USE OF RADIO FOR THE DELIVERY OF WEATHER INFORMATION . 31 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION . 33 CHAPTER 2. STATUS OF RADIO WEATHER REPORTING . 34 2.1 RADIO BROADCASTING . 34 2.2 WORKING RELATIONSHIP . 34 2.3 TRAINING CONSIDERATIONS . ..