World Meteorological Organization Working together in weather, climate and water

1. World Meteorological OrganizationWorking together in weather, climate and water WMO OMM BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO WMO TROPICAL CYCLONE PROGRAMME (TCP) TLFDP_Shanghai_June2012

2. Outline of the Presentation 1. Statutory Status and Coordinating Structure of TCP 2. Challenging Issues for TCP 3. Capacity Development by Training and Technology Transfer 4. Support to Operational Forecasting

3. Statutory Status and Coordinating Structure of TCP

4. Outcomes of Cg-16 (guidance for TCP) • To assist Members in their efforts to implement Tropical Cyclone Programme activities for the safeguard of life and property from tropical cyclones and related hazards to the maximum extent possible within the available budgetary resources; • To continue to support the capacity building programmes for developing countries, especially for Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States; • To maintain and further enhance the collaboration between the Tropical Cyclone Programme and relevant WMO Programmes and Technical Commissions, particularly in relation to the development of tropical cyclone forecasting competencies; • To continue close cooperation with other international as well as relevant national organizations at the global and regional levels to promote a multidisciplinary and multi-hazard approach towards the attainment of the humanitarian goals of the Programme.

5. TCP Mission, Objectives and Scope • Tropical Cyclone Programme (TCP) is a scientific programme of WMO coordinating regional TC Early Warning Systems and TC Regional Committees. Its origin dates back to 1972. • Primary objective is to help establish national and regionally coordinated systems to minimize the loss of life and property caused by tropical cyclones. • Scope of activity embraces; - Meteorology - Hydrology - Disaster Risk Reduction

6. TC Regional Warning Centres andTC Regional Committees Regional Specialized Meteorological Centres (RSMCs; red), Tropical Cyclone Warning Centres (TCWCs; blue) and TC Regional Committees (No. of members in bracket)

7. Tropical Cyclone Warning Service Cascading Warning Process - Data from Global Observation System to TC Regional Centres and to Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) Centres; - NWP Centres to provide NWP products of TC track and intensity forecasts; - Regional Centres to make analyses & forecast and prepare regional advisories for NMCs; - NMCs to issue alerts, advisories and warnings and to liaise with Disaster Management Offices.

8. Regular Session of TC Regional Bodies(Operational Plan) • ESCAP/WMO Typhoon Committee (annual) (44th Session, 6 - 10February 2012, Hangzhou, China) • WMO/ESCAP Panel on Tropical Cyclones (annual) (39th Session, 5 - 9March 2012, Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar) • RA V Tropical Cyclone Committee (biennial) (14th Session, 16 - 20 July 2012, Samoa) • RA I Tropical Cyclone Committee (biennial) (20th Session, 3 - 7 Sep. 2012, Maputo, Mozambique) • RA IV Hurricane Committee Session (annual) (34th Session, 11 - 15 April 2012, Jacksonville, Florida, USA)

9. Storm Surge Watch Scheme • RSMC Tokyo started SS Forecast Chart in June 2011 and will also start SS Time-series Chart in June 2012. • RSMC New Delhi decided at 39th session of the Panel to produce SS graphical advisories similar to RSMC Tokyo in 2013. • RA I and RA V TCCs will formulate concrete SSWS regional projects in their sessions in 2012.

10. Storm Surge Watch Scheme • Actions were taken in all the basins on the initiative of RSMCs.

11. 2. Challenging Issues for TCP

12. Challenges • Most of the members of TC Regional Committees are developing countries and LDCs/SIDSs. • Gap is widening between developing and developed countries. Needs to develop human resources and communication capacity → Enhancement of capacity building activities →From GTS to WIS (WMO’s new communication infrastructure)

13. Challenges (cont.) • Track forecast has been improved, while intensity forecast still is a serious challenge. Track ForecastErrors(RSMC Miami)Intensity ForecastErrors

14. Challenges (cont.) • Rapid changes of TC movement (speed and direction), particularly during landfall • Forecast of rainfall/flooding (remotely) associated with TCs (e.g. QPE/QPF)

15. Challenges (cont.) Storm Surge Watch Scheme • Marine forecasting capabilities are very limited in almost all countries. • Local / regional storms surge, wave and tsunami models and modeling capabilities are in general non-existent.

16. Capacity Development by Training and Technology Transfer

17. Regular Training Course/Workshop • RA I Training Course on Tropical Cyclones - La Reunion, France (biennial) • Southern Hemisphere Training Course on Tropical Cyclones and Workshop on PWS - Melbourne, Australia (biennial ) • RA IV Workshop on Hurricane Forecasting and Warning - Miami, Florida, (annual) • Training Workshop on Wave and Storm Surge Forecasting - annual, but in rotation by TC basins

18. Regular Attachment Training • RSMC Tokyo - for Typhoon Committee (20 - 29 Jul. 2011) • IIT Delhi (storm surge) - for Panel on Tropical Cyclones (12 - 23 Dec. 2011) • RSMC New Delhi - for Panel on Tropical Cyclones (20 February – 2 March 2012) • RSMC Honolulu (Pacific Int’l Desk Training Program) - for RA V (S. Pacific) • NOAA/NCEP (Tropical Training Desk Program) - for RA IV (Cental-America and Caribbean)

19. Application of Research and Development TCP/WWRP joint action • Implementation of the Typhoon Landfall FDP & the NW Pacific Ensemble Forecast Project • - on going in the Typhoon Committee region • International Workshop on Satellite Analysis of Tropical Cyclones (IWSATC) - Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, 13 to 16 April 2011 • International Workshop on Tropical Cyclone Unusual Behavior - Xiamen, China, 18 – 20 October 2011

20. Application of R&D (cont’d) International Workshop on Satellite Analysis of Tropical Cyclones(IWSATC) General Outcomes • Much greater interagency understanding. This workshop was an “eye opener” to many of the attendees. • Significant documentation of some of the causes of interagency differences in intensity estimates. • Important feedback from forecasters to developers of the emerging objective techniques. • Dialogue started between researchers and operational centres regarding the sharing of observational datasets.

21. Application of R&D (cont’d) IWSATC - cont’d Major Recommendations • Based on findings from the IWSATC, develop guidelines for the improvement of satellite analysis globally • Strongly encourage the sharing of national TC datasets to allow improved validation of existing satellite intensity estimation methods • Create and maintain a centralized web site hosted by WMO/TCP, with documentation summarizing regional TC satellite analyses and availability/upgrades to advancing objective methods. • Expand training material focused on helping forecasters make optimal use of the available satellite-based intensity estimates. • Hold another WMO-sponsored IWSATC in two or three years, synchronized with the next IBTrACS meeting if possible

22. Transfer of R&D into Operation (cont’d) • Landfall Typhoon Forecast Demonstration Project - Objective ・　To demonstrate the performance of the most advanced forecasting techniques for landfalling typhoons. • NW-Pacific TC Ensemble Forecast Project* - Objective ・　To examine the utility of ensemble forecasts to the operational typhoon forecasting.

23. Transfer of R&D into Operation (cont’d)

24. Transfer of R&D into Operation (cont’d)

25. Support to Operational Forecasting

26. Support to Operational Forecasting • TC Forecaster Website • Hong Kong, China agreed to host the TC Forecaster Website • Management of the website is being transferred from WMO/TCP to Hong Kong Observatory. • The new website will be established before the 2012 TC season in the S- Hemisphere.

27. Support to Operational Forecasting Schematic representation of Tropical Cyclone Forecasters’ Website Global Guide to TC Forecasting Workshop Docs Final Reps of TC Regional Bodies TCF Webpage Operational Plans TC Website (Research) Training Material As designated

28. Support to Operational Forecasting • Global Guide to TC Forecasting • Upgrade of Global Guide to TC Forecasting has been carried out under the initiative of Chip Guard toward its publication by the end of 2012. • Tailored for developing countries and “smaller” RSMCs/TCWCs • It will be web-based and closely linked with TCP website and TCF website.

29. Guidelines for Converting between Various Wind Averaging Periods (cont’d) Defined averaging periods in the regions

30. Guidelines for Converting between Various Wind Averaging Periods(cont’d) Recommended Conversion Factors *Bureau of Meteorology (1978)

31. World Meteorological OrganizationWorking together in weather, climate and water WMO OMM Thank you for your attention TLFDP_Shanghai_June2012