The status and Plan in 2019 for the WIGOS centers in RA II CHEN Yongqing Coordinator, EG-WIGOS

status RA II-16 Decision (4.3(1)/1 establish Regional WIGOS Centres (RWCs) in RA II in pilot phase. authorize the president of RA II to approve the pilot RWC(s) with applications from RA II Members on behalf of the Association, in consultation with the RA II Management Group request the RA II Management Group to support the establishment of RWC(s) in the Region and to consider establishing RWCs with optional functions, such as weather radar data and AMDAR data coordination in one or more subregions of RA II endorse the guidance on establishing a WMO Regional WIGOS Centre in RA II in pilot phase as technical guidance to RA II, which described every aspects of Regional WIGOS Centres (RWCs) in RA II in pilot phase includes objectives, terms of Reference, infrastructure, resourcing, implementation stages, risk assessment/management, governance/management and execution, monitoring and evaluation

status The Guidance the RWC candidate would contact the president of the respective WMO Regional Association (P/RA) in writing through, and with the endorsement of, the Permanent Representative(s) of the Member(s) with WMO in which the RWC candidate is situated, expressing its intent to be designated as a WMO RWC in Pilot Mode. The Application template for a RWC candidate is also provided

Status By now, China meteorological Administration and Japan Meteorological Agency have sent official letters to the president of RA II to apply for Regional WIGOS Centres (RWCs) in RA II in pilot mode. Two RA II members (Saudi Arabia and India) have expressed their willingness to host a Regional WIGOS Center. Possibility of Russian language RA-II/RA-VI RWC located in Belarus and/or in Russia discussed at consecutive RA-II/VI Workshops.

Status A WMO RA-II WIGOS Workshop was held in Beijing, China from 6 to 8 November 2018 hosted by China Meteorological Administration. The workshop agreed that coordination between various RA-II RWC efforts needed and the decision on how to share work load should be made after pilot phase. The workshop recommended establishing the RA-II coordination body with representation from each of the Members listed above and WMO Secretariat, aiming for short informal face to face meeting during RA-II WIGOS Workshop in Tokyo in March 2019. The workshop also recommended including regional coordination of the protection of Radiofrequencies as optional function of RWCs.

Future consideration In first half of 2019, the president of RA II, in close collaboration with the management group and the Expert Group on WIGOS in RA II, ICG-WIGOS, and the WIGOS Project Office in the WMO Secretariat, will consider the applications from China, Japan, and possible Saudi Arabia and India, and approve the Regional WIGOS Centres (RWCs) in RA II in pilot phase. In first half of 2019, A RA II RWCs coordinating Group will be established to coordinate the arrangement and activities of RA II RWCs.

In March 2019, an informal face to face meeting for RA II RWCs candidates will be held during RA-II WIGOS Workshop in Tokyo to discuss the arrangement and future activities. In2019, Responsibility area of each RWC will be decided based on the interests of the RWCs and the comments of members, so that every RA II member should be covered by at least one RA II RWC. In2020, the Guidance or best practise for the operation of RA II RWCs should be developed based on the experience of operation of RA II RWCs in pilot phase, to ensure all the RA II RWCs will apply the similar operation procedure and the same quality standard.

Proposal for RWCs’ function and responsibilities The RA II RWCs must include the following mandatory functions as specified in the RWC Concept, Regional WIGOS metadata management (work with data providers to facilitate collecting, updating and providing quality control of WIGOS metadata in OSCAR/Surface); Regional WIGOS performance monitoring and incident management (WIGOS Data Quality Monitoring System) and follow-up with data providers in case of data availability or data quality issues.

Proposal for RWCs’ function and responsibilities Depending on available resources and RA II needs, one or more following optional functions may be adopted, Play a Coordinating role between Members and WMO bodies; Hold training courses or workshops concerning WIGOS implementation and network management; Design and update RA II RBON, and provide support to concerned members concerning network design / management Provide Technical support to concerned members concerning operation and maintenance of the WIGOS network. Provide assistance with the coordination of regional/sub-regional and national WIGOS projects; Provide support for regional capacity development activities.

Barriers encountered and assistance needed Since the implementing of RAII RWCs is just in start-up phase, problems may appear with the beginning of operation of RWCs in future. Currently, lack of mechanism to coordinate and promote the establishment of RWCs is the main problem. Thus, the coordinating mechanism for implementation of RWCs should be established. some meetings and workshops should be held so as to educate the concept and discuss the procedure of operation of RWC for the concerned candidates. Therefore, help, guidance and financial support from WMO WIGOS project office is necessary.

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