1. Secretariat 12 to 16 February 2017 Abu Dhabi, UAE
RA II-16
Agenda item 4.3 (1) –
WIGOS
Secretariat
12 to 16 February 2017
Abu Dhabi, UAE

2. Agenda Item 4.3(1) WIGOS
Draft Decision 4.3(1)/1 - Establishing Regional WIGOS Centres (RWCs) in RA II in pilot phase
Draft Decision 4.3(1)/2 – Pilot Regional Basic Observing Network (RBON) in Region II
Draft Decision 4.3(1)/3 - Radio Frequency Matters
Draft Resolution 4.3(1)/1 - Regional WIGOS Implementation Plan
Draft Resolution 4.3(1)/2 - Regional Basic Synoptic Network (RBSN) and Regional Basic Climatological Network (RBCN) in Region II

3. Draft Decision 4.3(1)/1 — Establishing Regional WIGOS Centres (RWCs) in RA II in pilot phase
Decides to endorse the Guidance on establishing a WMO Regional WIGOS Centre in RA II in pilot phase (thereafter referred to as “RWC guidance”) as provided in the Annex to this decision as technical guidance to RA II; Requests the Management Group to support the establishment of RWC(s) in the Region and to consider establishing RWCs related to weather radar data and AMDAR data processing, respectively, in one or more subregions of RA II; Urges Members to actively participate in the implementation of RWCs in RA II; Requests the Secretary-General to provide the necessary assistance and Secretariat support for the establishment of RWCs in RA II; Authorizes 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; Invites the partners to participate in establishing RWCs in the Region.
According to the decision of the seventeenth World Meteorological Congress (Cg-17, 2015), the concept development and initial establishment of Regional WIGOS Centres (RWCs) is one of five priority areas for the WIGOS pre-operational phase EC-68 recognized the critical role that Regional WIGOS Centres (RWCs) will play in advancing the implementation of WIGOS at the regional level
The RWCs will play a critical role in advancing the implementation of WIGOS within their region (or sub-region) and will be providing regional coordination and technical support to Members.
RWCs will be working closely with data providers to facilitate primarily: (i) regional WIGOS metadata management (OSCAR/Surface); (ii) regional WIGOS performance monitoring and incident management (WIGOS Data Quality Monitoring System).
This document provides (i) the justification of the Project; (ii) its alignment with WMO strategic priorities and Member’s priorities; (iii) compliance with WMO regulations and rules; (iv) description of the Project; and (v) its implementation arrangements.

4. Draft Decision 4.3(1)/2 – Regional Basic Observing Network (RBON) Pilot in Region II
Recognizing:
The need to integrate the RBSN and the RBCN into the future RBON and include additional observing stations into the RBON in order to reflect its multi-disciplinary nature in support of all WMO application areas;
That RBON will lead to improve services by delivering more and improved observations to stakeholders, and enable the full benefit of regional observing capabilities to be realized;
Decides to establish a pilot RBON for RA-II, comprised initially of the merging of all RBSN and RBCN stations of RA-II;
Invites Members of RA-II to consider proposing inclusion of additional surface-based observing stations in the pilot RBON for RA-II, such as weather radars, wind profiler systems, lightning detection systems, data buoys, voluntary observing ships and aircraft;
The Association is invited to note that CBS-16 adopted decision 5.4.1(4)/1 endorsing the development of the RBON Concept:
RBON will lead to improved services by delivering more and improved observations to stakeholders, and enable the full benefit of regional observing capabilities to be realized. The Association is invited to adopt Decision 4.3(1)/2/1 and thereby (i) establish an RBON Pilot for RA-II to initially include the merging of all the Association’s RBSN and RBCN stations.
Pilot RBON will be comprised of RBSN/RBCN initially.
Members are invited to propose additional stations: e.g. Weather radars, wind profilers, lightning detection systems, data buoys, VOS, AMDAR …
RA-II Working Group on WIS & WIGOS will then review the candidate RBON stations and make recommendation to the President of RA-II for inclusion in RBON Pilot.
RA-II President, in consultation with the Secretary General will approve amendments to the list of Pilot RBON, monitor implementation of RBON in compliance with the RBON concept.

5. Draft Decision 4.3(1)/2 – Radio Frequency Matters
As demand on spectrum grows by systems that bring in a lot of money to governments, unless we fight to maintain our needs, they will be lost or made unusable.
No frequency means no observations.

6. ITU Regions ITU Regions WMO RA II include 1 and 3
As noted earlier, ITU manages frequencies by its three regions. These are basically
Region 1 is Africa, Europe, much of the Middle East and Russia
Region 2 is the Americas
Region 3 is the Asia Pacific
Thus, it can be seen that WMO RA II includes ITU Regions 1 and 3.

7. Draft Decision 4.3(1)/3 – Radio Frequency Matters
Decides to support the work of CBS SG-RFC in order to ensure all RA II spectrum issues related to observation and communication systems are addressed by SG-RFC; Invites Members of RA II to consider proposing experts to represent WMO as a part of the SG-RFC in ITU regional groups APT, ASMG and RCC; Requests the RA II Working Group on WIS and WIGOS to monitor radio frequency matters, in particular those relating to the upcoming World Radiocommunications Conference 2019 (WRC‑19)
So in conclusion we note that Res 29 (Cg-17) highlighted the importance of frequency coordination and urged Members to support WMO matters in national and regional ITU-R activities.
Frequencies are allocated by ITU by ITU region
We see that WMO RA II includes two out of three ITU regions and 5 out of the 6 regional working groups (RCC, ASMG, ATU, CEPT or APT)
We see that despite having four RA II countries represented in SG-RFC, there is no RA II NMHS representation in ASMG, ATU, CEPT or APT
Noting that WMO participation in ITU regional groups would be most effective if coming from an expert from the regional group (i.e. language, culture, etc ), we would like to improve this and that a priority for SG-RFC is getting suitable representation in the Arab Spectrum Management Group.
Note that WRC-19 has at least 12 agenda items of interest to WMO and that
work is underway on WRC-19 items as well as addressing Space Wx studies for consideration of WRC-23

8. Draft Resolution 4.3(1)/1 — Regional WIGOS Implementation Plan 2017-2020
Adopts the updated Regional WIGOS Implementation Plan , as contained in the Annex to the present resolution;
Requests the Management Group:
To oversee, guide and prioritize the activities listed in the Plan; to monitor the implementation progress and to submit updates to the Plan to the president of the Association for approval;
To facilitate and coordinate regional WIGOS projects;
To coordinate with RA II Members the implementation of the Plan and consult with the appropriate technical commissions on technical aspects of the implementation;
To provide regional support to Members in accordance with the Plan and in a response to their requests (subject to availability of resources/funds).
To oversee the establishment of the Regional Basic Observing Network (RBON) in RA II;
To oversee the work of Regional WIGOS Centre(s) when established in the respective Region;
Based on the progress achieved in the regional WIGOS implementation activities and Projects, RA II Expert Group on WIGOS developed the draft update of the Regional WIGOS Implementation Plan, the first version of which was adopted through Resolution 3 (RA II-15).
The draft is submitted in track changes for your better understanding of the scope of changes proposed.
Note: a special attention should be paid to the draft Projects inside the Plan; all have been significantly updated

9. Draft Resolution 4.3(1)/1 — Regional WIGOS Implementation Plan 2017-2020 – cont.
Requests Members:
To organize their activities so as to realize WIGOS goals and associated outcomes as described in the Plan;
To continue to provide resources, including through the WIGOS Trust Fund and/or seconded experts, to help support the regional implementation of WIGOS;
To support the establishment of Regional WIGOS Centres;
To share experiences and lessons learned from the implementation of WIGOS, and WIGOS related documentation with other Members in the Region;
To nominate their national WIGOS and OSCAR/Surface focal points if not done yet;
Requests the Secretary-General to provide the necessary assistance and Secretariat support for the WIGOS implementation by Regional Association II;
Invites the partners to participate in relevant implementation activities as specified in the Plan.
Please, pay your attention also to:
INF document RA-II-16-inf04-3(1) on GUIDANCE ON THE NATIONAL WIGOS IMPLEMENTATION
that will assist Members in developing their National Observation Strategy and National WIGOS Implementation Plan to design, plan and evolve their national observing system (NOS) as a national WIGOS observing component.

10. Draft Resolution 4.3(1)/2 - Regional Basic Synoptic Network (RBSN) and Regional Basic Climatological Network (RBCN) in Region II
Decides: 1) That the stations and the observational programmes listed in Annex I to this resolution constitute an update of the RBSN in Region II; 2) That the stations listed in Annex II to this resolution constitute an update of the RBCN in Region II; Urges Members to secure, at the earliest date possible, full implementation of the network of RBSN and RBCN stations and observational programmes set forth in Annexes I and II to this resolution; Authorizes the president of the Association to approve, at the request of the Members concerned and in consultation with the Secretary-General, amendments to the list of RBSN and RBCN stations in accordance with the procedures laid down in the Manual on the Global Observing System (WMO‑No. 544), Volume II – Regional Aspects, Region II (Asia).
Regional associations are responsible for the determination and coordination of the composition of the RBSN and RBCN networks within the general framework established by the CBS
The current list of stations in RBSN/RBCN was approved by RA-II-16
Circular letter OBS/OSD/RBSN-RBCN/RA II dated 2 Jan requested Members of RA-II to submit changes to RBSN and RBCN
Received changes have been included in Annexes 1 (RBSN) and Annex 2 (RBCN) of the draft Resolution in Draft2 of the document
By adopting this Resolution, the Association is invited to approve the update of the RBSN and RBCN stations as given in Annexes I and II to the resolution.
Fro the floor, Members of RA-II may wish to propose additional changes to the list of RBSN and RBCN in Annexes 1 and 2 of draft Resolution

11. Thank you
Merci