Background

The WMO Data Conference aims to develop a common understanding among entities from all sectors of society of the roles, requirements and arrangements for international exchange of observations and other data for monitoring and prediction of the Earth System environment, including weather, climate and water.

The World Meteorological Organization and its predecessor, the International Meteorological Organization, have coordinated and regulated the free and unrestricted international exchange of observations and other meteorological data for the last 150 years. Building on this exchange, dramatic progress has been made in weather forecast and climate analysis capabilities over the last few decades.

Since the establishment of WMO in 1950, the activities of the organization have expanded into areas such as atmospheric composition, hydrology and space weather, leading to a holistic approach to Earth system modelling and prediction being adopted as a strategic priority of the organization. In parallel, the explosive growth in demand for weather, climate and other environmental data from all sectors of society has led to a dramatic increase in the involvement of entities outside the traditional group of WMO National Hydrological and Meteorological Services in monitoring and prediction efforts.

In view of these developments, it is timely to review the WMO requirements and arrangements for data exchange, and the Data Conference is intended to provide a venue for involving a broad group of stakeholders in this review.

To register for the WMO Data Conference, 16-19 November 2020, please click here. Please note: If you have already completed the form or registered for the Data Conference by email, you do not need to register again. 

Please download information flyer here.

To find out more regarding the preparatory workshops, please click here.