Publication of a progress report of the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme on the future regional node SDS WAS in West Asia
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has released the full version of the report entitled: “Establishing a WMO Sand and Dust Storm Warning Advisory and Assessment System Regional Node for West Asia: Current Capabilities and Needs“, by Dr. Emilio Cuevas (AEMET).
The report has been elaborated under the overall supervision of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Atmospheric Research and Environment Branch, with the support of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Regional Office for West Asia. Its aim is to assess the observation and prediction capabilities of sand and dust storms in West Asia and provide guidance in establishing a WMO Sand and Dust Storm (SDS) Warning Advisory and Assessment System (WAS) Regional Node for West Asia, by presenting the essential actions and activities to be implemented.
The report is basically structured in four sections:
- A summary review of the published literature concerning dust sources, geographical distribution and frequency/intensity of dust storms in West Asia (Gulf countries, Iraq, Syria, the Islamic Republic of Iran and Turkey);
- A summary of existing information on socioeconomic and environmental impacts of dust;
- Assessment of the present capabilities for observing and modelling dust in the West Asia region, identifying a regional and national institutional mapping;
- A set of recommendations for future plans to establish a SDS WAS Regional node in West Asia: types and density of measurements in the region, based on existing observation capacity; multiscale/downscaling dust-forecasting strategy for the region, based on identified existingnumerical modelling facilities; strategy for dust-model validation; regional data-exchange policy; institutional collaboration mechanisms for the monitoring; prediction and delivery of dust-related products and services; and advise on regional training and capacity-building programmes.
The WMO SDS-WAS mission is to enhance the ability of countries to deliver timely and high-quality SDS forecasts, observations, information and knowledge to users through an international partnership of the research and operational communities. It is proposed that the future WMO SDS-WAS Regional Node for West Asia be established in collaboration with the UNEP Regional Programme to Combat Sand and Dust Storms. Through collaborative partnership with UNEP, the WMO SDS-WAS Regional Node for West Asia will provide SDS phenomena assessment and secure an SDS monitoring and early warning system for the region.
The report is available at the SDS WAS Regional centre NAMMEE site:
Or at the WMO webpage:
http://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/arep/wwrp/new/documents/1121_SDS_Technical_Report_en.pdf
