PWS Guidelines
PWS Guidelines #message_lkang(Directrices SMP,es_ES);
See also: PWS Technical Documents or PWS Meeting Reports



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PWS, 27. Guidelines for Implementation of Common Alerting Protocol (CAP)-Enabled Emergency Alerting
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Public Weather Services (PWS) Programme has the primary role of assisting National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) to develop or enhance their capacity to deliver services to the public, media, disaster managers and responders and other users in socio-economic sectors. The PWS Programme therefore assists NMHSs in their responsibility of providing warning and alerting services for the safety of life and livelihood, and property when threatened by extreme weather events such as heavy rain, heavy snow, strong winds, heat waves and extre ...
Published by: WMO ; 2013
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Public Weather Services (PWS) Programme has the primary role of assisting National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) to develop or enhance their capacity to deliver services to the public, media, disaster managers and responders and other users in socio-economic sectors. The PWS Programme therefore assists NMHSs in their responsibility of providing warning and alerting services for the safety of life and livelihood, and property when threatened by extreme weather events such as heavy rain, heavy snow, strong winds, heat waves and extreme cold. In some countries, NMHSs are also responsible for issuing warnings for non-meteorological hazards such as tsunamis and volcanic ash. In order to disseminate the alerts to as many people as possible in a timely manner, NMHSs need to be able to send a consistent alert message through multiple communication channels such as radio, television (TV), land-line telephone connections, mobile phones, Internet, facsimile (fax) and sirens. The Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) standard is key to supporting such standards-based, all-hazards, all-media public alerting. The purpose of this publication is to provide step-by-step guidance for implementing the CAP standard in NMHSs.
Collection(s) and Series: WMO- No. 1109; PWS- No. 27
Language(s): English; Other Languages: Arabic, French, Russian, Spanish
Format: Digital (Free), Hard copyISBN (or other code): 978-92-63-11109-8
Tags: Service Delivery Division (SDD) ; Guidelines ; Natural hazards ; Disaster prevention and preparedness ; Weather service ; PWS - Advisors Supporting Disaster Prevention and Mitigation and other User Activities ; PWS - Personnel Engaged in Operational Forecasting
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PWS, 26. Guidelines for Creating a Memorandum of Understanding and a Standard Operating Procedure between a National Meteorological or Hydrometeorological Service and a Partner Agency
Considering the crucial role of media in the delivery of warning and other essential meteorological information, it is important that NMHSs and respective national media organizations put in place formal agreements that will guide their collaborative work in serving the public. The CBS/OPAG-PWS Expert Team on Communication, Outreach and Public Education Aspects of PWS (ET/COPE) therefore decided to collaborate with the ET/DPM to prepare a set of guidelines, for use by NMHSs, for the establishment of such formal agreements between a National Meteorological or Hydrometeorological Service (NMS) a ...
Guidelines for Creating a Memorandum of Understanding and a Standard Operating Procedure between a National Meteorological or Hydrometeorological Service and a Partner Agency
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Published by: WMO ; 2012
Considering the crucial role of media in the delivery of warning and other essential meteorological information, it is important that NMHSs and respective national media organizations put in place formal agreements that will guide their collaborative work in serving the public. The CBS/OPAG-PWS Expert Team on Communication, Outreach and Public Education Aspects of PWS (ET/COPE) therefore decided to collaborate with the ET/DPM to prepare a set of guidelines, for use by NMHSs, for the establishment of such formal agreements between a National Meteorological or Hydrometeorological Service (NMS) and a partner agency. The result of this collaboration is presented in this document, whose purpose is to provide guidance to NMHSs on how to establish a formal agreement, called a “Memorandum of Understanding” (MOU), with a partner agency such as a Disaster Management Agency or media organization.
Collection(s) and Series: WMO- No. 1099; PWS- No. 26
Language(s): English; Other Languages: French, Russian, Spanish
Format: Digital (Free), Hard copyISBN (or other code): 978-92-63-11099-2
Tags: Service Delivery Division (SDD) ; Guidelines ; Capacity development ; National Meteorological and Hydrological Service (NMHS) ; Weather service ; PWS - Advisors Supporting Disaster Prevention and Mitigation and other User Activities ; PWS - Competency Requirements for Persons Engaged in the Development and Delivery of Products and Services to Meet User Requirements
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PWS, 25. Guidelines on Participation of National Meteorological and Hydrological Services in the WMO World Weather Information Service
This guide is targeted at NMHSs and is intended to demonstrate the benefits that NMHSs gain by participating in WWIS, and to provide step-by-step guidance for a National Meteorological or Hydrometeorological Service (NMS) wishing to either join the WWIS initiative or to enhance its level of participation. Templates of the standard forms that NMHSs would need to complete to join or enhance participation in the WWIS are also provided.
Guidelines on Participation of National Meteorological and Hydrological Services in the WMO World Weather Information Service
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Published by: WMO ; 2012
This guide is targeted at NMHSs and is intended to demonstrate the benefits that NMHSs gain by participating in WWIS, and to provide step-by-step guidance for a National Meteorological or Hydrometeorological Service (NMS) wishing to either join the WWIS initiative or to enhance its level of participation. Templates of the standard forms that NMHSs would need to complete to join or enhance participation in the WWIS are also provided.
Notes: Available in e-book or doc format at: http://www.wmo.int/ebooks/pws/
Collection(s) and Series: WMO- No. 1096; PWS- No. 25
Language(s): English; Other Languages: Arabic, French, Russian, Spanish
Format: Digital (Free)ISBN (or other code): 978-92-63-11096-1
Tags: Capacity development ; Guidelines ; National Meteorological and Hydrological Service (NMHS) ; Weather service ; Service Delivery Division (SDD)
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PWS, 24. Guidelines on the strategies for use of social media by National Meteorological and Hydrological Services
Increasingly, Social Media meet the information needs of individuals and communities. Social Media provide enormous opportunities for National Meteorololgical and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) to enhance the delivery of information and services and to interact with users to better understand their needs and interests. The purpose of these Guidelines is to assist NMHSs who may be considering the use of Social Media. The Guidelines address the challenges and highlight the benefits of Social Media, suggest some principles for an effective strategy, and encourage NMHSs to consider Social Media as ...
Guidelines on the strategies for use of social media by National Meteorological and Hydrological Services
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Published by: WMO ; 2012
Increasingly, Social Media meet the information needs of individuals and communities. Social Media provide enormous opportunities for National Meteorololgical and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) to enhance the delivery of information and services and to interact with users to better understand their needs and interests. The purpose of these Guidelines is to assist NMHSs who may be considering the use of Social Media. The Guidelines address the challenges and highlight the benefits of Social Media, suggest some principles for an effective strategy, and encourage NMHSs to consider Social Media as an important element of a complete service delivery framework. Social Media are not a substitute for well-established and highly effective means for communicating information such as television (TV) or radio. What they do offer are new ways to interact more with the user community through on-line conversations and information sharing.
Collection(s) and Series: WMO- No. 1086; PWS- No. 24
Language(s): English
Format: Digital (Free), Hard copyISBN (or other code): 978-92-63-11086-2
Tags: Information management ; Guidelines ; Data dissemination ; Service Delivery Division (SDD)
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PWS, 23. Proceedings of the WMO Regional Association VI Conference on Social and Economic Benefits of Weather, Climate and Water Services
The Conference provided material, and, in particular, a number of studies which are contained in these proceedings and which will be used in the development of guidelines on undertaking the analysis, assessment and demonstration of socio-economic benefits of meteorological and hydrological services. These guidelines will complement the development of demonstration and pilot projects and capacity-building and training activities on this subject. These proceedings represent the collection of abstracts of papers delivered at the Conference.
Proceedings of the WMO Regional Association VI Conference on Social and Economic Benefits of Weather, Climate and Water Services
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Published by: WMO ; 2012
The Conference provided material, and, in particular, a number of studies which are contained in these proceedings and which will be used in the development of guidelines on undertaking the analysis, assessment and demonstration of socio-economic benefits of meteorological and hydrological services. These guidelines will complement the development of demonstration and pilot projects and capacity-building and training activities on this subject. These proceedings represent the collection of abstracts of papers delivered at the Conference.
Notes: Information related to the RA VI Regional Conference available here
Collection(s) and Series: PWS- No. 23
Language(s): English
Format: Digital (Free) (ill., charts, maps)Tags: Guidelines ; Capacity development ; Climate services ; Socio-economic benefits ; Weather service ; Water service ; Service Delivery Division (SDD) ; PWS 23 ; ROE-1
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PWS, 22. Guidelines on international and cross-border collaboration in the warning process
This document provides guidelines on international collaboration in the warning process for severe weather threats and extreme conditions (heat wave, cold wave, drought, storm surge, avalanches, flooding.) It discusses general principles regarding cross-border exchange of warnings, and includes the role of the media in raising the public’s expectations, focus on public safety, threshold criteria and the scope of cooperation. It also presents examples from different parts of the world to illustrate the factors to be considered in developing international or cross-border collaborations in the wa ...
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PWS, 21. Guidelines on early warning systems and application of nowcasting and warning operations
In 2010, a historic heat wave and numerous wildfires impacted Moscow and surrounding areas in the Russian Federation. At the same time, catastrophic flooding from unusually heavy monsoon rains was ongoing in Pakistan. Both events led to many fatalities and considerable human suffering. As climate change due to anthropogenic forcing continues, extreme weather events such as these are likely to become more common (IPCC 2007), further increasing the need for preparedness and early warning systems.
The need for robust early warning systems goes beyond purely natural disasters and extend ...
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PWS, 20. Administrative Procedure for Registering WMO Alerting Identifiers
In applications and services which support alerting, it is necessary to identify various information objects. This document enables the registration of Object IDentifiers (OIDs) for alerting information, i.e., content included in alert messages or otherwise associated with the activity of alerting. The Registration Authority, World Meteorological Organization (WMO), maintains these OIDs and accepts requests through WMO Members for the assignment of additional OIDs for information objects relevant to alerting. This document specifies rules for the registration of all such OIDs subordinate to th ...
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PWS, 19. National Meteorological and Hydrological Services, Their Partners and User Communities : (Follow-up to the Madrid Action Plan - for Improved Social and Economic Benefits of Weather, Climate and Water Services)
This report has been prepared to build upon the Madrid Action Plan (MAP) that resulted from the WMO International Conference on Secure and Sustainable Living: Social and Economic Benefits of Weather, Climate and Water Services, Madrid, Spain, 19-22 March 2007, which is also known as the Madrid Conference. The report is presented in three parts and four appendices. The first section, Part I of the report relates to the Madrid Conference and the MAP. The MAP actions are analysed and proposals are made regarding the ways that both National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) and the ...
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PWS, 18. Guidelines on Communicating Forecast Uncertainty
World Meteorological Organization (WMO) ; Martin Claire; Cacic Ivan; et al. - WMO, 2008 (WMO/TD-No. 1422)Communicating the uncertainty of the forecast is vital to users. It allows them to make better decisions that are attuned to the reliability of the forecast. It also helps to manage the expectations of users for accurate forecasts. These Guidelines address the issue of communicating forecast uncertainty. Although they include a discussion on the sources of uncertainty, and touch on the related science (e.g. probabilistic forecasting, the use of Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) ensembles), this is not their focus. Rather, the emphasis is on how National Meteorological and Hydrological Servic ...
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PWS, 17. Examples of Best Practice in Communicating Weather Information
World Meteorological Organization (WMO) ; Gill Jon; Cacic Ivan; et al. - WMO, 2007 (WMO/TD-No. 1409)This document presents some examples of how to effectively communicate weather information, across a range of services delivery methods and information types. Examples include graphical presentations on the internet and television, good use of icons and other weather symbols, and a case of effective verbal communication on radio. The examples are real. They have been chosen because they encompass one or more elements of effective communication, such as clear language, or simple but effective use of graphics. Users of this document are invited to examine the examples and use them as guidance ...
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PWS, 16. Supplement to Guidelines on Biometeorology and Air Quality Forecasts
This document has been produced as a supplement to “Guidelines on Biometeorology and Air Quality Forecasts” WMO/TD No. 1184. It addresses the specific aspects of human biometeorology related to human disease, which was not included in that publication. It should be consulted in conjunction with WMO/TD No. 1184. The guidelines are intended to provide useful advice to National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) on methods of incorporating air quality forecasts and biometeorological information into the suite of products and services offered to the public. The Public We ...
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PWS, 15. Guidelines on capacity building strategies in Public Weather Services
Weather affects virtually every person on the planet, every day of the year. Consequently information on past, present and future weather conditions plays an important part in planning our daily lives. Although the provision of weather and climate information to the community at large has long been one of the main responsibilities of the National Meteorological Services (NMHSs) of the now 188 Member States and Territories of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), it is only during the past decade that most NMHSs have begun to focus their efforts on the provision of the highest possible ...
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PWS, 14. Public Weather Services Strategy for Developing Public Education and Outreach
Before going into detail about how to develop a public
education and outreach programme, consideration will be
given to some general issues associated with such
programmes. These include:
• How can the effectiveness of public weather service
programmes be enhanced?
• What is public education and outreach?
• Why have a public education and outreach
programme?
• What are the key strategies for public education and
outreach?
• What are the critical success factors?
• What are the benefits of building pa ...
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