Fostering International Cooperation in Aviation Meteorology

The Observatory's Assistant Directors Dr BY Lee and Mr CM Shun attended the 14th session of the Regional Association (Asia) of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, 3-4 December 2008. This meeting is held every four years to discuss progress in the provision of weather services within the region and to foster cooperation for further developments. In particular, the Strategic Plan for the Enhancement of National Meteorological and Hydrological Services in Regional Association II (Asia) updated by Dr Lee was endorsed by the meeting. On the aviation meteorology side, the meeting, recognizing the increasing challenges and opportunities to National Meteorological Services in serving the aviation community, agreed to expand its Working Group on Disaster Risk Reduction and Service Delivery to include a new Sub-group on Aeronautical Meteorological Services to further enhance this development. Ms Sandy Song, Senior Scientific Officer of the Observatory, was nominated to serve as the Theme Leader in Capacity Building and Aeronautical Meteorological Pilot Projects under this Sub-group.