WORLD METEOROLOGICAL ORGANIZATION
________________
RA IV HURRICANE COMMITTEE
THIRTY-FOURTH SESSION
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FL, USA
11 TO 15 APRIL 2012
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RA IV/HC-XXXIV/Doc. 8
(04.IV.2012)
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ITEM: 8
Original: ENGLISH
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ASSISTANCE REQUIRED FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE COMMITTEE'S TECHNICAL PLAN AND THE STRENGTHENING OF THE OPERATIONAL PLAN
(Submitted by the Secretariat)
Summary and Purpose of Document
This document presents a review of assistance, pertinent to the implementation of the Technical Plan or strengthening of the Operational Plan, provided to Members since the Committee’s Thirty-Third session and indicates the plan for future action. Appendix lists activities and project implementation under VCP in 2011, as well as requests pending for support in future.
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ACTION PROPOSED
The Hurricane Committee is invited to review assistance requirements for future implementation of the technical plan in the light of activities implemented with national funds or through external assistance projects. Members are encouraged to vigorously pursue their action in seeking support for possible implementation of outstanding activities.
Appendices:
-
Draft text for inclusion in the final report of the session
B. List of VCP projects related to WMO Members from RA III and RA IV for the years 2008 to 2011
DISCUSSION
1. WMO, through the Development and Regional Activities Department (DRA) and with the support of the WMO Office for North America, Central America and the Caribbean (NCAC), has continued the development of technical cooperation activities to ensure cost-effective services to Members. The NCAC Office has also provided support to regional activities and assisted in the implementation of WMO Programmes in the Region.
2011 Hurricane season
2. The 2011 Atlantic hurricane season was an active season with a total of 19 tropical storms, 7 of which became hurricanes, including three major hurricanes (Category 3 or stronger). Irene was the only storm to strike the USA coastline during the season, causing significant damage along the United States east coast and killing many people.
3. The 2011 hurricane season left a lot damages and live losses in the Atlantic region basin. Arlene's impact, from rainfall and gusty winds, resulted in damaging floods and mudslides throughout Mexico, as well as a total of 22 confirmed deaths. Across the state of Hidalgo, damage from the storm reached 2.6 billion pesos ($207.4 million). As a consequence of the impact of hurricane Irene, at least 55 people were confirmed dead across the Caribbean, 10 U.S. states and Canada and damages were approximately USD $10.1 billion. The most affected areas during the 2011 Atlantic Hurricane season were Central America, Yucatan Peninsula, Florida, Mexico (Veracruz) and Texas by hurricane Arlene and the Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, Turks and Caicos Islands, The Bahamas, Eastern Cuba, South-eastern United States (Outer Banks), Mid-Atlantic states (New Jersey, New York), New England and Eastern Canada by hurricane Irene.
4. The named storms were Tropical Storm Arlene, Tropical Storm Bret, Tropical Storm Cindy, Tropical Storm Don, Tropical Storm Emily, Tropical Storm Franklin, Tropical Storm Gert, Tropical Storm Harvey, Hurricane Irene, Tropical Storm Jose, Hurricane Katia, Tropical Storm Lee, Hurricane Maria, Hurricane Nate, Hurricane Ophelia, Hurricane Philippe, Hurricane Rina and Tropical Storm Sean.
Regional Activities
5. During 2011 WMO has continued its Project Office in Mexico to support the National Water Commission in achieving integrated, sustainable management of water and the PREMIA project aimed to, as outlined in the agreement between the WMO and the Government of Mexico, the efficient management of water, technical support in the fields of hydrology, meteorology, climate variability and change and their effects on water availability, in particular ground water reserves, prevention of floods will be also another area to be covered.
6. Based on the Strategic Development Plan 2010-2019 formulated by WMO for the NMS of Mexico in 2010, the Government of Mexico requested the World Bank the formulation of a project to continue the implementation of the Strategic Development Plan for the NMS in the next Mexican Administration (2012-2018). The Modernization Project for the NMS began its formulation in 2011 and the signature has been scheduled in April 2012. The Modernization Project for the NMS of Mexico (USD 105 million) to be funded by the World Bank (2012-2018) includes the following four components: 1) Strengthening of institutional capacity; 2) Modernization of the meteorological network; 3) Improvement of meteorology and climate forecasting; and 4) Developing regional capacity with the establishment of regional hydrometeorological centers.
7. WMO through its Project Office in Mexico will continue providing support to this project for the Modernization of the NMS of Mexico as well as to the PREMIA project on integrated water management, both projects under the Agreement of Cooperation between WMO and the Government of Mexico.
8. The Meeting of NMS’s Directors of Iberoamerican Countries was held in Brasilia, Brazil, in November 2011 with the attendance of the Spanish speaking members of the RA III and RA IV. The action plan for the period 2011-2013 was ratified. The main lines of action of the three-year Plan include, institutional strengthening of NMHS and resource mobilization; development of climate services through pilot projects; education and training; and development of subregional virtual centres for the prevention and monitoring of extreme events.
9. The RAMSDIS System that provides, in real time, high resolution satellite imagery and products to Central American countries, continue its execution with great success. The system was upgraded during 2011. The System is supported by the United States Government, Costa Rica’s Institute of Meteorology and the Universidad de Costa Rica, assisted by the WMO.
Training
10. The RA IV Workshop on Hurricane Forecasting and Public Weather Services took place in Miami, U.S.A, from 21 March - 1 April 2011. This very important workshop is organized on an annual basis at the National Hurricane Centre in Miami, USA, with strong support of WMO and the U.S.A.
11. Focus Group of WMO’s Virtual Laboratory on Satellite Meteorology, using Internet and Visit View software, has continued with great success. Discussion takes place 3 or 4 times a month and an every other day presence under the threat of a hurricane. These discussions also keep in close monitoring of the evolution of ENSO. The group is lead by NOAA, US National Weather Service at Comet, Barbados and Costa Rica RMTCs and Colorado State University.
12. WMO, through the trust fund from Spain, supported during 2011 several activities including courses on automatic weather stations maintenance, data processing, climate change, administration of meteorological and hydrological services, flood management, seasonal forecast, hydrology, statistic forecast tools, use of forecast products and satellites, and other topics. Additionally, a series of seminars and workshops were also supported especially in hydrological forecast, seasonal forecast, coastal flooding, and telecommunications interaction.
13. The WMO Disaster Risk Reduction Programme (DRR) held the workshop Strengthening Regional Cooperation to Support Forecasting with Multi-Hazard Approach in RA IV in Cayman Islands in March 2011 and the Special Session on Disaster Risk Reduction and Early Warning Dissemination and Communication Issues in Central America and the Caribbean in Miami in April 2011. These Workshops were cosponsored by different local, regional and international agencies and Representatives of most of the RA IV NMHSs and National Civil Agencies attended the workshops.
14. The Master Degree Programme in Hydrology with strong distance and computed aided learning components has continued with great success at the WMO/RMTC of Costa Rica, with the participation of students from RA IV countries.
Assistance to NMHS
15. The Central American Project on Multi-Hazard Early Warning System to develop an end to end early warning system for Central America, financed by the World Bank and executed by WMO, is currently being implemented in Costa Rica and is expected to finish in 2013.
16. The WMO Haiti Task Team has continued coordinating the different actions and efforts for the development of the Haiti NMHS. Immediate assistance in 2011 included an the donation of seven automatic weather stations from the WMO VCP Programme, two of which have been installed; five fellowships of 12 months were concluded in Toulouse, France supported by WMO and Météo-France; the provision of two EMWIN systems and training by the USA (installation still pending); The “visiting forecaster” programme continued through Canadian rotations at Météo-France Martinique throughout 2011 wet season and 8 forecasters during that time period provided assistance to forecasting staff at CNM Haiti. This was be fully supported by Canada. Canada also continued to host the Website, http://www.meteo-haiti.gouv.ht that has been pre-operational since June 2010. Government authorities, media, UN Organizations, the Communications for Disaster affected Communities (CDC), Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) and the general public can access weather forecasts and warnings from this source; The “extranet”, operated by Météo-France is functioning well and many data and forecast products are updated on a daily basis by collaborating centres, exchanged, and used exclusively by weather forecasters responsible for daily weather forecasting operations for Haiti, in particular to extend the lead-time and improve the reliability of forecasts and warnings. To improve the accuracy and lead-time of forecasts and warnings, for both weather and flash floods, specialized numerical model based forecasting products are centrally collected and posted at the password protected “Extranet” with access provided to CNM.
17. In spite of all of the above-mentioned activities, up to December 2011 little progress had been made with regards to AWS, EMWIN, and FFGS.
18. WMO also is seeking support for a medium term project proposal to support the development of the NMHS of Haiti. The project was formulated using the findings and recommendations from the WMO assessment mission carried out in Haiti in April 2010.
VCP Projects
19. During 2011 the WMO VCP programme received in total one request from the region from one country. The requesting countries were Suriname for transformation from WAFS-Satellite to WAFS-Internet Reception. A list of VCP projects carried out for 2008 through 2011 related to the Members of RAs III and IV is given in Appendix B.
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DRAFT TEXT FOR INCLUSION IN THE FINAL REPORT OF THE SESSION
The Committee reviewed the assistance, pertinent to the implementation of the Technical Plan or strengthening of the operational plan, provided to Members since the Committee’s thirty- third session and considered the plan for future action.
The Committee expressed its satisfaction that WMO, through the Development and Regional Activities Department (DRA) with the support of the WMO Office for North America, Central America and the Caribbean (NCAC), has continued the development of technical cooperation activities to ensure cost-effective services to Members. The NCAC Office has also provided support to regional activities and assisted in the implementation of WMO Programmes in the Region.
Regional activities
The Committee was informed that:
-
During 2011 WMO has continued its Project Office in Mexico to support the National Water Commission in achieving integrated, sustainable management of water and the PREMIA project aimed to, as outlined in the agreement between the WMO and the Government of Mexico, the efficient management of water, technical support in the fields of hydrology, meteorology, climate variability and change and their effects on water availability, in particular ground water reserves, prevention of floods will be also another area to be covered.
-
Based on the Strategic Development Plan 2010-2019 formulated by WMO for the NMS of Mexico in 2010, the Government of Mexico requested the World Bank the formulation of a project to continue the implementation of the Strategic Development Plan for the NMS in the next Mexican Administration (2012-2018). The Modernization Project for the NMS began its formulation in 2011 and the signature has been scheduled in April 2012. The Modernization Project for the NMS of Mexico (USD 105 million) to be funded by the World Bank (2012-2018) includes the following four components: 1) Strengthening of institutional capacity; 2) Modernization of the meteorological network; 3) Improvement of meteorology and climate forecasting; and 4) Developing regional capacity with the establishment of regional hydrometeorological centers.
-
WMO through its Project Office in Mexico will continue providing support to this project for the Modernization of the NMS of Mexico as well as to the PREMIA project on integrated water management, both projects under the Agreement of Cooperation between WMO and the Government of Mexico.
-
The Meeting of NMS’s Directors of Iberoamerican Countries was held in Brasilia, Brazil, in November 2011 with the attendance of the Spanish speaking members of the RA III and RA IV. The action plan for the period 2011-2013 was ratified. The main lines of action of the three-year Plan include, institutional strengthening of NMHS and resource mobilization; development of climate services through pilot projects; education and training; and development of subregional virtual centres for the prevention and monitoring of extreme events.
-
The RAMSDIS System that provides, in real time, high resolution satellite imagery and products to Central American countries, continue its execution with great success. The system is expected to be upgraded sometime during 2011. The System is supported by the United States Government, Costa Rica’s Institute of Meteorology and the Universidad de Costa Rica, assisted by the WMO.
Training
The Committee was also informed that:
-
The RA IV Workshop on Hurricane Forecasting and Public Weather Services took place in Miami, U.S.A, from 21 March - 1 April 2011. This very important workshop is organized on an annual basis at the National Hurricane Centre in Miami, USA, with strong support of WMO and the U.S.A.
-
Focus Group of WMO’s Virtual Laboratory on Satellite Meteorology, using Internet and Visit View software, has continued with great success. Discussion takes place 3 or 4 times a month and an every other day presence under the threat of a hurricane. These discussions also keep in close monitoring of the evolution of ENSO. The group is lead by NOAA, US National Weather Service at Comet, Barbados and Costa Rica RMTCs and Colorado State University.
-
WMO, through the trust fund from Spain, supported during 2011 several activities including courses on automatic weather stations maintenance, data processing, climate change, administration of meteorological and hydrological services, flood management, seasonal forecast, hydrology, statistic forecast tools, use of forecast products and satellites, and other topics. Additionally, a series of seminars and workshops were also supported especially in hydrological forecast, seasonal forecast, coastal flooding, and telecommunications interaction.
-
The WMO Disaster Risk Reduction Programme (DRR) held the workshop Strengthening Regional Cooperation to Support Forecasting with Multi-Hazard Approach in RA IV in Cayman Islands in March 2011 and the Special Session on Disaster Risk Reduction and Early Warning Dissemination and Communication Issues in Central America and the Caribbean in Miami in April 2011. These Workshops were cosponsored by different local, regional and international agencies and Representatives of most of the RA IV NMHSs and National Civil Agencies attended the workshops.
-
The Master Degree Programme in Hydrology with strong distance and computed aided learning components has continued with great success at the WMO/RMTC of Costa Rica, with the participation of students from RA IV countries.
Assistance to NMHS
The Committee took note that:
-
The Central American Project on Multi-Hazard Early Warning System to develop an end to end early warning system for Central America, financed by the World Bank and executed by WMO, is currently being implemented in Costa Rica and is expected to finish in 2013.
-
The WMO Haiti Task Team has continued coordinating the different actions and efforts for the development of the Haiti NMHS. Immediate assistance in 2011 included an the donation of seven automatic weather stations from the WMO VCP Programme, two of which have been installed; five fellowships of 12 months was concluded in Toulouse, France supported by WMO and Météo-France; the provision of two EMWIN systems and training by the USA (installation still pending).
-
The WMO also is seeking support for a medium term project proposal to support the development of the NMHS of Haiti, formulated using the findings and recommendations from the WMO assessment mission carried out in Haiti in April 2010.
VCP projects
-
During 2011, the WMO VCP programme received in total one request from the region from one country. The requesting country was Suriname for transformation from WAFS-Satellite to WAFS-Internet Reception.
LIST OF VCP PROJECTS RELATED TO WMO MEMBERS FROM RA III AND RA IV
FOR THE YEARS 2008 TO 2011
PROJECT TITLE
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COUNTRY
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PROJECT CODE
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STATUS
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DONOR
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Provision of Hg barometers
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ARGENTINA
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AR/2011/OB/2/2/1
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On-going
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GERMANY & VCP(F)
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Provision of three sea level observation stations for use in satellite products and ocean models validation
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BAHAMAS
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BS/2010/OB/2/4/1
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Request
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No
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Improvement of medium range and seasonal forecasts in Bolivia (DARE project)
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BOLIVIA
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BO/2009/WCP/4/1
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On-going
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USA & VCP(F)
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Provision of Hg barometers
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BOLIVIA
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BO/2011/OB/2/2/1
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On-going
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GERMANY & VCP(F)
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Upgrading of the RMTN workshop in Colombia
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COLOMBIA
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CO/2008/TE/2/3/2
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Completed
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USA & VCP(F)
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Provision of Hg barometers
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COLOMBIA
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CO/2011/OB/2/2/1
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On-going
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GERMANY & VCP(F)
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Quality management system for the provision of meteorological services for aviation: diagnosis and recommendations for improvement and strengthening
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COLOMBIA
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CO/2011/AEM/EX/1
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Completed
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VCP(F)
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Provision of Hg barometers
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COSTA RICA
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CR/2011/OB/2/2/2
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On-going
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GERMANY & VCP(F)
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Participation to the Satellite direct readout conference
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COSTA RICA
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CR/2011/STS/1
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Completed
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VCP(F)
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Provision of Hg barometers
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CUBA
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CU/2011/OB/2/2/1
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On-going
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GERMANY & VCP(F)
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An audiovisual media center for the dissemination of meteorological information to users and the general public
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DOMINICA
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DM/2010/OB/2/3/2
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On-going
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UK & VCP(F)
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Provision of Hg barometers
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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
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DO/2011/OB/2/2/1
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On-going
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GERMANY & VCP(F)
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Provision of Hg barometers
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ECUADOR
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UY/2011/OB/2/2/1
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On-going
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GERMANY & VCP(F)
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Training and programming software for Automatic Station Vaisala QML201
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EL SALVADOR
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SV/2010/OB/9/1/1
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Request
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No
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Expert services in telecommunications to link NMS with the rest of RA III countries
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GUYANA
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GY/2010/TE/EX/1
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Completed
|
VCP(F)
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Rehabilitation of the meteorological observing network (revised)
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HAITI
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HT/2008/OB/1/2/1
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On-going
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Various
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Automatic Weather Stations for the rehabilitation of the meteorological and hydrological networks
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HAITI
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HT/2009/OB/2/3/1
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On-going
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VCP(F) & VCP Emergency Assistance
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Provision of Hg barometers
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HONDURAS
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HN/2011/OB/2/2/1
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On-going
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GERMANY & VCP(F)
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Provision of Hg barometers
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PANAMA
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PA/2011/OB/2/2/2
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On-going
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GERMANY & VCP(F)
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Improvement of medium range and seasonal forecasts in Paraguay (DARE project)
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PARAGUAY
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PY/2010/WCP/4/1
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On-going
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USA
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Provision of Hg barometers
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PARAGUAY
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PY/2011/OB/2/2/1
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On-going
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GERMANY & VCP(F)
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Provision of Hg barometers
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PERU
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PE/2011/OB/2/2/1
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On-going
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GERMANY & VCP(F)
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Refurbishing and Upgrading of AWS network
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SAINT LUCIA
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LC/2009/OB/2/3/1
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Completed
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UK & VCP(F)
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Expert services in telecommunications to link NMS with the rest of RA III countries
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SURINAME
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SR/2010/TE/EX/1
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Completed
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VCP(F)
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Repair/upgrade of an existing Weather Radar
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SURINAME
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SR/2010/OB/4/2/1
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On-going
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Partial: VCP(F)
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Transformation from WAFS Satellite to WAFS Internet Reception
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SURINAME
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SR/2011/OB/3/2/1
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On-going
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VCP(F)
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Meteorological observation instruments for the synoptic station of the World Climate Observation System
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URUGUAY
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UY/2010/OB/2/2/1
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Completed
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SPAIN (GCOS)
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Provision of Hg barometers
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URUGUAY
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EC/2011/OB/2/2/2
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On-going
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GERMANY & VCP(F)
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