Following the 18th session of Regional Association IV (RA IV-18), the North America, Central America and the Caribbean Region moved quickly to implement its decisions and resolutions in the framework of the WMO regional reform. The first step was the nomination of experts to integrate the Regional Committees and the Hydrological Coordination Panel.
Once the membership of the subsidiary bodies was completed, the first meetings of the Regional Committees on Infrastructure and Services were organized in the second half of 2021. These meetings discussed the terms of reference approved by RA IV-18 for the Committees and the Panel, the appointment of their co-chairs and members, and the establishment of the corresponding Expert Teams, as well as activities to address regional priorities. The RA IV Infrastructure Committee established expert teams on marine, radar and satellite infrastructure, and on surface-based observation infrastructure and WMO-IATA Collaborative AMDAR Programme (WICAP). The RA IV Services Committee established expert teams on climate, aviation, and marine meteorological and oceanographic services. In the case of operational hydrology, expert teams on hydrological infrastructure and services were stablished under the corresponding Regional Committees, in close coordination with the RA IV Hydrological and Water Coordination Panel.
In order to encourage active participation and discussion on future regional activities and ensure coordination, a series of technical webinars were held online, complemented by virtual coordination meetings. These activities are listed below, with the corresponding links to access the recordings, presentations and main related documents:
- RA IV Online Workshop on ABO and WICAP, 18 May
- 1st Meeting RA IV Infrastructure Committee, 23 September
- 1st Meeting RA IV Services Committee, 24 September
- 1st Meeting RA IV ET on Services for Aviation, 27 October
- Technical Webinar: Satellite Data Processing and Unidata, 27 October
- Technical webinar: Mapping Operational Climate Services in RA IV, 3 November
- RP21 Learning Lab: Lightning and Wildfires, co-hosted online by the Jamaica Government and UNDRR, 4 November
- Technical webinar: Ocean Observations for Forecasting and Services across the Caribbean, 11 November
- 2nd Meeting RA IV ET on Services for Aviation, 24 November
- Technical webinar: CLIMAT Automation for ARs III and IV, 30 November
- 1st meeting RA IV ET on Climate Services, 6 December
- Technical webinar: Using the WMO Community Platform for RAs III and IV, 13 December
By the beginning of 2022, the Action Plans of the Regional Committees and their corresponding Expert Teams are expected to be finalized in order to begin their full implementation in the second quarter.
