WMO fellow, Nguyen Thanh Tung, a forecaster from Vietnam’s National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, began a 12-month WMO-sponsored placement in October at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). During his time at ECMWF, Mr Tung will work with ECMWF analysts, and special emphasis will be placed on evaluating the forecasts and products provided through the WMO Severe Weather Forecast Demonstration Project (SWFDP).He will also investigate and document biases and characteristics of the ECMWF high-resolution and ensemble rainfall forecasts for up to six days ahead, using a dataset of observations covering the Vietnamese territory.
Now two months into his fellowship, Mr Tung is already making the most of opportunities to gain new skills. “I have used ECMWF’s Metview application for the first time, and have just attended a week-long training course to learn about it,” he said. “The Centre is a good environment to work and study.”
When he completes his fellowship, he aims to pass on information to colleagues in Vietnam about how to use ECMWF products for specific locations and for extreme weather. He will also provide guidance on how to use ECMWF ensemble forecasts to predict the track and intensity of tropical cyclones. At the end of his placement, he will provide feedback that will not only benefit the performance of forecasts for South-East Asia but also WMO and ECMWF.
The fellowship programme was set-up after WMO identified a need for specialized training placements to develop capacity in least developed and developing countries. It is the first under a new scheme that envisages ECMWF regularly hosting forecasters from developing countries to provide them with training and first-hand experience that will enhance their professional skills and enable them to make an essential contribution to developing forecasting capabilities in their own countries. Another goal is to help expand the network of cooperation opportunities between experts dealing with weather and sub-seasonal to seasonal forecasting at the international level.
For more informatio, visit the WMO Fellowships web page.
