WORLD METEOROLOGICAL ORGANIZATION
AND
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMISSION
FOR ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
FOR
FORPARTICIPANTS
PARTICIPANTSONLY
ONLY
WMO/ESCAP Panel on Tropical Cyclones
Fortieth session
Colombo, Sri Lanka
25 February to 1 March 2013
WRD/PTC-40/Doc. 5.2
(08.II.2013)
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ENGLISH ONLY
REVIEW OF THE COORDINATED TECHNICAL PLAN AND CONSIDERATION OF
THE WORK PROGRAMME FOR THE NEXT FIVE YEARS
Hydrological Component
(Submitted by the Secretariat)
SUMMARY AND PURPOSE OF DOCUMENT
This document provides the session with information primarily on on-going
relevant programme activities of the Hydrology and Water Resources
Programme, progress made in the WMO Flood Forecasting Initiative, and
regional hydrological activities of WMO RA-II (Asia), which are of particular
relevance to the WMO/ESCAP Panel on Tropical Cyclones.
ACTION PROPOSED
The Panel is invited to review the information to be presented by the WMO
representative at this session and make proposals and recommendations concerning future
activities as amendments and/or additions to the draft text attached to this document.
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WRD/PTC-40/Doc. 5.2, p. 2
DRAFT TEXT FOR INCLUSION IN THE DRAFT REPORT OF THE FORTIETH SESSION
OF THE WMO/ESCAP PANEL ON TROPICAL CYCLONES
5.2
Hydrological component
WMO Flood Forecasting Initiative
5.2.1 Notable progress had been made in the implementation of the Flood Forecasting Initiative
including to establish an overarching Advisory Group for the Flood Forecasting Initiative (FFI-AG),
as decided by Congress (Resolution 15 (Cg-XVI), aiming to ensure adequate monitoring,
evaluation and guidance with respect to the implementation of the Strategy and Action Plan on the
Flood Forecasting Initiative. 14 RA-II had encouraged Members to further develop national and
regional projects that would contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the initiative. The
Association felt in particular that principal tiers in implementation would be: strengthened
institutional capacities; use of state-of-the art observation platforms; upgraded monitoring
networks; use of modeling approaches; and joint development of requirements-driven forecasting
products including urban floods.
5.2.2 Considerable progress had been made in the development and implementation of Flash
Flood Guidance Systems (FFGS) particular in the Mekong River Basin (system is operational) and
the South Asia region including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri
Lanka. A planning meeting was held successfully in November 2012. Myanmar will be shortly
included in benefitting from the system operation.
5.2.3 Efforts are under way to establish closer links between the Severe Weather Forecasting
Demonstration Project (SWFDP) and the FFGS with the intent to establish a predictive capability
for flash floods.
5.2.4 Further, a draft report on the Intercomparison of Flood Forecasting Models developed by a
Task Team, established as a result a workshop on this topic held in Koblenz, Germany in
September 2011 and a draft report has been prepared for the development of a methodology to
improve the effectiveness of flood forecasting services.
5.2.5 Progress has been made in the implementation of WHYCOS projects and in particular the
Mekong-HYCOS that ended by November 2012 and the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) HYCOS
project that is currently being implemented. The objective of both HYCOS projects is the
establishment of regional flood information systems.
Associated Programme on Flood Management (APFM)
5.2.6 The Associated Programme on Flood Management (APFM) that promotes the concept of
Integrated Flood Management practices has progressed largely and in particular the development
of Tools on a wide variety of flood management issues and the HelpDesk established under the
programme since June 2009. National workshops on the development of flood management
strategies were held in Thailand in March 2012 and Laos PDR in April 2012. A considerable
number of tools have been developed under the APFM that can be downloaded from
www.apfm.info. Substantial support has far been provided by the Governments of Japan,
Switzerland, Italy and Germany to the success of the Programme. USAID pledged additional funds
in support of the APFM.
WMO Quality Management Framework for Hydrology
5.2.7 The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the International Organization for
Standardization (ISO) have agreed to increase their cooperation in the development of
international standards related to meteorological and hydrological data, products and services. The
WRD/PTC-40/Doc. 5.2, p. 3
Association agreed that the recognition of WMO as an international standardizing body for
technical standards provided a valuable opportunity to further emphasize the role and benefits of
applying the Quality Management Framework–Hydrology and providing Members with the
necessary guidance on technical standards from data collection through to service delivery.
5.2.8 A draft publication: “A Practical Guide for the Implementation of a Quality Management
System for National Meteorological and Hydrological Services”is available under:
(http://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/amp/aemp/documents/QM_Guide_NMHSs_V10.pdf). It represents
the most authoritative blueprint for WMO Members to follow in pursuing a quality management
approach to the delivery of their services.
5.2.9 The following publications are seen as of particular interest for the PTC namely: the Manual
on Estimation of Probable Maximum Precipitation (PMP) (WMO N° 0145), the Manual on Stream
Gauging (WMO N° 1044), the Manual on Flood Forecasting and Warning (WMO N°1072), the
Guidelines for the Assessment of Uncertainty of Hydrometric Measurements, the Technical Report
on Climate and Meteorological Information Requirements for Water Management (WMO N° 1094),
the Technical Report on Water Quality Monitoring, and the Technical Report on Technical Material
for Water Resources Assessment (WMO N°1095). All these publications are available online at
http://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/hwrp/index_en.php
Working Group on Hydrological Services
5.2.10 Participants noted that 14 RA-II agreed on the following theme areas for its Working Group
Hydrological Services:

Strengthening the capability of Members to assess their water resources: Water
Resources Assessment, its Variability and Use;

Improve accuracy and timeliness of forecasting floods of different cause and origin
through enhanced cooperation between NMSs and NMHSs – within the context of the
WMO Flood Forecasting Initiative;

Hydrological Aspects of Drought, including Drought Monitoring, Assessment of Water
scarcity and Deficits;

Hydrological responses to climate variability and change and promotion of the use of
climate information by water managers;

Improved Accuracy of Hydrometric and Sediment Observations including Space-based
Technologies;

Sediment disasters and mass movements.
Recommendations
5.2.11 Recognizing the importance of hydrological forecasting in connection to activities of
the PTC it is recommended that the PTC:

Establishes closer links with the RA-II WGH on the working level and with
individual experts;

Develops a Requirements Document for hydrological services in support of
current and planned PTC activities;

Makes use of services provided through CHy and the WMO Flood Forecasting
Initiative in particular as well as proposals for new HYCOS components;
WRD/PTC-40/Doc. 5.2, p. 4

Further provides suggestions for activities to be carried out in support of PTC
needs in hydrology;

Makes use of the services provided by the APFM in the area of Integrated Flood
Management;
5.2.12 Following the successfully links made between the WG-Hydrology of the Typhoon
Committee and the WMO RA-II Working Group Hydrology, PTC requests WMO to invite a
member of the newly established WG Hydrology of the PTC to the next meeting of the RA-II
Working Group Hydrology to foster linkages between the two working groups.
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