18 September 2009: The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) held their first joint seminar on “Use of Radio Spectrum for Meteorology: Weather, Water and Climate Monitoring and Prediction.” The seminar was held at WMO Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, from 16-18 September 2009.

The joint WMO/ITU seminar shared information on WMO’s Integrated Global Observing System and ITU’s role in using information communication technologies as a catalyst to combat climate change. It was organized as an open forum for discussion of the ITU and WMO roles in the use of radio spectrum, space orbits and radio-based meteorological tools and systems for monitoring, mitigation and adaptation to climate change. Discussion centered on: the role of information communication technologies, particularly radio-based technologies for monitoring climate change; the effective operation of systems and applications for monitoring the environment, prediction and detection of natural disasters initiated by climate change, and mitigation of their negative effects; current status and development of radio-based systems and applications for weather, water and climate monitoring and prediction; operation of meteorological systems and the quality of meteorological measurements; and activities of national and international organizations in climate monitoring and disaster prediction, detection and the mitigation of the effects of natural disasters. [WMO/ITU press release] [Further information on the seminar]