Jeffrey SimmonsSenior Deputy Director

The Bahamas Department of Meteorologyjeffreywsimmons@gmail.com

RA-IV WIGOS Implementation Workshop (English),

1 - 3 December, Willemstad Curaçao

The Bahamas Presentation

Outline of the presentation

1. Mission of the NMHS2. National Observing Issues or Needs 3. Plans for the observing networks4. WIGOS Implementation Status5. Summary

Mission Statement

• To provide high quality Meteorological and Climatological information on a timely basis to be used by special interest agencies and the public at large for reseach, education and protection of lives and property.

Mission of the BDM

• The BDM is responsible for providing the following:– Public Forecast– Aviation Forecast and Observations– Marine Forecast– Hurricane Forecast for The Bahamas and the Turks and

Caicos Islands– Climatology Services

• Major historical meteorological disaster events– Hurricanes

Mission of the BDM

• Technical Staff Structure:– Observers– Forecasters– Meteorologists

• Data collection and processing are done by observers and Forecasters in the Forecast Office and Climatology.

• All the Officers involved in this process are certified to WMO standards.

WIGOS Implementation Status• In The Bahamas there are 2 manned observations and

22 AWOSs under the control of the Department of Meteorology. – There are major challenges in keeping all the AWOSs

functioning due to the archipelagic nature of the country. – There are several other privately owned observing stations

throughout the islands.• The Climatology Section of the department maintains a

database of all observations.• Metadata for mynn is accessible through GTS. Needs

to be upgraded.

Major needs and gaps in observing capabilities and access

• Observations from remote stations are not received in real-time by Forecasters. This creates a problem when briefing pilots and producing weather forecasts and warnings– These stations need to be included in the existing

observation network.

Plans for the National Observing Networks

• A National Plan is in place for the upgrade of airports throughout the islands. Upgrading of the National Observing Networks is tied to this– This would involve an increase of manned

stations and upgrading of current AWOSs.

WIGOS Implementation Status• Currently there is no National WIGOS Implementation

plan/strategy– The Bahamas plan to create and execute such a strategy

WIGOS Implementation Status

• Currently The Bahamas Department of Meteorology have no agreements in place for the implementation of WIGOS.

WIGOS Implementation Status• The department has an operational Quality

Management System.

• Operational and maintenance processes for observing systems are documented and their implementation are monitored under the QMS