TCC Background, Missions and Activities
The numerous climate-related disasters observed worldwide in recent years, including prolonged droughts and devastating floods, have caused various negative impacts on human life and socio-economic activity. Against this background, National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) are expected to provide high-quality, accurate climate information for the purposes of national users to help mitigate climate-related risks and support appropriate adaptation to climate change.
In this context, the Tokyo Climate Center (TCC) – a World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Regional Climate Centre (RCC) – creates regional data products (such as long-range forecasts) to support regional and national climate activities, thereby strengthening the capacity of WMO Members in particular areas to deliver better climate services to national users. The Center was established at the Headquarters of the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) in 2002, and has served as an RCC in Regional Association (RA) II (Asia) since its designation at the 61st session of the WMO Executive Council (Geneva, June 2009). JMA has also served as a WMO Global Producing Centre for Long-range Forecasts (GPC-LRF) since 2007, when the 15th session of the World Meteorological Congress (Cg-15) was held, providing ensemble prediction products for such forecasts. WMO prioritizes the operation of RCCs and GPC-LRFs as integral components of the Climate Service Information System (CSIS), which is seen as a pillar of the Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS). Within this framework, these Centres play vital roles in effective and efficient support for NMHSs in their provision of superior climate services to national users.
As an RCC and a GPC-LRF, a part of World Meteorological Centre (WMC) for long-range forecasts, TCC provides a variety of online data on climate analysis/prediction and related tools (see the Data and Products webpage). The Center also supports capacity development via training seminars in Tokyo and the dispatch of experts to NMHSs in the Asia-Pacific region, thereby promoting the use of its products for the output of climate information tailored to individual nations/territories. It also publishes the quarterly TCC News to update NMHS members on the status of the Asian climate, seasonal forecasts and new TCC products. These activities support RAs and neighboring NMHSs in their provision of climate services, thereby promoting the utilization of climate information for climate-related disaster mitigation, agricultural production planning and water resource management.
TCC Background, Missions and Activities
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