The U.N. weather agency's telecommunication system for sharing data in real time globally is getting an upgrade.
The World Meteorological Organization's Global Telecommunication System has been its backbone for exchanging data since its approval in 1971. The data goes to national weather and hydrological services among WMO's 193 member nations.
Messages in GTS are routed using headers based on six-letter groupings, but the routing tables, syntax and topology are difficult to scale and share internationally. But with the internet's high-bandwidth global connectivity, WMO announced on Friday a new "milestone in international meteorological cooperation."
Improvements since 2007 led to complementary WMO Information System, or WIS, which can be searched and cached for retrieval. The GTS is still used for data exchanges. WIS 2.0 – which began operating on New Year's Day – aims to simplify things, provide cloud-ready solutions, and cut costs so developing nations aren't left behind.
Promoting efficiency and effectiveness
As of 2025, WMO member nations must migrate from GTS to WIS 2.0. The agency's goal is for 90%, or 174 of its member nations, to migrate by 2030, then switch off the GTS system by 2033.
“With WIS 2.0, we are stepping into a future where predicting and preparing for weather-related events, tracking changes in the environment, and contributing to climate research will be more efficient and effective than ever before,” said Enrico Fucile, chief of WMO's Information System Section.
Real-time data sharing is important for accurate weather forecasts, early warning systems, climate research and Earth system monitoring. WIS 2.0 lowers the bar for adoption by more countries by using open source software, training programs and Web technologies that make it easier to share more varied and high-volume data.
More than 60 nations use the system, but 11 countries provide the global infrastructure: Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
