Provisional 2026 Edition of the Guide to Instruments and Methods of Observation (WMO-No.8)

Updates to WMO-No. 8

Collaborative work of different expert teams and  relevant groups, together with the Editorial Board of the INFCOM/Standing Committee on Measurements, Instrumentation and Traceability  (SC-MINT) resulted in the preliminary 2026 edition of the Guide to instruments and Methods of Observation (WMO-No. 8) (Volumes I, II, III, V and VI) that was available for the Members’ review.

During the Members’ review process, comments have been received for proposed updates to the WMO-No.8 from: China, France, Italy, New Zealand, Russian Federation, United States of America, SC-MINT experts, and a few members of HydroMeteorological and Environmental Industry (HMEI). The comments have been reviewed by the INFCOM/SC-MINT/Editorial Board and relevant expert teams and groups. Those simple or editorial comments have already been addressed and  incorporated in the text of the provisional edition and are displayed in track-change mode, highlighted yellow. More complex comments have been well noted and will be addressed by the relevant expert teams in the next intersessional period.  The table showing the comments and review remarks is available here.

The chapters of the Provisional 2026 Edition of WMO-No. 8 is accessible in the table below. It is submitted to the fourth session of the Commission for Observation, Infrastructure and Information Systems (INFCOM-4) for approval.

Note: For the chapters not listed below, changes have not been proposed. These chapters will remain unchanged from the 2024 editions of Volumes I, II and III, the 2021 edition of Volume IV, and the 2023 edition of Volume V.