World Meteorological Organization

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has established a WMO Integrated Processing and Prediction System (WIPPS) activity for non-nuclear environmental emergency response and has designated three Regional Specialized Meteorological Centres (RSMCs) to conduct this activity: RSMC Montreal, which provides products to Members in Regional Associations (RA) III, IV and V, and RSMC Offenbach and RSMC Toulouse, which provide products in RA I, II and VI.

Upon request from WMO Members, these RSMCs provide a diverse range of crucial forecast products to assist them in the event of incidents and accidents such as forest, grass, or peat fires, major industrial fires, and chemical releases involving hazardous non-nuclear contaminants. These forecast products include relative concentrations from the surface to specific heights, tailored to the nature of the incidents and accidents. Further details on the functions, and forecast products, of the RSMCs can be found in the Manual on the WMO Integrated Processing and Prediction System (WIPPS) (WMO-No. 485).

To request and receive support from the RSMCs, it is essential that each Member identify two personnel for the following roles:
(1) An “authorized person”, as set out in Section 2.2.2.8 of the above manual, who is authorized to request support from the RSMCs;
(2) An “operational contact point” who is available round-the-clock to receive the forecast products from the RSMCs. It is recommended that this person use a generic email address, monitored 24/7, to permit seamless communication.