Impact-based Forecast and Warning Services (IBFWS) and the Common Alerting Protocol for Vanuatu
Port Vila, Vanuatu
The WMO Disaster Risk Reduction and Public Services Division in collaboration with the Vanuatu Meteorology and Geo-Hazards Department (VMGD) is implementing Impact-based Forecast and Warning Services (IBFWS) in Vanuatu. Through the financial support of the Climate Risk and Early Warning Systems (CREWS) Pacific SIDS 2.0 Project this initiative will allow for VMGD, the Vanuatu National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) and other key stakeholders to strengthen capacity to provide IBFWS for improved decision support for hydrometeorological hazards.
IBFWS combines meteorological data with local information on exposure and vulnerabilities to provide forecasts which focus on, ‘what the weather will do instead of what the weather will be’. General weather warnings provide information driven by the weather whereas for impact-based warnings the impacts of the hazards drive the warning messages.
The main outcomes of this IBFWS Vanuatu initiative include:
- Enhanced knowledge and understanding of impact-based forecasting
- Enhanced coordination and collaboration of VMGD, NDMO, and other key stakeholders for IBFWS
- Implementation and testing of end-to-end IBFWS
- Integration and operationalising the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP)
The key components of this initiative are:
(1) An online pre-workshop IBFWS training (7 August - 5 October, 2024) - to prepare participants for the IBFWS in-person Workshop in October. The IBFWS Pre-Workshop eLearning Course on the WMO Moodle from August -October, 2024. Meeting participants can access their course here.
Reference Guides
- WMO-No. 1150 WMO Guidelines on Multi-hazard Impact-based Forecast and Warning Services
- WMO-No. 1150 WMO Guidelines on Multi-hazard Impact-based Forecast and Warning Services Part II: Putting Multi-Hazard IBFWS into Practice
(2) A Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) Review - to help implement the CAP standard for the communication of warnings
(3) An in-person IBFWS workshop for VMGD, NDMO and other stakeholders (7-11 October, 2024) - to train participants on IBFWS and to initiate actions leading to the implementation of IBFWS. Impacts tables, the risk matrix, the response matrix, MoUs for partnership building and inserting CAP and IBFWS in the SOPs for generating and communicating warnings will also be undertaken.
Meeting Resources
2. IBFWS Vanuatu Workshop Programme
3. Meeting Presentations
IBFWS Video Case Study Barbados
Meeting Presentations
(4) A 2-day IBFWS practical session (31 October - 1 November, 2024) - to agree on draft IBFWS tools, the implementation work plan, and governance of IBFWS implementation for Vanuatu.