Manual on the WMO Integrated Global Observing System. Annex VIII to the WMO Technical Regulations. 2015 edition, updated in 2017.

Abstract

This is the first edition of the Manual on the WMO Integrated Global Observing System(WMO-No. 1160), developed following the decision of the Sixteenth World MeteorologicalCongress to proceed with the implementation of that System (WIGOS). It was approved by theSeventeenth World Meteorological Congress.2.The Manual was developed by the Executive Council through its Inter-CommissionCoordination Group on WIGOS, specifically its Task Team on WIGOS Regulatory Material. It isthe result of a collaborative approach involving all interested technical commissions under theleadership of the Commission for Basic Systems (CBS) and the Commission for Instruments andMethods of Observation (CIMO).Purpose and scope3.The Manual is designed:(a)To specify the obligations of Members in the implementation and operation of WIGOS;(b)To facilitate cooperation in observations between Members;(c)To ensure adequate uniformity and standardization in the practices and proceduresemployed in achieving (a) and (b) above.4.The Manual is Annex VIII to the Technical Regulations (WMO-No. 49) and should beread in conjunction with the four volumes and the set of annexes which together make up theTechnical Regulations. In particular, the Manual on the Global Observing System (WMO-No. 544)will be for some time a companion to the present Manual, but it will eventually disappear as itscontent is progressively moved into the Manual on the WMO Integrated Global Observing System.Gradually, all technical regulations for all WMO component observing systems will be includedunder the identity of WIGOS.