GURME—The WMO GAW Urban Research Meteorology and Environment Project

The GAW Urban Research Meteorology and Environment (GURME) project has been established by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) to enhance the capabilities of National Meteorological Services (NMSs) in providing urban-environmental forecasting and air quality services of high quality, illustrating the linkages between meteorology and air quality. GURME pilot projects are an important mechanism to promote urban activities. These have been established in Beijing, Moscow and Latin American Cities. All these involve several institutes collaborating together for a common goal. “The study for the mechanisms controlling atmospheric environmental pollution in Beijing”, coordinated by the Chinese Meteorological Administration, is focused on improving the understanding of pollution formation in the atmosphere, design of optimal schemes for monitoring, forecasting of pollution events, and fostering of improved prevention strategies. This project will collaborate with World Weather Research Programme on Beijing Olympics 2008 FDP Project. The “Meteorological Servicing for Sustainable Development of the Moscow Megalopolis”, coordinated by the Russian Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring (Roshydromet), is an integrated measurement and modelling study of linkages between weather, air quality and climate in the Moscow environment. “The Latin American Cities project” seeks to improve air quality forecasting first in Mexico City, Santiago de Chile and Sao Paolo, and transfer knowledge to other cities in Latin America. Capacity building is an important part of GURME. The current focus is on air quality (AQ) forecasting, and GURME has organized a series of workshops on this topic. The first one was a regional workshop held in Kuching, Malaysia, the second an expert workshop held in Cuernavaca, Mexico. The latter workshop led to the Latin American Cities project, in which the first AQ forecasting workshop has been held. At the ASAAQ meeting we plan to present an overview of GURME, and report on recent findings from the pilot projects and workshops. We also plan to discuss future plans and activities. The GURME web site is available at: http://www.wmo.int/web/arep/gaw/urban.html