On 28 October 2010, Mr Israel Katz, Israeli Minister of Transport and Road Safety, and Mr Dominique Marbouty, Director-General of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), signed a co-operation agreement at ECMWF’s headquarters. Dr. Henia Berkovich, Director of the Israeli Meteorological Service, attended the ceremony. The agreement entered into force on the date of signature. Israel is ECMWF’s fifteenth Co-operating State.
Co-operation agreements offer full access to ECMWF real-time products, archive data and software tools, as well as access to ECMWF training facilities.
Dr Henia Berkovich, Minister Israel Katz, Director-General Dominique Marbouty
Minister Katz stated: “I take great pleasure in signing this co-operation agreement with the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, the world leader in numerical weather prediction. It is very important for Israel to have this close link to this centre of excellence. The information we will receive from ECMWF will be a great help to Israeli institutions to deliver top quality services to the Israeli people. I am confident that in particular the Israeli Meteorological Service will benefit immensely from this close co-operation. We very much value this agreement and the benefits it will bring to the people of Israel.”
Dr. Berkovich said: “This co-operation agreement is highly significant for the Israeli Meteorological Service. I am sure that closer collaboration with ECMWF will enable us to issue earlier advice on the likelihood of extreme weather, such as heat waves we experienced in the past years. We will be able to pass on the information we receive as a Co-operating State to both the public and the authorities responsible so that they can prepare for and respond to adverse weather events more effectively. We welcome the opportunity to share knowledge and expertise with our colleagues at ECMWF and will use ECMWF’s products to improve our forecasts and extend their range.”
Mr Marbouty said: “ECMWF owes its reputation as world leader in the field of global numerical weather prediction in the medium range to its close collaboration with the meteorological community worldwide. Governments are becoming increasingly aware of the need to improve the quality and accuracy of weather prediction in order to obtain advance warning of severe weather events such as storms, heat waves and floods. I look forward to working closely with the Israeli Meteorological Service and am pleased to offer the agency access to all our products, especially medium-range and seasonal weather forecasts.”
To date, Co-operation Agreements have been signed with Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Iceland, Israel, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, Morocco, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia.