ABU DHABI, 15th November, 2022 (WAM) -- The National Centre of Meteorology (NCM) is hosting a regional workshop titled "Strengthening Tsunami Early Warning in the North-west Indian Ocean Through Regional Cooperation" which began on 14th November at its headquarters in Abu Dhabi.

The event, which concludes on 16th November, examines the role of early warning systems in achieving the goals of the United Nations Ocean Decade Tsunami Programme, to raise awareness and make communities highly at risk prepared for and resilient to tsunamis by 2030.

Commenting on the event, Dr. Abdulla Al Mandous, Director of the National Centre of Meteorology (NCM) and the President of Regional Association II (ASIA), said, “Given the increasing impact of climate change and natural disasters on countries and communities worldwide, no matter how rare they occur, concerted efforts must be made to enhance our readiness to mitigate their risks and consequences. By strengthening regional collaboration, defining a common framework for collective action and raising awareness about tsunami risks, we aim to shape a more sustainable future for the communities across the North-west Indian Ocean region.”

Al Mandous added, "Hosting this regional workshop demonstrates the UAE’s commitment to achieving the objectives of the United Nations programme to reduce tsunami risks. In addition to building strategic partnerships to enhance tsunami early warning systems, the event is an opportunity to develop innovative and data-driven solutions to minimise the impact of climate change on communities.”

Besides the NCM, those participating are representatives from the Ministry of Interior (MOI), the National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Management Authority (NCEMA), Abu Dhabi City Municipality (ADM), Dubai Municipality, the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU), Khalifa University and University of Sharjah.

It also convenes representatives from the IOC-UNESCO Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Coordination Group for Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (ICG/IOTWMS), IOC-UNESCO Indian Ocean Tsunami Information Centre (IOTIC), the Project Team for the UNESCAP TTF-31 project with the support of the ICG/IOTWMS Tsunami National Contacts (TNCs) from the UAE, India, Iran, Oman, and Pakistan.

Together with the UAE’s neighbouring countries, the NCM hosts regular workshops to discuss the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for operations centres, promote media engagement in the tsunami warning chain, and bolster local warning capabilities through the NCM’s Tsunami Early Warning Centre. Such efforts benefit the country’s disaster preparedness by developing SOPs in collaboration with regional centres and national and local entities to ensure unified warning definitions, categories and outputs.

The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) is supporting a Probabilistic Tsunami Hazard Assessment (PTHA) in the North West of the Indian Ocean (NWIO) and the establishment of an NWIO Regional Working Group on Tsunami Inundation Modelling and Mapping (NWIO RWG-TIMM) with membership from the five countries participating in the project, with inputs from international experts.

The project will foster regional cooperation, promote knowledge exchange and provide information on existing approaches, methodologies and input data for tsunami inundation modelling and mapping. The NWIO RWG-TIMM will develop a unified approach for tsunami inundation modelling to ensure inter-comparable results throughout the region.