The visit takes place every two years with the aim of informing each Member State about the development prospects of the European Centre
On 21 and 22 May, between Pratica di Mare and Palazzo AM, the institutional headquarters of the Armed Force, a visit took place by the delegation of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). The meeting, which is usually held on a biennial basis, forms part of the Centre's visits to Member States with the aim of informing each State on ECMWF's development prospects, discussing any issues encountered by Member States and gathering their requests regarding products and services developed and provided by the Centre itself.
As scheduled, the visit was divided into an initial technical phase, which took place at the National Centre for Aerospace Meteorology and Climatology of Pratica di Mare on the 21st, during which Dr. Umberto Modigliani, Deputy Director of the Forecast Department at ECMWF, Dr Angela Benedetti, researcher in the Section Earth System Predictability and Dr Emma Pidduck, analyst senior, they provided a comprehensive overview of the state of the art and future developments of numerical modelling for short-, medium- and long-range weather forecasts.
The ECMWF delegation also presented a quick overview of the whole portfolio of classic modelling products that the Centre produces, highlighting the improvements achieved over recent years and the importance of assimilating observational data increasingly pervasive and accurate, coming from traditional and non-traditional platforms, both ground-based and space-based.
During the meeting, particular emphasis was given to the development of weather forecast based on Artificial Intelligence which appears particularly interesting and promising.
CNMCA personnel actively intervened, demonstrating the operational use of ECMWF products for all the Centre's forecasting activities, as well as reporting case studies mainly related to high-impact events in Italy, for which importance was given to performance numerical ECMWF models in specific cases.
On the second day of the visit, which took place at the Air Force General Staff on 22 May, the delegation was joined by Dr Florence Rabier, Director-General of ECMWF, Dr Fabio Venuti, Deputy Director-General, and Dr Matteo Dell’Acqua, Head of the Bologna Data Centre. Representing the Air Force was a delegation from the’General Office of Military Aviation and Meteorology and Air Squadron Command, led by the Head of the AVIAMM General Office, Brigadier General Luca Baione.
During the meeting, an agreement was also signed between ECMWF, AM and Difesa Servizi SpA for the management of the costs arising from the transfer of weather data produced by the Centre to users. By signing the agreement, ECMWF recognises Difesa Servizi as the entity formally delegated by AM to transfer ECMWF-generated data to third parties and to manage the various components of the costs associated with the data between the data producer (ECMWF) and the licensee (AM), paying ECMWF the amounts due on a quarterly basis.
It National Centre for Aerospace Meteorology and Climatology, based in Pratica di Mare, reports to the 9th ISTAR-EW Air Brigade and provides meteorological support to multiple entities in both the military and civil sectors. The Centre provides continuous meteorological support to the assets of the Armed Forces, Defence, and the NATO and of the European Union wherever deployed, both on national territory and in operational theatres, while simultaneously guaranteeing meteorological services for Air Navigation in support of Operational and General Air Traffic. In this regard, the Centre has the competences of Aeronautical Meteorological Surveillance (Meteorological Watch Office – MWOon the Flight Information Region (FIR) of Milan, Rome and Brindisi for which it issues the necessary messages of flight safety.
