National Weather Service Has State-of-the-Art Infrastructure

The National Meteorological Administration of Romania (NMA), founded in 1884, is the country’s national weather service. Its mission is to observe and understand weather and climate and provide meteorological and related services which will help protect life and property, support sustainable development, and improve quality of life.

In 2014-2015 the project “Development of the national system for the monitoring and warning of the hazardous meteorological phenomena was implemented. It aimed at ensuring protection of life and property – Cod SMIS-CSNR 59667” within the Sectoral Operational Programme Environment (2007-2013), Key intervention area – Protection against flooding, Priority Axe 5 called “Implementation of adequate infrastructure of natural risk prevention in the most vulnerable areas”. The project was co-financed by the EU-Cohesion Fund overall budget of €1.204.511. By increasing the automatic capability of the whole weather station network, a modern national meteorological system was finalized in order to implement a unitary device for operational surveillance and exploitation. It also aimed at maintaining the national weather forecasting and warning system, as well as supporting of decisions concerning the management of emergency situations, including the management of the hydro-meteorological extreme phenomenon. As a result, the NMA has developed a network of 160 automatic (MAWS) weather stations, of which 55 focus on meteorological issues relating to agriculture. With eight Doppler radars in service, the NMA has one of the most technologically advanced meteorological radar networks in Europe.

The NMA partners with 23 meteorological stations in the Regional Basic Synoptic Network and 14 stations in the Regional Basic Climatological Network under WMO Programmes. It also works with the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), the European National Meteorological Services Network (EUMETNET) and the Economic Interest Grouping of the National Meteorological Services of the European Area (ECOMET). It is a member of the COSMO and ALADIN consortia and is involved in the RC-LACE program.

The NMA’s recent national projects in Romania include CLIMHYDEX, GEODIM, MOBBE, LIRA, GENCLIM, MEDGAME, REDBHI, ASSIMO and ADER 2014-2020. Its major European projects include FP6 (ENSEMBLES, CECILIA, HYDRATE) and FP7 Programme (SAFER, EURO4M, CRYOLAND, MACC, EUROPORIAS, UERRA, CLEANWATER), INTERREG IIIB (ACCRETe), INTERREG IVC (WATER CoRe), SEE (CC-WaterS, OrientGate, CC-Ware), Horizon 2020 (MOSES), EEA Financial Mechanism 2009-2014 (SNOWBALL), ERA-NET Water Works 2014 (IRIDA, IMDRFLOOD), and COST Actions.