Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Improving the capacity of hydro-meteorologicalmonitoring and forecasting as well as strengthening international cooperationare identified as two major tasks of the national hydro-meteorological sectorin the future.

Professor Tran Hong Thai, Director General of the Vietnam Meteorological andHydrological Administration said the sector needed to develop, focusing oninvesting in science, technology and human resources.

It was also advised to fully apply the nation’s scientific and technologicalachievements and look at other technological achievements from around theworld, he said.

The sector should continue perfecting the network of nationalhydro-meteorological monitoring stations, especially automatic monitoringstations to get more accurate data serving natural disaster prevention andcontrol, socio-economic development and national security and defence, headded.

Collecting data from satellites to forecast weather developments on a largescale such as typhoon, tropical low-pressure system and monsoon should bestrengthened, he said.

The equipment for weather radar networks was imperative so the sector couldissue more accurate warnings on small-scale weather phenomenon includingtornados, hail and flash floods, he said.

The sector’s computer systems should be upgraded to meet the requirements ofprocessing, calculating, storing and exploiting data to servehydro-meteorological forecasting in the future, he said.

Talking about international cooperation, Thai also said Vietnam would continuetaking advantage of foreign aid to develop new methods and technology as welland training human resource staff.

Hoang Duc Cuong, deputy head of the administration said Vietnam already committedto supporting the region in two programmes of the World MeteorologicalOrganisation - Dangerous Weather Forecasting Project and Flash Flood WarningIndicator System for the Southeast Asia.

Vietnam also actively participated in the activities of the Asian RegionalMeteorological Association, which connected with the members of the regionaloffice of the World Meteorological Organisation, the Technical Committees andRegional Associations, he said.

The country was also eager to receive technology support as well as experiencefrom other countries, especially in strengthening its capacity for warning andforecasting, he said.

Through international cooperation, the sector had made many efforts to helpLaos and Cambodia in training professional staff, developing thehydro-meteorological station network for a long time, he said.

During the period of 2010-20, the sector had completed tasks in the frameworkof multilateral cooperation (with the World Meteorological Organisation, StormCommittee, ASEAN Sub-committee on Meteorology and Geophysics) and bilateral cooperationwith Meteorological Agency of the Republic of Korea, China, Laos, Japan,Finland, Italy and Norway, he said.

Joint efforts

Director of the National Centre for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting Mai VanKhiem said although natural disasters appeared with high frequency at the endof 2020, but by its efforts and close cooperation with all relevant ministriesand localities, the centre had forecasted and warned quickly and accuratelyabout natural disasters through thousands of forecasts and warnings on websiteswww.nchmf.gov.vn, www.kttv.gov.vn, www.thoitietvietnam.gov.vn and via massmedia.

The centre also constantly updated weather forecasts via its Facebook and Zalopages so people could react to warnings quicker, he said.

Data showed the centre had tracked and forecast 13 storms, one tropicallow-pressure system, 24 cold spells, 13 heat waves and 19 large-scale torrentialrain storms last year, he said.

It also warned very early of drought and saltwater intrusion in the centralregion and the Mekong River Delta; and torrential rains in the central region,contributing to proactive response, prevention and control of natural disastersfrom the central to local-level authorised agencies between September andNovember 2020, he said.

Mai Thi Thu Suong, an observer of the Thach Han Hydro-meteorological Station inthe central province of Quang Tri, said day or night, sunny or rainy, observersof the station would work monitoring the information.

Accurate data would produce accurate warnings of natural disasters, she said.

Phan Ngoc Tinh, head of the station said they knew that early and accuratewarnings would help reducing damages caused by natural disasters for the peopleand potentially save lives./.