Warning, (in Swedish), level 1, SwedenNational co-operation
SMHI co-operates with several government agencies to improve Sweden’s meteorological, hydrological and oceanographic infrastructure. We also work alongside authorities, municipalities and other organisations in the field of safety and the environment. This collaboration has evolved in recent years and naturally varies in scope depending on the agency in question.
International co-operation
Weather and water know no national boundaries. Far-reaching international co-operation in meteorology, hydrology and oceanography is therefore essential and an important part of what SMHI does. International organisations and more or less formal networks are being established and developed in order to increase the rationality of global, European and Nordic/Baltic co-operation.
Sweden is since 2004 member of GEO, the Group on Earth Observations, which has the efforts to build GEOSS - Global Earth Observation System of Systems. The challenge is an overarching co-ordination and co-operation to create an international and multi-disciplinary network that describes global conditions.
SMHI represents Sweden in GEO and in its Plenary. Most international organizations in which SMHI interact are connected to GEO and its secretariat is located to WMO in Geneva.
International co-operation in Meteorology
A medium-range weather forecast requires observation data from all round the world. Access to this data is secured by SMHI in its work within the WMO, the World Meteorological Organization. The WMO is a UN body for global co-operation in weather forecasting, climate and water.
Data from weather satellites is becoming an increasingly important foundation in weather forecasts, in weather monitoring for weather services and the general public on TV and online, as well as in describing and monitoring the climate.
European countries have formed the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), with programmes for geostationary satellites (METEOSAT) and satellites in polar orbits (MetOp from 2006).
Through its membership of the European Center for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF), SMHI has access to the world's best medium-range weather forecasts, and to one of the world's fastest supercomputers.
In order to improve co-ordination between the European weather services, a Network of European Meteorological Services, EUMETNET, has been established. Its primary objective is to rationalise observation systems. Collaboration between EUMETSAT, ECMWF and EUMETNET is increasing in scope all the time.
Through the work of the economic interest grouping ECOMET, the rules for access to meteorological data and products have been standardised between a number of national meteorological services, and now enable commercial enterprises to access information for their business in exchange for a contribution towards the meteorological infrastructure.
The five Nordic institutes have a long tradition of collaboration, and this has been further cemented in a more formal agreement known as NORDMET. Co-operation has also increased with Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, particularly in various projects often partly funded by the EU.
International co-operation in Hydrology
SMHI plays an active role in the hydrological commission, CHy, one of the commissions under the WMO.
On a Nordic basis SMHI is also involved in three different collaborations: CHIN - the directors of the Nordic hydrological institutes, NHF - the Nordic Association for Hydrology, and IHP - the International Hydrological Programme.
Co-operation between the Nordic operational institutes in CHIN focuses on instruments and methods for hydrological measurements, collection and transmission of data, and development of Geographical Information Systems, GIS.
The NHF publishes an international magazine, Nordic Hydrology and one for the Nordic region ("Vannet i Norden"), and works through publications and conferences to improve the exchange of information between Nordic hydrologists. The Nordic IHP Committees stimulate collaboration in the Nordic Hydrological Programme, NHP
International co-operation in Oceanography
The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, IOC, works alongside the WMO to build and operate the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS). This data is of importance to oceanographic studies, and for environmental studies/environmental monitoring. It is also essential to weather forecasting, and to monitoring of the connected oceanographic-atmospheric/weather climate.
With SMHI's national responsibility for IOC issues and the ongoing establishment of GOOS comes a responsibility in EuroGOOS, the European organisation. SMHI is the host for the EuroGOOS Secretariat and was the initiative-taker behind BOOS, the Baltic Operational Oceanographic System.
SMHI is an expert body and submits measurement data and analyses to the Helsinki Commission, HELCOM, and to the OSPAR Commissions. The Institute is also actively involved in the commissions' work ordered by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. Moreover, we are active in marine environmental work in the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, ICES.