CMM, the most significant of the commissions in respect to marine 

 sciences, has its antecedents in the previously mentioned Conference 

 of 1853. (See entry 27.) It is responsible for the improvement of 

 weather services to the marine community, including the collection 

 of meteorological data for use in preparing forecasts and warnings, 

 the organization of meteorological networks for observations at sea, 

 and the promotion of studies of the meteorological aspects of ocean 

 waves and sea ice. 



CAS, in view of its research in air/sea Interaction, has the addi- 

 tional responsibility as a source of advice on meteorological aspects 

 of oceanic research. CBS and CIMO are also of interest to marine 

 scientists: CBS is charged with assuring optimism procedures for 

 handling data and CIMO with improving data acquisition and communica- 

 tion. CHy is of peripheral interest and recently developed the 

 Integrated Operational Hydrological System (lOHS) to service water 

 rsources management programs and projects in need of a real-time 

 and/or historical design data base. It is also responsible for 

 WMO's Operational Hydrology Programme (OHP). 



30. WMO SPECIALIZED COMMITTEES 



Specialized committees are established within WMO as needed to 

 handle special tasks or programs. Among the present committees are 

 the GARP Joint Organizing Committee (JOC) , which also includes mem- 

 bership from the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU); 

 the Tropical Experimental Board (TEB) comprising representatives 

 from WMO member countries who have signified their intention to 

 contribute substantially to the GARP Atlantic Tropical Experiment 

 (GATE) and which acts as the Central international body for planning 

 and implementing GATE; and the Tropical Experimental Council (TEC), 

 composed of representatives from member governments whose territories 

 or territorial waters extend into the GATE region and other member 

 governments that plan to contribute to GATE, which is responsible for 

 implementing and reviewing the GATE program. (See entry 347.) 



31. WMO REGIONAL ASSOCIATIONS 



Six Regional Associations, composed of member governments, 

 coordinate meteorological activities with the respective geographical 

 regions and examine from the regional point of view all questions 

 referred to them. The Regional Associations are: 



32. INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS UNION: ITU 



ITU was established in 1865 as the Union Telegraphique Interna- 

 tionale (UTI) and renamed the International Telecommunications 

 Union in 1932. In 1947 ITU became a U.N. specialized agency charged 

 with promoting international cooperation in telecommunications. It 

 promotes the rapid transmission of oceanographic and meteorological 

 data from ocean stations, which are allocated frequencies for their 

 exclusive use by the International Frequency Registration Board 

 (IFRB), a subsidiary of ITU. 



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