World Meteorological Organization
Based in Geneva, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) coordinates global scientific activity from weather prediction to air pollution research and climate change-related activities. One of the WMO's main functions is to facilitate the international cooperation needed to establish stations networks from which to make standardized meteorological and hydrological surface observations. The organization was formed in 1951 and established as a specialized agency of the United Nations later that year. As of June 1996, there were 185 members, all of whom maintain their own meteorological and hydrological services.
Each day, high-speed links transmit over 15 million data characters and 2,000 weather charts through the three World, 35 Regional and 183 National Meteorological Centers associated with the WMO. The Centers cooperate with each other to prepare weather analyses and forecasts using information from the Global Telecommunication System (GTS), which is coordinated by the WMO.
The GTS consists of an integrated network of point-to-point circuits, and multi-point circuits that connect meteorological telecommunication centers. The circuits of the GTS are composed of a combination of terrestrial and satellite telecommunication links.
The WMO also controls the GTS codes and formats used for data transmission. In the early years, weather stations made voice broadcasts in GTS code. Later GTS code was delivered on teletype machines at 300 baud. Now, satellite-based data collection and data distribution systems are integrated in the GTS as an essential element of the global, regional and national levels of the GTS. Several countries, including Argentina, Canada, China, France, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Thailand and the USA, have implemented satellite-based multi-point telecommunication systems for their national meteorological telecommunication networks.