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Programmes > DRA > Regional Office for Asia and Pacific > Region V
Region V (South-West Pacific)
About the Region
The terms “South-West Pacific Region”, “RA V” and/or “the Region” are used to describe that area englobing the countries and territories encompassed in the WMO Regional Association (RA) V (South-West Pacific). There are 22 Members of RA V.
Geographical limits
| Northern limit |
From the point 5°S, 80°E to the point 5°S, 90°E, thence along longitude 90°E to the point 6.5°N, thence along latitude 6.5°N to the Malaysia-Thailand boundary, thence along the Malaysia-Thailand boundary to the coast on the Gulf of Thailand, thence to the point 10°N, 110°E, thence north-eastwards along a straight line to the point 23.5°N, 125°E, thence along latitude 23.5° to the 180th meridian, thence northwards along the 180th meridian to the point 30°N, 180°, thence eastwards along latitude 30°N to the point 30°N, 140°W, thence south-eastwards to the point 5°N, 120°W. |
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| Eastern limit |
| From the point 5°N, 120°W along longitude 120°W southwards. |
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| Western limit |
| From the point 5°S, 80°E southwards along longitude 80°E, to a point 50°S, 80°E, thence westwards to a point 50°S, 70°E, thence along longitude 70°E southwards. |
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| Southern limit |
| Along latitude 60°S. |
NMSs in the South-West Pacific Region
Almost all of the Pacific Island countries have a national meteorological service. These services collect meteorological data which are used primarily for forecast and warning services, but are also the basic data for climate monitoring. The national climatological services are generally poorly developed or non-existent. In a number of instances, these countries rely mainly on external support to provide basic climatological services.
In general, the meteorological services in the region are small by world standards with limit-ed resources, budgets and staff. They are overwhelmed by the need to respond to a number of policy issues and operational requirements ranging from tropical cyclones, climate variability, climate monitoring, climate change, provision of routine weather information including forecasts, and meeting the needs of industry such as aviation. Their resources are almost entirely consumed by day to day operational requirements, leaving practically no funding for research, and limited capacity to maintain their operational systems. The means their ability to carry out environmental planning and provide advice to their governments is limited. The smaller Services have very few qualified staff. The capabilities of NMSs in the region range from one with relatively advanced infrastructure and reasonably good capability in several areas of service provision to those with poor infrastructure and very limited capability.
In terms of financial resources, most Pacific Island countries continue to rely on aid and cooperative programs for their operations. These programs take a number of forms and can be bilateral, multilateral or regional. Donors can be individual countries, a group of countries, or regional and international organizations.
Most Pacific Island governments have recently made moves toward diversifying their economies into areas traditionally not considered feasible, such as forestry, fishing, water resources, industries, transportation, tourism, all of which are extremely weather and climate dependent. This has placed increased demands on National Meteorological Services in a time of decreasing resources.
