TERMS OF REFERENCE OF THE INTERNATIONAL FORUM OF USERS OF SATELLITE DATA TELECOMMUNICATION SYSTEMS

• Provide coordination amongst the users of satellite data telecommunication systems (SDTS) and represent their collective interests in working with the satellite telecommunication service providers and the industry in order to advance the awareness and understanding of the user requirements;
• Advance the awareness and understanding of available and planned capabilities;
• Facilitate adoption of interoperability and quality standards and principles as needed;
• Investigate and propose as needed cooperative and tariff negotiation mechanisms on the use of satellite data telecommunication systems;
• Facilitate the preparation of technical advice and guidance that will optimize STDS choices for each considered application.
• Report to the executive bodies of WMO and IOC through the Commission for Basic Systems (CBS), the Joint WMO-IOC Technical Commission for Oceanography and Marine Meteorology (JCOMM), and the GOOS Steering Committee respectively.

TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR THE SATCOM FORUM EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Terms of Reference

• 1. Assist the chairperson in the preparation of reports, and their submission, if needed, to the Secretariats of the co-sponsoring Organizations for distribution.
• 2. Annually review the functions and duties of the Forum and recommend any changes to the Chairperson for discussion and approval at the Forum Session.
• 3. Analyze the Forum budget, and advises the Chairperson.

Membership

• 1. The membership shall include:
• i. Chairperson
• ii. Vice-Chairperson
• iii. Three additional members proposed by the Chairperson and elected by the Forum.
  • These members will serve a term of 4 years with an optional 4-year appointment
• iv. Representatives of the Forum sub-programmes
• v. Representatives of the Secretariats of the co-sponsoring Organizations (presently WMO and IOC, ex officio)
• vi. Representatives of Operators and service providers of Satcom systems (ex officio)
• vii. Representatives of Satellite equipment manufacturers (ex officio)
• 2. Careful consideration should be made to ensure a proper mix that represents co- sponsoring Organizations Members/Member Nations/Member States, user groups, and subject matter experts.

Meetings

• 1. As necessary, the Chairperson will convene and organize all Forum-EC meetings. The meetings can be in person, or teleconference.
• 2. If decisions are needed by the Forum-EC as permitted/requested by the Forum Session or the Chairperson during the inter-session, the Forum-EC shall attempt to form a consensus on decisions. If a consensus cannot be reached in a timely manner, the chair may opt to make the decisions by election. Elections for decisions may be organized with a quorum consisting of at least four members of the Forum-EC, including the Chairperson or his nominated deputy.
• 2.1 The following members of the Forum-EC shall have a vote if a decision is made by election:
• i. Chairperson
• ii. Vice-Chairperson
• iii. The three additional members as defined under Membership 1.iii above
• 2.2 The following groups of members of the Forum-EC shall have one vote per group if a decision is made by election:
• i. Representatives of the Forum sub-programmes
• ii. Representatives of the Operators and service providers of Satcom systems
• iii. Representatives of Satellite equipment manufacturers
• 2.3 Where a single vote is held by a group of representatives, it is recommended that they come to a consensus of those who attend the meeting as to how they use their vote. If unable to come to consensus, they should abstain from voting.

MEMBERSHIP OF THE SATCOM FORUM EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

The membership as approved by Satcom2018 includes:

TERMS OF REFERENCE OF THE SATCOM FORUM CHAIRPERSON

1. The Chairperson shall be impartial and shall not favor any particular group, organization or country;
2. In consultation with the Executive Committee (Forum-EC), the Chairperson shall prepare the agenda, and confirm the venue for the annual session for distribution by the secretariat;
3. The Chairperson shall conduct the annual session of the Forum, and promote free, equitable and open discussion of agenda items;
4. The Chairperson shall convene intersessional meetings of the Forum-EC as necessary;
5. The Chairperson shall regularly liaise with Satcom system providers with regard to developments that might impact the Forum and its members;
6. The Chairperson shall routinely circulate information to the Forum participants during the intersessional period as appropriate;
7. The Chairperson shall deputize the vice-Chairperson if required;
8. The Chairperson shall represent the agreed views, decisions, and requirements of the Forum at various appropriate meetings, and report back on the outcomes to subsequent meetings of the Forum-EC and Forum;
9. The Chairperson, assisted by members of the Forum-EC if required, shall prepare and finalize reports of the Forum and its Forum-EC, and submit them to the Secretariats for publication if necessary;
10. The Chairperson shall seek contributions to the Satcom Forum Trust Fund, advise on the use of the funds, and authorize spending following consultation with the Forum-EC in accordance to the guidance provided by the Forum;

TERMS OF REFERENCE OF THE SATCOM FORUM VICE-CHAIRPERSON

• The Chairperson shall deputize the Vice-Chairperson for all of the duties (except for item number 7 of the Forum Chairperson’s ToR) if required.

TERMS OF REFERENCE OF THE SATCOM FORUM REPRESENTATIVE OF THE CO-SPONSORING ORGANIZATIONS MEMBER/MEMBER NATION/MEMBER STATE (ROM)

1. shall be nominated by the Permanent Representative of a WMO Member or the Action Addressee of an IOC Member State;
2. should collect evolving requirements from Member/Member Nation/Member State users of Satellite Data Telecommunication systems (Satcom systems) and bring these to the attention of the Forum;
3. could designate an alternate to act on its behalf at Forum meetings by means of a letter to the Forum Chairperson;
4. decides on nominations and proposals put forward by the Forum Executive Committee (Forum-EC);
5. is the only authority in the Forum to represent the Member/Member Nation/Member State user groups and to decide on matters relevant to the Terms of Reference of the Satcom Forum;
6. should initiate interaction with their users, or act as the focal point when deemed to be appropriate or being considered necessary;
7. will provide basic support to existing and new users based on information made available by the Forum or Satcom system providers;
8. interact with Satcom system providers when deemed to be necessary or required;
9. participate in the regular negotiations initiated by the Forum for the tariff and service level of specific Satcom systems;
10. monitor the usage of the Satcom systems by its users;
11. will provide a report to the Forum meeting at least one month prior to the meeting date, in a format following the current reporting structure;
12. should, upon request of Satcom system providers, not distribute or communicate commercially sensitive information provided by Satcom system providers to the ROMs.

TERMS OF REFERENCE OF A SATCOM FORUM REPRESENTATIVE OF A USER GROUP (FRUG)

• i. An agency or consortium (candidate) who wishes to be represented through a FRUG consults with the Satcom Forum Chairperson to check whether there is already a FRUG representing a similar community in the Satcom Forum;
• ii. If such a FRUG already exists, the candidate negotiates whether it could be represented through that FRUG;
• iii. If such a FRUG doesn’t already exist, the candidate provides the Chairperson with the proposed Terms of Reference for the FRUG, and the name of the individual proposed to be the FRUG, and requests these to be added in the list of FRUGs;
• iv. The Chairperson consults with the Forum-EC, and makes an informed recommendation to the next Forum session whether the new FRUG should be accepted or not;
• v. The FRUGs are formally endorsed at the regular Forum sessions.

• i. A FRUG will be an individual who can fairly represent the overall consensus view of a significant user community regarding the use of Satcom systems. Such communities might reasonably include the operators of specific environmental observing stations, e.g. Automatic Weather Stations (AWS), polar observing stations, data buoys, floats, ice platforms, animal tags, ship stations and airborne stations, or bodies with agreed international responsibilities for the promotion, sponsorship or validation of any aspect of environmental observation using Satcom systems (e.g. IOC, WMO, FAO, WWF).
• ii. The FRUG will work with Satcom system providers and the Forum Executive Committee to identify opportunities that might bring the Forum session into closer contact with his/her user group, with a view to establishing within that group the benefits of the Forum process.
• iii. It is accepted that for certain user groups (e.g. animal trackers), accreditation as above might be difficult to establish in the short term. Nonetheless the Forum-EC will work proactively to seek and encourage the identification of FRUGs as essential components of the Forum.
• iv. Notwithstanding the above, the Forum sessions are open with observer status to any interested person (see Forum TORs).
• v. If accredited, a FRUG will be obliged to consult as widely as possible with his/her user community regarding their use and expectations of the Satcom systems, and to make the results of these consultations publicly available well in advance of Forum sessions.
• vi. The FRUG will also be expected to act as an impartial focal point for the dissemination of relevant information regarding Satcom systems that might be of benefit to his/her user community.
• vii. In return, the FRUG will receive a letter of accreditation, and may be able to request some level of financial support from the Forum for attendance at meetings and for other activities approved by the Forum-EC.
• viii. The FRUG will work with Satcom system providers and the Forum-EC to identify opportunities that might bring the Forum session into closer contact with his/her user group, with a view to establishing within that group the benefits of the Forum process.

TYPICAL AGENDA FOR A SATCOM FORUM SESSION IN YEAR YYYY

• 1. ORGANIZATION OF THE MEETING
  • 1.1 OPENING OF THE MEETING
  • 1.2 ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA
  • 1.3 WORKING ARRANGEMENTS
  • 1.4 SELECTION OF THE WRITING GROUP (WG)3
• 2. REPORT OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE FORUM
  • 2.1 REPORT ON THE FORUM-EC
  • 2.2 REVIEW OF ACTIONS
• 3. USER GROUP REPORTS
• 4. REPORT ON THE SUB-PROGRAMMES
• 5. REPORT ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF SATCOM SYSTEMS
• 6. REVIEW OF USER’S REQUIREMENTS AND ISSUES
• 7. SATCOM SYSTEMS REVIEW, AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION
• 8. REPORT ON TARIFF ISSUES AND RELEVANT NEGOTIATIONS BY THE FORUM SUB-PROGRAMMES
• 9. REVIEW OF THE OPERATING PRINCIPLES
• 10. FUTURE PLANS AND PROGRAMMES
• 11. ANY OTHER BUSINESS
• 12. ELECTION OF THE CHAIRPERSON, VICE-CHAIRPERSON, and FORUM-EC MEMBERSHIP
• 13. DATE AND PLACE OF THE NEXT MEETING
• 14. CLOSURE OF THE MEETING

Registered members

	Salutation	First Name (in full)	Family Name (in full)	Company Name	Country	Created
	Mr	Pablo	LOYBER	National Meteorological Service	Argentina	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mr	Bryan	Hodge	Bureau Of Meteorology	Australia	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mr	Nick	Daws	Fastwave	Australia	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Dipl Ing	Gerhard	Pevny	Logotronic GmbH	Austria	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mr	CEDRIC ELSY	SIELATCHOM NGALAHA	University of Yaounde 1	Cameroon	Thu 11 of Apr, 2019 16:58 CEST
	Mr	Philip	Bartlett	FTS	Canada	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mr	Mike	Burton	Campbell Scientific (Canada	Canada	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mr	Alan	DeCiantis	FTS	Canada	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mr	David	Illng	WildLand Communications Corp	Canada	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mr	Eric	Dupuis	NAV CANADA	Canada	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mr	Allan	Place	JouBeh Technologies	Canada	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Dr	TING	YU	NMDIS/SOA	China	Fri 27 of Oct, 2017 05:43 CEST
	Mr	Ran	Liu	China Meteorological Administration	China	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mr	Francilly Lardin	SAMBA	NMHs of Congo	Congo	Wed 22 of May, 2019 18:05 CEST
	Mr	Alphonse	KANGA	ANAC	Congo	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mr	Manuel Ricardo	CARVAJAL Ortiz	Insitituto Meteorologia (INAMHI)	Ecuador	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Dr	hasan	galal	Egyptian Space Agency	Egypt	Thu 26 of Dec, 2019 12:07 CET
	Mr	Mahmoud	Abdou	Egyptian Meteorological Authority (EMA)	Egypt	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mr	Amr Mohamed	Amr	Egyptian meteorological authority (EMA)	Egypt	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mr	Nicholas	Coyne	EUMETSAT	Europe	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mr	JEAN-BAPTISTE	COHUET	Météo-France	France	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mrs	ANNE MARIE	BREONCE	CLS	France	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mr	Michel	SARTHOU	CNES	France	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mr	GEORGE NJAGGA EMMANUEL	STAFFORD	DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES	Gambia	Mon 03 of Jul, 2017 12:17 CEST
	Mr	Sean	Burns	EUMETSAT	Germany	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mr	Rudolf	Krockauer	Deutscher Wetterdienst	Germany	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mr	Rudolf	Duester	SEBA Hydrometrie GmbH & Co. KG	Germany	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Ms	GRACE	AMOAH	MFP	Ghana	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mr	victor kwesi	EKAH	METEOLOGICAL SERVICE	Ghana	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mr	BAYU	SANTOSO	STMKG JAKARTA	Indonesia	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mr	CLAUDIO	ORTEGA	LICATAMETEO.EU	Italy	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mr	Hiroyuki	Ichijo	Japan Met Business Support Center: JMBSC	Japan	Mon 02 of Jul, 2018 07:37 CEST
	Mr	PETER	MUTAI	KENYA METEOROLOGICAL DEPARTMENT	Kenya	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mr	Andrianambinina Heriniaina	RAHARISOA	Météo Malagasy	Madagascar	Thu 24 of Jan, 2019 11:54 CET
	Mr	Simon	Van Den Dries	Rencos B.V.	Netherlands	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Dr	OKUKU	EDIANG	NIGERIAN METEOROLOGICAL AGENCY	Nigeria	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mr	ahmed	Alharthi	world meteorological house	Oman	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mr	Badee	Khayyat	PME/GAMEP	Saudi Arabia	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mr	Johan	Stander	JCOMM	South Africa	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mr	Youngjae	Lee	KMIPA	South Korea	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Prof.	Byong-Lyol	Lee	WMO CAgM	South Korea	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mr	Alejandro	Hornero	GozaMET	Spain	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mr	Andres	Alonso-Martirena	QUALITAS REMOS SL	Spain	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mr	JOSE LUIS	BELOSO GONZALEZ	SATLINK S.L.	Spain	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Ms	IRENE	FERNANDEZ GARCIA	AF MERCADOS	Spain	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Ms	INES	JUAREZ	EDP RENEWABLES	Spain	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Ms	Elsa	Tejada Velasco	Meteo for Energy	Spain	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mr	Ibon	Salbidegoitia	Meteo for Energy S.L.	Spain	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mr	Miguel	Martinez	GEONICA	Spain	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mr	JOSE LUIS	GARATE	QUANTIS GLOBAL	Spain	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mr	Jose	Calvo	Quantis Global	Spain	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mr	Daniel	Moretó	Avanti	Spain	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mrs	MARTA MARÍA	JIMÉNEZ MARTÍN	AF MERCADOS	Spain	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mrs	Mariuxi	Chávez Suárez	ORBCOMM INC.	Spain	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mr	Carlos	Barrera	Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands	Spain	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mr	Javier	Arbaizar	KV Consultores	Spain	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mr	Luis	Delgado	BFOR	Spain	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mr	Carlos	Calvo Sancho	GozaMet	Spain	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mr	David	Thomas	WMO	Switzerland	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mr	Etienne	Charpentier	WMO	Switzerland	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mrs	Champika	GALLAGE DONA	WMO	Switzerland	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mr	ERCUMENT	AVSAR	TSMS-TURKEY	Turkey	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mr	Abdulhamid	Alraeesi	NCMS	United Arab Emirates	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mr	Adnan	YarMohammed	NCMS	United Arab Emirates	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mr	Mohamed	AlEbri	National Centre of Meteorology & Seismol	United Arab Emirates	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Ms	Nada	El Marji	Inmarsat	United Arab Emirates	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Dr	Salim	Javed	Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi	United Arab Emirates	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Dr	Andrew	Sandford	Campbell Scientific Ltd	United Kingdom	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mr	Ayan	Jobse-Alkemade	Inmarsat	United Kingdom	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 12:30 CET
	Dr	Michael	Prior-Jones	The Technology Partnership plc	United Kingdom	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mr	Steven	Colwell	British Antarctic Survey	United Kingdom	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mr	Tim	Oakley	UK Met Office	United Kingdom	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Prof.	David	Meldrum	DML	United Kingdom	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mr	Anthony	Hopko	Orbcomm	United States	Fri 09 of Dec, 2016 13:04 CET
	Mr	Patrick	Smith	National Science Foundation	United States	Wed 06 of Jun, 2018 22:55 CEST

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