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Medvedev approves draft agreement on Caspian hydrometeorology cooperation

Russia's meteorological service Roshydromet has several stations for monitoring the condition of the Caspian Sea

© EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH

MOSCOW, March 20. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has approved a draft agreement between Russia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan on cooperation in the sphere of hydrometeorology of the Caspian Sea. Russian government’s official website reports that the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources has been instructed to sign the document on behalf of the Russian Cabinet.

The draft agreement was developed by the national meteorological and hydrological services of the parties involved and was agreed upon at the 18th session of the Coordinating Committee on Hydrometeorology and Pollution Monitoring of the Caspian Sea (CASPCOM) that was held in Ashgabat in November 2013.

The document provides for cooperation between the Caspian littoral states in different fields, including issues of functioning and development of national monitoring networks, application of standards of the World Meteorological Organization and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO regarding methods of monitoring hydrometeorological parameters, improvement of methods of forecasting the condition of the Caspian Sea, including forecasts of the sea level fluctuation, as well as development of basis for a uniform geo-information system of the Caspian Sea condition and coordination of measures for training and upgrading skills of hydrometeorologists.

“Cooperation under the agreement is aimed at the creation and development of a complex regional system of getting information on the state of the Caspian Sea and such information exchange in the interests of safety of living and the development of economic activity in its water area,” the government said.

It added that the Federal Service of Russia on Hydrometeorology and Monitoring of the Environment (Roshydromet) has in the Caspian Sea six onshore automatic monitoring hydrometeorology stations, two aerological stations, stations for the reception of weather satellite data, as well as two scientific research expedition vessels.

“The document will create the legal framework for the expansion of international exchange of observation data, analytical and forecast information on the state of the Caspian Sea, as well as for the preparation of the sections on the climate and hydrological regime of the sea in the periodical assessment of the state of the environment of the Caspian Sea, provided for by Article 19 of the Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea of November 4, 2003 (Tehran),” the Russian government website reports.

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