Staff from the National Institute of Meteorological Sciences under the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) and the Asia-Pacific Typhoon Collaborative Research Center of China on Nov. 20 pose for a group photo at the center in Shanghai after both organizations signed a memorandum of understanding. (KMA)

By Aisylu Akhmetzianova

A think tank under the country's national weather service has teamed up with China to use aircraft to jointly monitor typhoons, share information and improve numerical weather forecast models.

The National Institute of Meteorological Sciences under the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) and the Asia-Pacific Typhoon Collaborative Research Center of China on Nov. 20 signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in Shanghai on such cooperation, the KMA said.

To raise the predictability of the strength and routes of typhoons, sharing aircraft monitoring data is important because such storms originate at sea and move across multiple countries.

The KMA shares aviation observation information with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Japan Meteorological Agency and Central Weather Administration of Taiwan for use as input data to raise the performance of weather forecast models.

Thanks to this MOU, the KMA said Korea can fill the final gap in Northeast Asia and secure observational information on a typhoon's entire cycle from creation to dissipation.

aisylu@korea.kr