On March 23, the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) unveiled top 10 Advances in High Quality Development of Meteorology in 2023. Thanks to the modernization of meteorological science and technology and social services, meteorology scored positive outcomes in its High Quality Development program in China last year.

They are as follows.

A 1: Progress has been made in the implementation of the Outline for High Quality Development of Meteorology (2022-2035), with the level of meteorological development going up by 4.8% compared with 2022. According to the assessment, in 2023, the basic capabilities, the innovation vitality and forecasting & service have been ramped up. According to statistics, meteorological service has saved losses worth of 560 billion RMB for the public.

A 2: Two FENGYUN (FY) meteorological satellites were successfully launched to enable CMA to boast a more complete meteorological satellite monitoring system. FY-3G, launched in April 2023, is China's first precipitation measurement satellite, filling the gap in its monitoring of the three-dimensional structure of the global precipitation in the middle and low latitudes. FY-3F, launched in August 2023, provides satellite data monitored at 10 a.m. local time for all parts of the world. With 9 FY meteorological satellites running in orbit, CMA continues to augment its global meteorological satellite monitoring capability.

A 3: CMA Global Forecast System (CMA-GFS4.0) has brought down the spatial resolution to 12.5 kilometers and brought up the available lead time to more than 8 days for the northern hemisphere.CMA Mesoscale Model (CMA-MESO) is updated with a resolution of 1 km at a 1-hour interval, which strongly supports the meteorological services for major severe weather processes.

A 4: A new-generation meteorological supercomputing system has been established, with the comprehensive computing power remarkably increased, and the total computing power exceeding 60PFLOPS. The new supercomputing power of 52PFLOPS and the intelligent computing power of 3.6PFLOPS provide such needed support for the R&D such as the Earth system NWP model and the large meteorological model.

A 5:The global intelligent digital forecasting product system has been redeveloped in a refined and three-dimensional space manner, with the forecasting accuracy increased by 4.6% on average. The meteorological grid forecasting product system of scales of 10 km globally, 5 km in China, and 1 km in key areas has been improved, with 14 new forecasting products such as fog and dust added.

A 6: The monitoring and warning of severe convective weather such as hail have been further enhanced. The software and product for the operational performance of weather radars are further optimized. The monitoring and warning of meteorological disasters continued to improve, and the lead time for severe convection warning was advanced by 43 minutes.

A 7: Meteorological service delivery continued to improve, with the public meteorological service satisfaction reaching 92.4 in 2023. The National Warning Center issued 420,000 advisory messages last year, covering 98.8 percent of the public. Together with the public security and transportation departments, CMA delivered an improved and upgraded service to 218 roads prone to high-impact severe weather.

A 8: 58 organizations of meteorological research and operation, and universities/colleges and research institutes co-sponsored the National Alliance for Blended Meteorological Science and Education for Innovation. Major innovation platforms were launched in the fields of artificial intelligence, quantum technology, upper-air cloud water resource development, and marine meteorology in partnership with local governments, with the meteorological innovation system further improved.

A 9:Weather modification was operated in an area of about 5.05 million square kilometer, with notable benefits achieved in fields such as rain enhancement and drought relief, forest fire prevention, improved ecological environment, and food security.

A 10: The meteorological sounding system based on the Beidou satellite navigation has been put into application, with the vertical atmospheric observation significantly boosted. Ground-based remote sensing observation system is capable of 24-hour continuous atmospheric vertical profile observation of temperature, humidity, wind and aerosol, with the accuracy and intelligence of upper-air meteorological observation significantly enhanced.

Editor: LIU Shuqiao