First Grenadian meteorologist on WMO Expert Team for Services to Aviation

Cécil Mitchell, a certified meteorologist at the Grenada Airports Authority (GAA) Department of Meteorology, was recently appointed as a member of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) Expert Team for Services for Aviation, Regional Association IV, which includes North America, Central America, and the Caribbean. 

She has served in the field of meteorology for the past 23 years. She graduated from the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology, Barbados, and was awarded a Master of Science Degree in Aviation Management with Distinction from the University of the West Indies, St Augustine, in 2019.

WMO, a specialised agency of the United Nations, is dedicated to international cooperation and coordination on the state and behaviour of the Earth’s atmosphere, its interaction with the land and oceans, the weather and climate it produces, and the resulting distribution of water resources, for the improvement of the wellbeing of societies of all nations.

Through its Technical Commissions, Programmes, Projects and Regional Offices, as well as its synergistic and public-private partnerships, WMO facilitates and coordinates an Earth system approach to the gathering and free exchange of observations, promotion and integration of research and the development and delivery of services in the areas of weather, climate and water.

The Expert Team for Services to Aviation is charged with the following responsibilities:

• To work, in close collaboration with the Expert Team on Aviation of Commission for Weather, Climate, Water and related Environmental Services and Applications and other partners and consistent with the implementation of the WMO Strategic Plan, to further the international standardisation of meteorological services for international air navigation and to provide assistance to Members with aeronautical meteorological services to achieve compliance with those standards
• To promote and facilitate, with Members of Regional Association (IV) (North America, Central America and the Caribbean), the exchange of scientific and technological advancement to meet evolving user requirements for high-quality, borderless, harmonised and cost-effective aeronautical meteorological information and services
• To analyse, in collaboration with expert Team on Climate the impacts of climate change and variability, including extreme weather and climate events, on aviation operations on the ground and in the air and clearly communicate these impacts to relevant stakeholders
• To promote, with Members, the efficient and effective governance of aeronautical meteorological service provision through the development and/or enhancement of appropriate cost-recovery mechanisms, information and data exchange policies and good practices
• To develop with Members and Regional Training Centres, guidance, training material and other educational/learning outreach to assist Members in the implementation of quality management systems and compliance with the competency and qualification requirements of personnel providing meteorological service for international air navigation
• To enhance, through effective communication, outreach, regional collaboration and partnership in aeronautical meteorology amongst Members and their aeronautical service providers, aviation stakeholders and other partners
• To provide advice, upon request, to Infrastructure Committee on the benefits of aircraft-based meteorological observations, to improve services for aviation

Mitchell recently published results from her thesis entitled An Analysis of Barriers to the Implementation of an ISO Certified Quality Management System for National Meteorological and Hydrological Services in the Anglophone Caribbean, in the Royal Meteorological Society (RMetS) Journal,  Volume29,  Issue4,  July/August 2022,e2086. Open Access is granted via the following link:  http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/met.2086.

Abstract

Aeronautical Meteorological Offices under National Meteorological and Hydrological Service provide critical meteorological, hydrological, ocean and climatological information that sustain air navigation safety, efficiency, and regularity. Thus, to quality assure the information, the International Civil Aviation Organisation recommended in 2002 that Aeronautical Meteorological Offices should implement ISO 9001 quality management system, which was subsequently standardised and became effective on 15 November 2012. There has been a slow movement towards adoption due to a number of barriers. In July 2019, 52% of Aeronautical Meteorological Offices commenced transition to the fifth iteration, ISO 9001:2015. A range of studies have investigated the barriers to successful quality management system implementation and certification within various organisations. However, only one study examined the Aeronautical Meteorological Offices and none of them covered the Anglophone Caribbean. Hence, the demography of the sample for this study is unique and this paper will contribute to filling the gaps in the literature. This exploratory study aims to identify the barriers, investigate their impacts, and propose recommendations to assist the Aeronautical Meteorological Offices to fully implement the ISO standard. Trinidad and Tobago Meteorological Service was selected as a case study due to its progress in the quality management system implementation and the scope of its operations. The study used and triangulated data collected from secondary sources (desktop research) and primary sources (survey and interviews). Seventeen barriers were identified and formed the new empirical framework for the Aeronautical Meteorological Offices in the Anglophone Caribbean. Most barriers were in the category of resources. The findings have significant implications for the policymakers, especially executive management, to address the barriers that are risks to sustainable quality management system

She pledges continued use of her knowledge, skills and competencies to improve meteorological services locally, regionally and internationally.