After long negotiations with the help of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), ECMWF has signed a new full NMHS (national meteorological and hydrological service) non-commercial licence with Sri Lanka. The contract is for two years starting on 1 July. Sri Lanka has access to both data and web products including ecCharts. The licence is part of an effort to upgrade Sri Lankan operational forecasting capabilities with the support of donor agencies. The World Bank is supporting this work and Met Norway is involved with technical assistance. The ECMWF products will help Sri Lanka to respond better to severe weather events, such as Tropical Cyclone Roanu on 16 May 2016, which caused flooding and landslides resulting in loss of life and significant damage.
Eleven countries now have a full NMHS non-commercial licence: China, Colombia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Macao, Mexico, Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Singapore, and Viet Nam.
The price for a full NMHS non-commercial licence is 42,000 euros per year. For more information on the available licences, see the ECMWF licences web page: https://www.ecmwf.int/en/forecasts/accessing-forecasts/licences-available.
