THE Fiji Meteorological Service will not treat its new forecasting platform as business as usual when it is introduced, with the service planning a controlled transition before the system becomes part of its daily operations.
The platform will support how Fiji produces and delivers weather information, including public weather forecasts, marine and aviation information, severe weather warnings and tropical cyclone products.
Principal Scientific Officer for Hydrology Viliame Vereivalu said this during the second day of the Pacific Meteorological Council meeting earlier this week.
Mr Vereivalu said the Fiji Meteorological Service had developed a four-stage pathway to ensure the new platform was properly prepared before it replaced existing systems.
“The first stage, Configure, will involve setting up the platform to reflect the service’s operational requirements, including its public weather, marine, aviation, severe weather and tropical cyclone workflows,” he said.
“IBL Visual Weather and the BoM Tropical Cyclone Module will also be configured to match approved product guides and operational procedures.”
He said the second stage, Validate, would check whether data inputs, calculations, product formats and dissemination outputs are working correctly.
Mr Vereivalu said any material difference between the new system and existing products would need to be identified, documented and formally approved.
“The third stage, Test, will involve User Acceptance Testing under both normal and difficult conditions.
“The final stage, Transition, will see the new and existing systems operate in parallel.”
Mr Vereivalu said this would allow remaining problems to be identified and resolved before the new platform is formally adopted.
The outdated applications would only be decommissioned once the new system is considered stable and fit for operational use.
He said the controlled approach was important because meteorological services supported critical decision-making during severe weather and tropical cyclone events, and the transition should not compromise operational continuity.
