WRC Decisions Said to Spur Climate Change Monitoring, Will Affect Other Spectrum Uses
GENEVA -- World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) decisions will safeguard spectrum needed to observe and understand the Earth, atmosphere and oceans and to reduce the risk of weather, climate and water-related disasters, the World Meteorological Organization said in a press release following the four-week conference. The growing importance of collecting and exchanging Earth observation data was an important issue before the conference, said Hamadoun Toure, ITU secretary-general, at a press conference. Toure was referring to boosting the accuracy of weather forecasting, climate change monitoring, disaster prediction and mitigation, and gains in other areas.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
The conference updated spectrum use for future Earth observation applications using passive sensors flying on meteorological and environmental satellites to monitor water vapor and oxygen spectral lines, an ITU press release said. They're needed for ice cloud and precipitation measurements and for storm monitoring and climate studies, it said.
A revised resolution calls for the continued recognition that spectrum used by Earth observation applications has a considerable societal and economic value, the WMO said. The resolution urges administrations to take into account Earth observation radio-frequency requirements, in particular, protection for spectrum used by Earth observation systems, it said. It also encourages administrations to consider spectrum vital for Earth observation applications before making decisions that would negatively impact the operation of the applications, it said.
The WRC agreed to no change to the Radio Regulations after considering the worldwide regional harmonization of spectrum for electronic newsgathering, the WMO said. This avoids increasing interference to meteorological applications from the introduction of electronic newsgathering tuning ranges, it said.
The conference updated the Radio Regulations to include reference to the passive bands within the 275-3000 GHz range to ensure “those bands used in WMO activities” are taken into consideration for use by free space optical links, it said. The conference, in a review of fixed service use in bands between 71 and 238 GHz, decided to include recommended limits for active services sharing or using adjacent bands to protect passive service, it said.
The WRC agreed to make allocations for oceanographic radars in sets of bands for use in a uniform way while ensuring they don’t interfere with fixed and mobile services, the WMO said. The compromise solution, which doesn’t include primary allocations, will help further development and use of oceanographic radars, it said.
The conference also agreed to the allocation of frequencies at 8.3 and 11.3 kHz to meteorological aids for use in lightening detection systems, it said. The conference recognized that no changes were needed to the Radio Regulation to support software defined radio or cognitive radio systems, WMO said. The WRC noted the incompatibility of cognitive systems with passive radio frequencies, which should be taken into account in ITU-R studies, it said.
A footnote on use of frequencies in the range of 5850 to 7075 MHz was added to the Radio Regulations for high altitude platform stations’ gateway links, the WMO said. Australia and a few African countries included themselves in the footnote, it said. The aim is to reduce the risk of interference with Earth exploration satellite service activities, it said. The conference agreed to no change regarding an examination of the effects of emissions from short range devices, it said. It agreed to an extension of the allocation to meteorological satellite service in the band 7750 to 7850 MHz to the band 7850 to 7900 MHz, it said.
The WRC instructed ITU-R to continue studying aspects of radiocommunications and information and communications technology relevant to early warning, disaster mitigation and relief operations, the ITU press release said. It encourages administrations to consider using identified frequency bands when undertaking their national planning for the purposes of achieving regionally harmonized frequency bands or ranges for advanced public protection and disaster relief solution, it said.