Rasd 3 exercise launched for raising preparedness level in dealing with potential weather phenomena in the Saudi Arabian airspace

The Rasd 3 exercise was started by Dr. Ayman Ghulam, CEO of the National Centre of Meteorology (NCM), to improve readiness for any meteorological phenomena in Saudi Arabian airspace. In order to improve collaboration and standardise its protocols for handling meteorological phenomena, the General Secretariat of the National Risk Council convened officials from 33 institutions to inaugurate the Rasd (Monitoring) exercise in Jeddah.

According to Dr. Ghulam, the exercise's goal is to assist and reinforce the people who are responsible for carrying out duties and obligations in emergency scenarios within the early warning system for meteorological events. By the implementation of the exercise and collaborative hypotheses that aid in achieving integration with all participating parties, Rasd 3 also seeks to stimulate collaboration and continual progress.

Dr. Ghulam reaffirmed that the centre is prepared to provide all of the needs of the relevant authorities to support their fieldwork in protecting both property and human life. The exercise's capabilities and the improved procedure for reporting meteorological phenomena were examined during the launch. The key issues and questions submitted by the participating entities' representatives were also addressed.On Friday, the NCM will undertake a hypothesis about a meteorological event impacting a part of Saudi Arabia in order to kick off the actual exercise.

The exercise has been launched in response to the recommendations made during the national workshop organised by NCM in Riyadh last June on modernising the reporting and cooperation system in dealing with meteorological phenomena.