Photo/Illutration Many airplanes are parked in Tokyo’s Haneda Airport on April 15 following a flurry of flight cancellations due to the novel coronavirus outbreak. (Kotaro Ebara)

Cancellations of flights across the world due to the novel coronavirus pandemic may dampen the accuracy of weather forecasts, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

The WMO said on April 9 that it used to provide more than 800,000 pieces of observation data per day to meteorological organizations, but the number has fallen sharply following the flurry of flight cancellations amid the virus outbreak.

The organization expressed concern that if the situation worsens, “we may expect a gradual decrease in the reliability of the forecasts.”

The WMO, a specialized agency of the United Nations, receives temperatures, wind direction, wind speed and other data that several thousand aircraft obtained during their flights from 43 airlines in the world. The organization shares the data with meteorological organizations around the globe for making weather forecasts in each country.

In Japan, All Nippon Airways Co. and Japan Airlines Co. have slashed the number of their international flights by about 90 percent. The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) receives observation data from the WMO and both airlines, but the amount of data obtained from aircraft has been decreased by half.

“We use various observation satellites (to collect data), so we are not expecting any impact on the quality of our weather forecasts in the short term,” said a JMA official.

However, the official added, “It’s important to accumulate observation data for a long period of time. We can’t predict what the impact will be if the current situation continues for a prolonged period.”

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