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1.1 German contributions to capacity building 
In Germany the overall responsibility for technical cooperation is with the Federal Ministry for 
Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the responsibility for scientific and techno 
logical cooperation with developing countries is with the Federal Ministry of Education and 
Research (BMBF). 
Germany’s contributions to the World Meteorological Organisations (WMO’s) Voluntary Co 
operation Programme come from several governmental organizations, but only few support 
climate related activities. The German Agency for Technical Co-operation (GTZ) works 
worldwide in the field of development cooperation. It inter alia supports the Focal point of 
Mali with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and pro 
vides for training and capacity building to digitize and distribute Malis climate data. DWD 
supported a satellite training workshop in Croatia and for training activities in the WMO Cli 
mate Information and Prediction Services (CLIPS) workshop in Tunisia. The Global Atmos 
phere Watch (GAW) Training & Education Centre (GAWTEC) since 2001 provides scientific 
guidance and instructions to GAW station personnel from worldwide global and regional sta 
tions. GAWTEC, operated through funds from the UBA and the Bavarian State Ministry for 
Environment, Health and Consumer Protection, is based at the Environmental Research Sta 
tion "Umweltforschungsstation Schneefernerhaus" (UFS), which accommodates the high- 
alpine platform of the GAW Global Station "Zugspitze/ Hohenpeissenberg". GAWTEC is part 
of Quality Assurance / Science Assessment Centre (QA/SAC) Germany and responsible for 
training and education of station personnel from global and regional GAW stations by teach 
ing measurement techniques and data analysis. Teaching (introductory courses and ad 
vanced training) is done by experts from UBA, the Swiss materials science and technology 
research institution EMPA and DWD. Special topics are covered by experts from universities 
and other research facilities. The 15 th GAWTEC course will be held in November 2008. 
DWD has no own budget for technical cooperation and only limited financial resources to 
support the GCOS cooperation mechanism. This governmental support will be continued and 
hopefully can be extended. 
1.2 Atmospheric observations 
Systematic and long term observation of meteorological variables in Germany is the respon 
sibility of Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD), the national meteorological service of Germany. 
Some observations of atmospheric composition and aerosol properties are also the respon 
sibility of DWD, but most of the atmospheric composition and aerosol properties’ observa 
tions are the responsibility of the UBA and the Laender. In addition the Alfred Wegener Insti 
tute for Polar and Marine Research in Bremerhaven (AWI) is contributing observations in the 
Antarctic. 
1.2.1 The Global Precipitation Climatology Centre (GPCC) 
The Global Precipitation Climatology Centre (GPCC) provides global precipitation analyses 
for monitoring and research of the earth's climate. The GPCC provides free access to its 
monthly gridded precipitation data sets for climate monitoring purposes and related research. 
The centre is operated by DWD and is a German contribution to the World Climate Research 
Programme (WCRP) and to the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS). 
1.2.2 The CBS Lead Centre for GCOS Data - Europe 
The CBS Lead Centre for GCOS Data for WMO Regional Association Europe (WMO RA VI) 
is also operated by Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD). The World Meteorological Organization 
(WMO) Commission has designated a regional network of nine CBS Lead Centres for