The World Calibration Centre (WCC) for Methane (CH4) in Asia and the South-West Pacific calibrates national, laboratory and station standard gases used as reference in the measurement of methane at Global or Regional Stations of the Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) programme located in WMO Region II (Asia) or Region V (South-West Pacific).

The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), which serves as the WCC mentioned above, does not charge a fee for calibration. However, JMA does not pay any shipping costs, taxes or handling charges involved in the transportation, import and export of standard gases to and from JMA Headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. Please contact the person in charge (indicated below) for detailed arrangements well in advance of the transportation.

The minimum requirements for standard gases to be calibrated are that they must be pressurized in cylinders with appropriate certification on origin and pressure testing. The contents of the cylinders should also be documented, and it may also be necessary to attach a regulator (please contact us for details).

At the 12^th WMO/IAEA CO2 Meeting of Experts, there was general agreement that the new CMDL (now NOAA/ESRL) scale should define the WMO CH4 mole fraction scale, and that CMDL should take on the role of the CCL (Central Calibration Laboratory) for CH4. JMA has therefore adopted the new scale (called the NOAA04 scale) in October 2006, and has recalculated the concentrations of the methane reference gases it circulates for intercomparison.

The WCC is operated purely as a voluntary contribution to the GAW programme. The calibrated gases should be used for non-profit purposes only, and JMA is not liable for any damages resulting from use of the calibrated gases and their concentrations assigned by the WCC.