The Training Bulletin

Joint newsletter related to new activities and resources
in international meteorological training

// Issue IV - Jun 2015

Activities & events
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EUMeTrain Event Week on Satellite-Derived Precipitation

A23–27 November 2015 / online

From 23–27 November, EUMeTrain is running an event week on satellite-derived precipitation. During this week the principles of precipitation measurements will be presented, together with available products and their possible applications from both geostationary and polar satellites. The recent Global Precipitation Measurement program will be introduced.
The event is free and open to all, but prior registration is needed. Self-registration is simple and you can register for one or more sessions.
Registration soon available at eumetrain.org.

 

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Webinar on access to RapidScat data

September 2015 / online

In September, EUMETSAT OSI SAF, in collaboration with guest speakers from NOAA, will offer one-day online real-time event about the RapidScat data.

RapidScat is a space-based scatterometer that measures wind speed and direction over the ocean, and is useful for weather forecasting, hurricane monitoring, and observations of large-scale climate phenomena. RapidScat is attached to the international space station and will run for a short time only. The ISS orbit also means that RapidScat instrument allows for inter calibration between scatterometers.

The webinar will present ways users can obtain the RapidSact data, cases of use, and also will touch upon key issues of data quality and things to watch out for.

Futher  details and the registration link will be provided through the EUMETSAT Training Zone and the EUMETSAT Users Twitter account.

 

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2nd Marine Forecasting Course

Autumn 2015 / online

The 2nd Marine Forecasting Course, exclusively designed for operational marine weather forecasters, organised by EUMeTrain and supported by EUMETCAL, will be held this autumn,. The aim is to improve the quality of marine safety warnings and nowcasting in Europe through better use of satellite and model data, in line with WMO Marine Weather Forecaster Competence Standards Framework. At this second edition of the Marine Forecasting Course, to be conducted online, in an asynchronous mode, four main topics will be addressed:

  1. 1. Fog in the Marine environment
  2. 2. Sea ice
  3. 3. Winds in the Marine environment
  4. 4. Ocean Waves

More information soon available at eumetrain.org.

 

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CALMet XI Workshop – registration open

7 – 11 September 2015, Seoul

As announced in the previous issue of the Training Bulletin, the CALMet XI Workshop will be held in Seoul, Republic of Korea from 7 – 11 September.  The call for proposals is complete and registration open. If you register yourself by the end of June, a lower fee will be applied. Now you can also browse the tentative schedule and find detailed information about fees, organization and the venue.

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User preparation for MTG data - EUMETSAT Conference

21 - 25 September 2015, Toulouse

The focus of this years EUMETSAT Meteorological Satellite Conference is on advances in nowcasting and short-range numerical weather prediction, plus preparation for new geostationary satellites.

In 2019 the first of the four Meteosat Third Generation Imaging missions (MTG-I1) will be launched. This satellite will carry new imager instrument and, for the first time in Meteosat history, lightning imager.  Two years later two sounding instruments will be launched onboard the Meteosat Third Generation Sounding mission (MTG-S1).

These instruments will provide major opportunities in the use of remote sensing data. Therefore, it is crucial to start planning the introduction of these instruments and data to end users. Simulated and proxy data already exist in scientific circles and these are the data that should  be used in training of the end users. 

 

// Issue IV - Jun 2015
Resources & Tools

Global weather 2014-2015, satellite  overview

Weather overview

On the official Youtube channel of EUMETSAT there is an animated visualisation of global weather during from December 2014-March 2015, using imagery from the geostationary satellites of EUMETSAT, NOAA and JMA.

Such a broad view of weather can give an insight into the synoptic or global scale processes that are the triggers for the local weather events on every point of Earth. For instance, one can observe diurnal convective activity all along the line of ITCZ and see how this convection becomes almost a wave pattern connected to the Sun’s illumination circle.  Moving away from equator an easterly flow in the subtropics and a westerly flow in mid-latitude can be observed. These are divided by the subtropical jet. The Polar jet, positioned at the border of polar airmass, is not directly visible with this particular selection of satellite channels, but it’s position could be revealed if focusing on the genesis and movement of the synoptic systems. As well as big-scale dynamics, smaller features are visible in this animation (e.g. tropical cyclones - pay attention to the westernIndian Ocean at the end of January).

EUMETSAT often issues similar videos, if you like you can subscribe to their Youtube channel.

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Webcasts from EUMeTrain Convection Event Week 2015

WEBCAST collection

EUMeTrain organised an event week on convection from 8–12 June . It had eight dedicated sessions. Recent remote sensing developments related to forecasting and/or analysing convective weather situations were presented. Subjects covered:


1. The use of lightning data in convective events, by Geoffrey Stano, NASA SPoRT.
2. An insight into the upcoming Lightning Imager, by Jochen Grandell, EUMETSAT.
3. CRR and RDT products of NWCSAF. Izidor Pelajic gave an evaluation of these products for the Croatian Adriatic coast.
4. Adapting NowCasting-SAF products to the COMS satellite, by Eunha Son, KMA .
5. The physics of thunderstorms, by Tomas Pucik and Christoph Gatsen.
6. Overview on Hydro-SAF products, by Matteo Picchiani, CNMCA
7. Cloud physical properties derived from MSG, by Jan Fokke Meirink , KNMI.
8. The MPE product, by EUMETSAT
9. Demonstration of the NearCast technique, by Ralph Petersen.
10. Convection in accentuated terrain, especially the Alps, by Georg Pistotnik and Liliane Hofer, ZAMG.


All presentations were recorded and available on EUMeTrain websites.

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Systemes Convectifs & Veille climatique satellitaire

ONLINE MODULES

French versions of  Convective Storms (Systemes Convectifs ) and Monitoring the Climate System with Satellites  (Veille climatique satellitaire) are now available. The two resources were produced by EUMETSAT, and the second one in collaboration with the COMET program.

Veille climatique satellitaire will help a French-speaking audience explore the benefits and challenges of monitoring the climate system with satellites. This study includes examples of events at the different scales, from seasonal to longer term. 

The Systemes Convectifs  lesson focuses on the satellite observations of deep convective storms, and their interpretation, as described in the December issue of The Training Bulletin. The translation is a result of a project pursued by EAMAC trainer, Francis Koyame (Niger), when visiting EUMETSAT.  A Spanish version of this lesson should be available later in the year.

 

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GOES-R GLM: Introduction to the Geostationary Lightning Mapper

ONline module

This extension of the COMET module "GOES-R: Benefits of Next Generation Environmental Monitoring" focuses on the Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) instrument, the satellite's lightning mapper. The GLM will provide continuous lightning measurements over a large portion of the Western Hemisphere, mapping total lightning (intra-cloud and cloud–to–ground) flash rates and trends. GLM observations will improve local forecasts and warnings of severe weather and air quality, and provide new data for numerical weather prediction and studies of regional climate and climate change.

 

// Issue IV - Jun 2015
Stories & Achievements
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10th Eumetcal International Workshop

15 - 18 June 2015 / Reading

The 10th Eumetcal workshop entitled “Advancing training and education in weather prediction”  was jointly organised by, and held at, ECMWF 15-18 June. The focus of the workshop was exploring how training should advance in the next 10 years, as weather prediction science, models, technologies, and services continue to improve and evolve. Education and training play a significant role in helping staff in hydrometeorological services to gain the skills needed to meet the continuously changing requirements and expectations of customers and stakeholders.

The workshop attracted 70 representatives from European national meteorological services, the WMO, EUMETSAT, the UCAR COMET Program, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, European universities and ECMWF. Training is a key element of ECMWF’s mission, and co-organising the workshop was an opportunity to strengthen links with the Eumetcal project, which has become Europe’s virtual meteorological training organisation.

During the several discussion sessions held in the workshops, the participants explored current and future meteorological training requirements related to the future provision of weather prediction services and changes of end-user requirements. These include the increasing training on the use and interpretation of ensemble prediction products, and corresponding communication to end users; forecasting extreme events, and nowcasting.

The presentation and results of the workshop are available in the workshop page.

 

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Course on Climate Change and agriculture

4 - 13 May 2015, Bet-Dagan

The last course of RTC Bet-Dagan, Israel, Climate Change and agriculture, held 4–13 May, was aimed at showing the different impacts of climate change on agriculture and the different methods and techniques that could be used for adaptation and mitigation. Twenty-three participants from 14 countries took part in the course — agrometeorologists, hydrologists, forecasters and extension officers — working for service provision for the agricultural sector of their respective countries.

This time, the course had a novelty — in order to enrich the contents of the workshop, EUMETSAT was asked to provide a remote lecture dedicated to the use of satellite imagery for agriculture. This was provided by Dr Carla Barroso, from the EUMETSAT LSA SAF and facilitated by Mr Giora G.H. Gershtein, IMS RTC Director. This was the first lecture of its kind at the RTC, as well for most of the participants, and it exceeded all expectations. Why was it so successful? Due to the highly-engaged audience and the excellent communication between the three different parties — the audience, lecturer and facilitator.

At the end, everybody, including the lecturer and the facilitator, learnt a lot, and, just as importantly, enjoyed every minute of it!

 

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2015 WMO/Eumetcal Online Course for Trainers

16 February – 31 May 2015 / online

For twelve weeks, beginning in mid-February, WMO collaborated with Eumetcal to offer an enhanced offering of the WMO Online Course for Trainers. This year's offering featured separate paths for Training Managers (six weeks), Part-time Trainers (four weeks), and Trainers (12 weeks). In June, 44 Certificates of Completion were issued in these three categories.

The Online Course for Trainers builds competencies, skills, and knowledge, as defined by the WMO Competency Requirements for Education and Training Providers for Meteorological, Hydrological, and Climate Services. Participants viewed numerous resources; engaged in discussions and activities, and produced small and large projects while exploring topics on Learning Needs, Outcomes, Solutions, Activities, Resources, Assessment, and training Evaluation, as well as Learning Management and Facilitation. Over the 12 weeks, more than 19,000 readings and posts were registered in the numerous discussion forums alone. One of the goals of the online course is to develop a regional community of trainers, and on this occasion in particular, the course was a resounding success.

In November, a Training Development Workshop will be held to bring together many of the successful trainers to put their skills into action implementing the Training Development Plans they produced during the online course.

 

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NOMEK 2015 course – 20th anniversary of NOMEK

4 - 8 May 2015, Norrkoping

This Spring the 20th NOMEK course took place in Norrkoping, Sweden. The NOMEK program started in 1995 as an agreement between the Director Generals of the Nordic NMSs. It is now a one-week course.
This year 26 participants and more than 10 local and international instructors took part in the course. Participants came from nine EUMETSAT Member states – Iceland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Ireland. The course was organised by the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI), in collaboration with the other Nordic meteorological institutes, and with financial and instructional support from EUMETSAT.
The main topics  were:

  • • Use and application of satellite products.
  • • Use of radar products.
  • • Numerical Weather Prediction.
  • • Short Range Forecasting.
  • • Decision-making.

The whole course was focused on a heavy rainfall event. Introduction to this case was done during a simulator exercise, when participants got acquainted with the weather situation. The following day lectures included references to this case, so participants had a chance to see how it looked on radar images and NPW products. There were also two sessions about forecasting experience, to see what really happened and what could have been done better.

 

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2015 CM SAF Training Workshop

8 – 12 June 2015, Pretoria

For the first time a CM SAF Training Workshop on The Use of Gridded Satellite Data for Climate Services in Africa was been held in Pretoria, South Africa, from 8–12 June 2015. It was conducted in close co-operation with EUMETSAT and, kindly, hosted by the South African Weather Service (SAWS).

More than 80 applications showed the great need to such training events. 21 participants from 13 African countries were selected based on their professional background and the potential usage of CM SAF climate data in their daily work.

The main goal of the workshop was to introduce the data and services provided by CM SAF and to learn the handling of CM SAF data in hands-on exercises. The classroom phase was supplemented by a preceding online phase.

During the classroom phase the participants worked on projects, such as the variability of solar radiation and cloud coverage over space and time, trendanalysis of global radiation, evaluations of extreme events or the agricultural potential, and station-based evaluations of CM SAF data.

For this and for future training activities, CM SAF developed and provided an Open Source Software, the R-based CM SAF toolbox, which will be made publicly available in the near future.

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Course on Satellite Meteorology: Images, Products and Applications

4 - 8 May 2015, Cachoeira Paulista

The Center of Weather Forecast and Climate Studies (CPTEC) in Brazil recently hosted a training course on Satellite Meteorology. The course was intended to familiarise a wide audience of professionals in geo-sciences with forecasting based on satellite images, rain climatology and future developments.

More than 30 participants attended from Africa, Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay, Peru and Paraguay. EUMETSAT presented applications of SEVIRI imagery with emphasis on RGB composites and its use over South America and South Atlantic Ocean.

CPTEC is one of the 13 WMO Centers of Excellence in Training on Satellite Meteorology (Vlab). CPTEC has developed the capability to receive process and produce several satellite products using Meteosat data. Meteosat satellites are very useful because they for cover the whole of Brazil and other South American countries, and also due to their higher spectral and radiometric resolution.

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The EUMETCAL–Course weather Radar Applications in Nowcasting for Weather Forecasters

8 April - 12 June 2015, Langen

International training courses on radar meteorology have being offered since 2008. These courses are delivered through cooperation between EUMETCAL and DWD. Again, EUMETSAT has generously sponsored five participants from transition countries, and EUMETCAL gave financial support to one student in that course.

This course was blended — seven topics were covered during the online phase (self-study and live presentations, tests and homework for students) and students attended a one-week classroom phase.

Two categories of students were defined: a) only online participation, b) participation in both phases. This enabled more people to join. During the classroom part in Langen, five trainers taught the students and guided them through the exercises and the group works.

Eight-six percent of the students provided the proof of their high levels of skill by delivering at least high quality homework and quizzes on at least 50% of the time. On the last day of the classroom part, the students were asked to fill out a short test. This was the first time this happened. All the students passed. Some participants impressed the trainers with an outstanding engagement during the classroom part. Formal evaluation will take place soon and the trainers have received already very positive feedback. The next course is planned for 2017.

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XVII Simpósio Brasileiro de Sensoriamento Remoto (SBSR)

25 - 29 April 2015, Joao Pessoa

The XVII Brazilian Symposium on Remote Sensing aimed to bring together the technical and scientific community and the business users in the areas of Remote Sensing and Geotechnology. It was an opportunity for participants to present their research and technological developments, including education and science policy, from the last two years.

The symposium is recognised as a premier event in the field of remote sensing and geotechnologies in South America. This year 1,100 attendees from 25 countries, plus all the Brazilian states, visited the symposium. Many interested participants approached EUMETSAT's stand, mainly curious about vegetation mapping and access to our data. During the event there were presentations on GEONETCast-EUMETCast" and on future meteorological systems, such as EUMETSAT's Meteosat Third Generation (MTG)

Following the implementation of EUMETCast-Americas in 2006, the number of user stations has grown from two to around 40 in Brazil. Meteosat is the main source of meteorological imagery and its use for scientific studies related to weather is as widespread as that of GOES.