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| RAMMB CIRA 1st Quarter Report FY2008 |
October November December |
CIRA gave input to and provided support for VISIT/SHyMET/WMO focus group presentation given by Tony Mostek, NWS Training Division in Boulder, to a group in Cartagena, Colombia in October. (B. Connell)
The WMO Virtual Laboratory Task Team conducted 3-monthly English and Spanish weather briefings through VISITview using GOES and POES satellite Imagery from CIRA (http://hadar.cira.colostate.edu/vview/vmrmtcrso.html) and voice via Yahoo Messenger. There were participants from the U.S.: CIRA, COMET, SAB at NESDIS, the International Desk at NCEP, as well as outside the U.S.: Argentina, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Panamá, Peru, Paraguay, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela. The participants include researchers and students as well as forecasters. The discussions were well attended with an average of 22 computer connections and multiple participants at many sites. Mike Davison from the NCEP International Desk started the sessions by providing an overall synoptic analysis. Throughout the sessions, participating countries offer comments on the features of interest for their local weather. As we move into our northern hemisphere winter, the discussions shift to severe weather activity in the southern hemisphere. The sessions generally run 60 minutes, but occasionally will run 90 minutes. (B. Connell)
The discussions mentioned above have mainly been coordinated with the RMTC Center of Excellence in Costa Rica. Throughout the Fall, Barbados has been conducting weekly briefings for the Eastern Caribbean to stimulate discussion and collaboration for the Hurricane season. CIRA has been assisting with the logistics of the sessions and providing imagery through the hadar server listed above. (B. Connell)
We have been experiencing increased problems with the Yahoo Messenger voice communications that has been used for these sessions. Tom Whittaker, CIMSS, is providing support for testing the software TeamSpeak to be used as an alternative. (B. Connell)
An email group was established through Yahoo this past fall (WMOSatMetOMM). To date we have ~ 140 members. The list came in extremely handy this past December to pass along information about the operational status of GOES-12 and GOES-10 when GOES-12 experienced outages. (B. Connell)
The Regional Meteorological Training Center of Excellence (RMTCoE) web page is being updated. Watch for the updated information here: http://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/training/rmtc/ (B. Connell)
GOES-12 imagery for September through November 2007 were processed for the Regional Meteorological Training Centers of Excellence (RMTCoEs) in Costa Rica and Barbados. The archives are being used to look at cloud frequency during the rainy and dry seasons and detect local variations from year to year. The archived imagery also provides access to examples for use in satellite focused training efforts. The monthly cloud frequency composites for September though November 1997-2007 by 10.7 µm temperature threshold technique for Costa Rica are presented in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Monthly cloud frequency composites for September through November 1997-2007 by 10.7 µm temperature threshold technique for Costa Rica.
A comparison of cloud frequency derived by temperature threshold of 10.7 µm imagery for September through November 1999-2007 for Barbados is shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2. Comparison of cloud frequency derived by temperature threshold of 10.7 µm imagery for September through November 1999-2007 for Barbados.
The following web pages continue to provide on-line imagery in jpg format over Central and South America and the Caribbean.
They were utilized more heavily during December by Central and South American and Caribbean Countries when GOES-12 experienced an outage.
http://www.cira.colostate.edu/RAMM/rmsdsol/RMTC.html
http://www.cira.colostate.edu/RAMM/rmsdsol/COS.html (for imagery over Costa Rica and Barbados
The imagery from these sites is also available for the international weather briefings through VISITView RAMSDIS Online:
http://hadar.cira.colostate.edu/vview/vmrmtcrso.html
http://vesta.cira.colostate.edu/vview/vmrmtc1.html
The following site continues to display satellite precipitation estimates and fire products: http://www.cira.colostate.edu/ramm/sica/main.html
(B. Connell, D. Coleman)