Connell, Dostalek, Knaff, Watson

Brazil Project:

Updates to RAMSDIS software were implemented and sent to Brazil.  These updates were associated with the content of the text files which list information concerning possible fires as detected by GOES-8.

RAMSDIS has been made available to several countries via CD's.  Italy, India, Mexico, Australia, Costa Rica, and Barbados have requested the software.  The software is being distributed via a complete system image containing Windows 2000 and McIDAS 7.8.  This allows the software to be loaded with pre-configured settings.

Raw AMSU brightness temperatures, limb corrected brightness temperatures, and temperature retrievals were prepared for K. Beshho of the Japanese Meteorological Agency for comparison with Aerosonde data collected during the BIAU Hunter 2001 field experiment, 11 July - 28 July 2001.  It is hoped that this exchange of information will continue promoting future collaborations.

Figure 1.  Ribbon cutting ceremony for the new GOES-8 satellite ingest system and server installed at the Instituto Meteorológico Nacional in San José, Costa Rica in July, 2001.  On the left: Gregory Withee - NOAA/NESDIS Assistant Administrator for Satellite and Information Services, on the right: Iván Vincenti - Minister of Energy and the Environment.  Directly behind on the left: Guy de Téramond - Minister of Science and Technology; on the right: Linda Jewel Special -acting Chargé d'Affaires with the US Embassy in Costa Rica.  Click on image to enlarge.

A satellite ground station and data server was installed at the Instituto Meteorological Nacional in San Jose, Costa Rica during the week July 21-25 by Global Imaging.  During the same period, a RAMSDIS workstation was installed at IMN by Hiro Gosden of CIRA.  In preparation for a ribbon cutting ceremony at IMN on July 26, a briefing was provided to the NESDIS Assistant Administrator (Gregory Withee) on the status of the NESDIS contribution to the Hurricane Mitch Reconstruction Project. The discussion was lead by M. DeMaria (by Video Teleconference)

RAMSDIS workstations were installed in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.  Although travel by RAMM Team staff was canceled due to recent travel restrictions, Dr. Vilma Castro from U. Costa Rica who had been working with RAMM Team on this project was able to travel to El Salvador and Honduras to complete the installation.  Arrangements are currently being made to complete the installation in the final two (Panama and Belize) of the seven countries involved in this project.

A meeting was held on July 13 with Dr. Konstantine Georgakakos and Jason Sperfslage from the Hydrologic Research Center (HRC) in San Diego to discuss cooperative projects in Costa Rica. HRC is developing a flood alert system for Central America, which requires estimates of 1, 3 and 6, and 24-hour accumulated precipitation estimates. Plans were made to provide these estimates from the version of the auto-estimator that will be running in Costa Rica as part of the NESDIS Hurricane Mitch Reconstruction project.

A briefing on the NESDIS contribution Hurricane Mitch Reconstruction Project was provided to representatives from a branch of the Dole Corporation located in Honduras on August 3. The satellite data and products that will be available in the region were described, and the potential usefulness to their agriculture operations in Honduras and Costa Rica was discussed. The possibility of obtaining historical rain gauge data that is collected as part of their operations was also discussed. They are willing to provide NESDIS with this data to help refine satellite rainfall estimation techniques for the region.

Janice Sessing from the NESDIS Office of Interagency and International Affairs visited RAMM Team on August 10th. She discussed the hurricane Mitch project, and the possibility of future national and international collaborations. Several RAMM Team staff members provided an overview of current RAMM Team activities.

Clay Davenport, ARAD, Hydrology Team, visited the Regional and Mesoscale Meteorology Team (RAMMT) from August 27-30 to install the Rainfall Autoestimator software.  The software will also be installed on the Hurricane Mitch server in Costa Rica once RAMMT staff are trained in its installation & use.

This project is funded by USAID through SICA (System of Integration for Central America).   The dissemination of satellite rainfall products and fire products through the web site at:

http://www.cira.colostate.edu/ramm/SICA/main.html

compliments the ingest systems that are becoming operational in the Central American countries.  A link to cloud frequencies by IR temperature threshold technique for June, July, and August of 2000, and June of 2001 was recently added at:

http://www.cira.colostate.edu/ramm/SICA/clim/menuclim.html

GOES-8 imagery for June 2001 through August, 2001 were sent to the Regional Meteorological Training Centers (RMTCs) in Costa Rica and Barbados.  The archives are being used to study cloud frequency during the rainy and dry seasons and detect local variations from year to year.  The monthly cloud frequency composites for June - August 1997-2001 by 10.7 mm temperature threshold technique for Costa Rica is presented in Figure 1.  Click on images to enlarge.
 

Figure 1.  Monthly cloud frequency composites for June - August 1997-2001 by 10.7 um temperature threshold technique for Costa Rica.

Figure 2.  Comparison of cloud frequency derived by temperature threshold of 10.7 um imagery for June - August of 1998 - 2001 for Barbados.

A preprint paper entitled “Mesoscale satellite climatologies in Costa Rica” by B. Connell and V. Castro was sent to the AMS for the Satellite Meteorology and Oceanography Conference to be held in Madison, WI. in October, 2001.

A comparison of cloud frequency derived by temperature threshold of 10.7 um imagery for June - August of 1998 - 2001 for Barbados is shown in Figure 2.  The archived imagery also provides access to examples for use in satellite focused training efforts.

Selvin and Horace Burton from the Caribbean Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology in Barbados visited CIRA August 13-17 to continue to promote interaction between the RMTC in Barbados and CIRA.  During the visit, much effort went into completing the St. Lucia heavy rainfall case (see Figure 3 for inclusion in the WMO Virtual Lab database).  Satellite climatology cloud frequency results were also analyzed and an outline of a journal article was completed.
 

Figure 3.  GOES-8 average 10.7 um image covering the period 12:15 - 18:15 UTC on October 26, 1996 when St. Lucia received 250mm (10 inches) of rain.  Click on image to enlarge.