| WDSS provides support during Sydney Olympics | ||
NSSL was one of four international participants in a World Weather Research Project in Australia during recent months. As part of a Forecast Demonstration Project, known as Sydney 2000, elements of the Canadian Atmospheric Environment Services, United Kingdom Met Office, National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), and NSSL provided experimental warning, nowcast, and forecast information to the Sydney Bureau of Meteorology during the 2000 Olympics. An NSSL staff person (on a rotating schedule) was onsite in Sydney during a several month period to assist in the operation of NSSL's Warning Decision Support System (WDSS). Although convective activity was sparse during the Olympic games, the WDSS was highly praised for its storm tracking and hail indication products. Toward the end of Sydney 2000, the WDSS was judged important in detecting and correctly tracking a supercell storm that produced three tornadoes in the western Sydney suburbs outside of the Olympic areas. In addition, NSSL was involved in a weather workshop conducted by the
Bureau of Meteorology Research Center (BMRC) in October/November. NSSL
staff provided training on the components and use of the WDSS in severe
weather warning operations. At the end of the workshop, NSSL also participated
in a World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Meeting. A special session
on Sydney 2000 is planned for the upcoming American Meteorological Society
(AMS) Radar Conference in Munich, Germany this summer. NSSL will continue
to collaborate with the Australian BMRC in Melbourne through a technology
transfer project that will integrate WDSS into the Australian Integrated
Forecast System over the next two years. |
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by
Don Burgess|
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