Introduction ........................................................................ 2
Participants ........................................................................ 4
Chapter 1. Summary ............................................................. 7
Chapter 2: Budget .............................................................
10
Chapter 3: Pilot balloon network ................ .. 13
Chapter 4: Radiosonde network
20
Chapter 5: Education
25
Chapter 6: PACS-SONET web page and communications ..
31
Chapter 7: Logistics
39
Chapter 8: Support from Local
Institutions (SPANISH)
... 48
Final Proposal
54
The PACS-SONET is a network of pilot balloon stations
in Latin America that is supported by NOAA to help monitor the climate
variability through measurement of lower-middle tropospheric winds in data
sparse regions. The observations, transmitted in near real-time, can also be
used for weather forecasting activities.
The
PACS-SONET has recently been extended for 3 additional years. A workshop was
planned and held in Asuncion, Paraguay, during the last week of August 2003.
This workshop brought together representatives from the institutions that are
participating in either the logistical support, research activities related to,
or forecasting uses of the PACS-SONET observations. The purpose of the workshop
was to more clearly define PACS-SONET activities over the next several years.
The following topics were discussed:
1)
Improvement
of the efficiency of the observational network.
2)
Ways
to stimulate the use of the PACS-SONET observations for both forecasting and
research in the participating countries.
3)
Alternative
strategies for making upper-air observations and incorporating radiosonde-type
observations into the network.
4)
Educational
activities to stimulate more widespread use of the networks data.
5)
Further
institutional participation in PACS-SONET to ensure long-term sustainability.
Among
the participants in the workshop, there were not only members of institutions
providing logistical support to the project in the countries, but also faculty
members and students from research institutions in Argentina (Universidad de
Buenos Aires, UBA), Ecuador (Escuela Superior Politιcnica del Litoral, ESPOL)
and Brazil (Centro de Previsao de Tempo e Estudos Climαticos, CPTEC). Continued
and stronger collaboration between the project and these institutions is
expected as an outcome of the workshop.
The
participants returned to their countries with a clearer idea of what needs to
be accomplished to ensure continued development of the PACS-SONET in Latin
America. Specifically, the following objectives were achieved:
1)
Participants
became familiar with every aspect of the PACS-SONET web site,
2)
learned
how to maintain the meteorological theodolites in reasonable operating
conditions,
3)
learned
how to supervise the quality controlling of the pilot balloon data through the
program corrige,
4)
have
a closer idea of what is involved in making radiosonde observations and their
cost, and
5)
saw
a demonstration of the basic principles of radiosonde measurements made by the
powersonde system. This is a recoverable radiosonde system that was partly
demonstrated during the workshop.
This document describes the
different activities and presents a summary of the discussions that took place
during the workshop.
Argentina
|
Dra. Ana Graciela Ulke |
UBA Dpto. De
Ciencias de la Atmosfera y los Oceanos |
Faculty /
Researcher |
Pabellon II - Piso 2 - Ciudad Universitaria (1428)
, Buenos Aires , Argentina |
54 11 4576 3356 int. 24 54 11 4576 3356 int. 12 |
WEB: www-atmo.at.fcen.uba.ar |
|
Paula Gonzalez |
UBA Dpto. De
Ciencias de la Atmosfera y los Oceanos |
Student |
Pabellon II - Piso 2 - Ciudad Universitaria (1428)
, Buenos Aires , Argentina |