PACS-SONET WORKSHOP 2003

Asuncion, Paraguay, August 2003

Contents

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

INTRODUCTION

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 network’s 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 Politécnica del Litoral, ESPOL) and Brazil (Centro de Previsao de Tempo e Estudos Climáticos, 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.

PARTICIPANTS

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	ulke@at1.fcen.uba.ar 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		paulalmg@yahoo.com.ar WEB: www-atmo.at.fcen.uba.ar

Bolivia

Met.Roberto Catacora	AASANA	Chief of the Meteorology Division of AASANA	Aeropuerto Alto La Paz , La Paz, Bolivia	591 02 282 2079	catacora_roberto@hotmail.com
Met. Edwin Rodriguez D.	AASANA / UADASC	Chief of the Meteorology Division of AASAÑA, Santa Cruz Region	Urbanizacion Paraiso, Calle Gladiolos No 9 Santa Cruz, Bolivia	591 03 356 8455 591 03 385 2067	griphy_erd@hotmail.com

Brasil

MS. Wagner Rodrigues Soares

CPTEC / INPE Depart. De Modelagem e Desenvolvimento

Graduate student

Rodovia Presidente Dutra km. 40 (12630-000) Cachoeira Paulista, SP, Brasil

55 12 3186 8551 55 12 3101 2835

wsoares@cptec.inpe.br WEB: www.cptec.inpe.br

Colombia

SJ Oscar H. Linares P.

CIOH

Chief of Weather Forecast Section

Isla de Manzanilla, Escuela Naval de Cadetes "Almirante Padilla" Casilla de Correo 942, Cartagena, Colombia

olinares@cioh.org.co WEB: www.cioh.org.co

Ecuador

Oc. Lina Barrazueta	ESPOL Facultad de Maritima	Oceanographer Projects Office	Km. 30.5 Via Perimetral PO Box 09-01-5863 Guayaquil, Ecuador	593 42269 450 593 42269 468	lbarrazu@hotmail.com WEB: www.espol.edu.ec
Met. Antonio Rodriguez	INAMHI	Weather Forecast Office - PACS-SONET Coordinator	Inhaquito 700 y Corea, Quito, Ecuador	593 22433 934	b2d4y1@yahoo.com WEB: www.inamhi.org.ec

Mexico

Met. Alfonso Gonzalez

SEMAR

Chief of Observational Network Office

Eje 2, tramo HENM , Colonia Los Cipreses Del. Coyoacan, Mexico D.F., Mexico

55 56246500 ext. 1229/1230/1242

semar06@prodigy.net.mx f_belmonte74@hotmail.com

Nicaragua

Ing. Sandra Toval C.

INETER

Coordinator Synoptic Met Technical Branch

Km. 11.5 Carretera Norte, Aeropuerto Internacional, Managua, Nicaragua

505 233 3408

tovalcs@yahoo.es

Paraguay

Lic. Julian Baez B.	DMH DINAC	Manager Technical Branch	Francisco Lopez No 1080 y De La Conquista , Asuncion, Paraguay	595 21 425046	jbaez@foroagua.org.py
Met. Lourdes Elizabeth Rodriguez Rolandi	DMH DINAC	Forecaster	Aeropuerto Internacional "Silvio Pettirossi" , Asuncion, Paraguay	595 21 646095 595 21 646095	ler_rolandi@yahoo.com
Met. Eduardo Mingo	DMH DINAC	Forecaster	Aeropuerto Internacional "Silvio Pettirossi" , Asuncion, Paraguay
Lic. Fernando P. Barrios	LIAPA Universidad Nacional de Asuncion	Faculty / Researcher

Peru

Ing. Luis Flores C.	Laboratorio de Fisica Universidad de Piura (UDEP)	Faculty / Researcher	Av. Ramon Mugica No 131 , Urbanizacion San Eduardo, El Chipe, Apartado Postal 353, Piura, Peru	51 73 307777 anexo 4630 51 73 308888	lflores@udep.edu.pe
Mayor F.A.P. Sergio Gastelo S.	SENAMHI	Director of Technical Operations Office	Jr. Cahuide 785, Jesus Maria, Lima 11 , Peru	51 1 98474045 51 1 2511068	sgastelo@senamhi.gob.pe
T.I.P. F.A.P. Jorge Luis Tapia Gil	SENAMHI	Meterology Division	Jr. Cahuide 785, Jesus Maria, Lima 11 , Peru	51 1 4704863 51 1 6141414	jtapia@senamhi.gob.pe jortagil@hotmail.com
Carmen Reyes Bravo	SENAMHI Dir. Climatologia	Research Assistant	Jr. Cahuide 785, Jesus Maria, Lima 11 , Peru		creyes@senamhi.gob.pe

USA

Dr. Michael Douglas	NSSL	Research Meteorologist	1313 Halley Circle Norman, OK 73069	1 405 3660525	michael.douglas@noaa.gov WEB: www.nssl.noaa.gov/projects/pacs
Ing. Javier Murillo	CIMMS & University of Oklahoma	Research Associate	1313 Halley Circle Norman, OK 73069	1 405 3660524	Javier.murillo@noaa.gov WEB: www.nssl.noaa.gov/projects/pacs
MS. John F. Mejia	CIMMS & University of Oklahoma	Graduate student / Research Assistant	1313 Halley Circle Norman, OK 73069	1 405 3660519	John.mejia@noaa.gov WEB: www.nssl.noaa.gov/projects/pacs
Met. Jose M. Galvez	CIMMS & University of Oklahoma	Graduate student / Research Assistant	1313 Halley Circle Norman, OK 73069	1 405 3660525	Jose.galvez@noaa.gov WEB: www.nssl.noaa.gov/projects/pacs

Venezuela

MT3 (Av.) Julio Cesar Cabanerit

Servicio de Meteorologia de la Aviacion

Weather Forecast Office - PACS-SONET Coordinator

Avenida Bolivar Este - Edificio El Prado P. B. , Caracas, Venezuela

58 243 2324736 58 243 378043

jcfav@hotmail.com

CHAPTER 1. Summary

The venue of the workshop was the ranch “La Quinta”, an isolated location 50 miles southeast from Asuncion, Paraguay. The facilities in this place included a conference room with good Internet connectivity. A military airstrip, located 10 miles from “La Quinta”, was available for powersonde demonstrations.

The workshop started on the 25^th and concluded on the 31^st of August. 23 participants from 9 countries attended the workshop. Several students from the Universidad Nacional de Asuncion and members of the local model airplane club also participated in some of the activities.

The agenda included presentations on the PACS-SONET project, the project’s budget, the status of the network, quality control of the observations, expansion of the network due to the South American Low-Level Jet Experiment (SALLJEX), and simple techniques for using the PACS-SONET data in applied research, among others.

Specialized working groups spent a large amount of time discussing topics such as: optimal utilization of the available resources, optimal network design, identification of areas with low-density of radiosonde stations suitable for implementation of radiosonde sites, possible solutions to the network’s logistic problems, development of a component within the project oriented to educational activities, and improvements to the web page to optimize the general public’s access to information on the project.

Towards the end of the workshop the participants helped put together a draft of this document, in order to initially describe the discussions that took place during the workshop, its results and proposed future activities.

Among the recommendations, stands the establishment of 6 additional pilot balloon sites and two radiosonde stations, all of them with support from PACS-SONET. A new pilot balloon station in Serranilla, Colombia would enhance the density of the network over the Caribbean region and would help better depict the variability of the trade winds. Another station in Malpelo (4N, 82W), a Colombian island in the Pacific Ocean, would help study the ITCZ, the southerly trade winds variability and the structure of the Panama Semi-permanent Low. The Centro de Investigaciones Oceanograficas e Hidrograficas (CIOH) in Cartagena, Colombia would be in charge of operating these stations.

It was recommended that 3 new pilot balloon stations be established in Peru and operated by the Servicio Nacional de Meteorología e Hidrologia (SENAMHI). Three members of the SENAMHI participated in the discussions and supported the proposal. The new stations would be established in Iquitos, Pucallpa and Puerto Maldonado, all of them in eastern Peru. Iquitos data would contribute to the study of easterly waves, mesoscale convective systems and rainy episodes over the Ecuadorean and North Peruvian Andes. Pucallpa and Puerto Maldonado would provide additional data for studies on the low-level jet east of the Andes, wet periods in the Peruvian-Bolivian Andes, and surges of cold-air masses from high latitudes into the tropics. The pilot balloon soundings at Iquitos and Puerto Maldonado will supplement the radiosonde observations that, due to budget constraints, are being made only once every other day at these stations.

It is proposed that another radiosonde site be established in Santa Cruz, Bolivia to alleviate in part the lack of radiosonde observations in the region. Its purpose would be to help better describe the low-level jet east of the Andes, the incursions of southerly cold-air masses and the flux of moisture into the Altiplano. The station would be operated by AASANA, which is the airport administration authority in Bolivia. The weather service in Bolivia recently received a donation from Spain to modernize its observational networks and its forecast office. Depending on the deployment of new stations as part of their modernization plan, PACS-SONET-supported radiosonde observations might not be necessary in Santa Cruz.

It was proposed by the Argentine participants that the University of Buenos Aires operate two pilot balloon stations in Santiago del Estero and Tostado. The plan is for the stations to operate during 6 months every year, beginning in the month previous to the start of the rainy season. The sites would be closely supervised by the UBA and data are expected to have high quality. Also, immediate use of the data for research is guaranteed. Recent personal communication with UBA faculty members indicates, however, that these stations could not start operations before September-October 2004.

On other subjects, the participants agreed that some amount must be set aside from the budget for the purpose of holding a workshop every two years. This opinion departs from the original plan of holding meetings every year. The meeting-workshop would be international in nature and would be celebrated in a central location to minimize airfare costs. Suggested locations to hold the meeting included Quito, Ecuador and Lima, Peru. It was estimated that 23 persons would participate in upcoming workshops, including 2 from the USA, 12-14 representatives from approximately the same number of participating countries and 5 persons from within the host country. 2 more participants would be specially invited to present examples of applied research using PACS-SONET data. It was recommended that the overall cost of the workshop be kept within $20,000.

After consideration of the above expenditures, it was noticed that savings in the amount of $15,000 would be available for educational activities. It is not clear at this point how these funds will be specifically utilized, but different options are presented in the chapter devoted to education (Chapter 5).

2. BUDGET

Budget disbursment is important since the rest of the activities depend on a good distribution of the available funds. The participants in the workshop spent a significant amount of time reorienting and defining the different components of the project within the frame of the available resources.

2.1. Overall budget

PACS-SONET asked for $309,690 to cover expenses during FY04. Since this amount includes NSSL’s indirect costs (35%) of $80,290, then the actual spendable budget is $229,400. Salaries for the project’s coordinator including fringe benefits and CIMMS’ overhead is a fixed expenditure of ~$69,000. A small amount of $5k is set aside for travel to establish/oversee the network. As a consecuence, the total available for observations ends up being only $155,400. This amount is all we have left to cover the observational network, balloon purchases, educational activities and miscellaneous or incidental costs. It was noticed that a significant amount of flexibility is allowed in spending this money. The challenge for the group was to prepare a proposal that would optimize the use of the available (flexible) resources by redesigning the pilot balloon network, allow for additional radiosonde observations and still make savings that would be wisely spent in educational activities.

The original distribution of the so called “flexible budget” was such that $71,400 was put into making observations (this usually means money transfers to the countries), $24,000 was set aside for balloon purchases and shipping and $60,000 for educational activities (2 workshops at $30k each) (Table 1.)

	Original
FIXED
Salaries	69,000
Travel	5,000
VARIABLE	0
Observations	71,400
Balloons + shipping	24,000
Workshop/Educational	60,000
TOTAL	229,400
NSSL’s indirect costs	80,290
TOTAL PACS-SONET	309,690

Table 1. Original PACS-SONET budget presented to the participants.

The last item in the list of variable expenses in Table 1. is designated as “Workshop/educational”. However, this represents the only available money for all of the project’s supplementary activities, the most relevant of those being the educational component. Out of this money, workshops, meetings, and miscellaneous valuable activities that contribute towards the goals of the project, must be paid for. For that reason this item is further broken into the following categories in Table 2: incidentals, biannual (instead of annual) workshop, radiosonde network, and educational activities.

	Original	Proposed
FIJO
Salary	69,000	69,000
Travel	5,000	5,000
VARIABLE
Observations	71,400	77,042
Balloons + shipping	26,200	26,200
Incidentals	5,000	5,000
Bi-annual workshop	(Anual) 30,000	10,000
Radiosondes	0	20,000
Educational activities	22,800	17,157.7
TOTAL DISPONIBLE	229,400	229,400
NSSL’s indirect costs	80,290	80,290
TOTAL PACS-SONET	309,690	309,690

Tabla 2. Detailed PACS-SONET proposed budget prepared during the workshop.

The final, modified budget is presented in the last column in Table 2, so it can be compared against the initial distribution.

In the original budget, the plan was for $30k to be spent in a workshop and no radiosonde observations were anticipated. The workshop’s proposal calls for a biannual workshop and the savings are put into the operation of special radiosonde stations. Besides, the available funds for pilot balloon observations have also been increased. As It will be shown in the next section, the additional cost of operating 6 new pibal stations is only ~5.6k per year, or about 2.5% of the PACS-SONET actual spendable budget.

The new proposed budget has ~25% less money for educational activities compared to the original. The enhancements to the network, however, are substantial for a relatively small cut in education. The final amount set aside for this component totals $17.2k. Further saving can be achieved with better logistics arrangements in the operation of the pilot balloon network and those savings could be also passed on to educational activities.

2.2. Budget for pilot balloon observations.

Table 3 shows the detailed budget for pilot balloon observations as originally planned. Costs of balloon purchases and shipping are not included, but only the money that would be transferred to each country per year and the intended covered activities. Operation of 7 new stations at Malpelo, Serranillla, Iquitos, Pucallpa, Puerto Maldonado, Santiago del Estero and Tostado is assumed.

Country	Nº	Gas and cyl	Admin. costs	Telephone	Internet	Utilities & use	Equipment	Shipping	Incidentals	Total
	STN	transportation	& compensations			of facilities	maintenance	& duties
Mexico sm	7	0	3960	6600	2760	0	0	2040	0	15360
Nicaragua	1	2300	3900	0	0	0	0	300	0	6500
Colombia	2	1920	1000	0	0	0	0	500	0	3420
Venezuela	2	0	1000	0	800	0	0	0	0	1800
Ecuador	1	0	1500	1200	600	3500	1500	200	360	8860
Peru	5	2558	3246	0	515	0	0	0	172	6491
Bolivia	5	11333	6060	180	700	0	0	0	300	18573
Paraguay	2	960	2700	0	0	0	0	0	300	3960
Argentina	2	8870	3208	0	0	0	0	0	0	12078
TOTAL	27	27941.33	26574	7980	5375	3500	1500	3040	1132	77042.3

Table 3. Final budget proposed including new pilot balloon stations.

Bolivia and México are the countries where the largest amounts have to be transferred every year. However, these countries operate more stations than the others. To illustrate this, Table 4 shows the costs per observation for each country in order to more objectively evaluate the feasibility of establishing a new station in that country.

Country	Cost per observation US$
Mexico sm	2.2
Venezuela	2.5
Peru	3.6
Paraguay	5.4
Colombia	6.7
Argentina	8.3
Bolivia	9.5
Nicaragua	9.3
Ecuador	24.3

Table 4. Estimated costs per observation.

Observations are relatively cheap in México, Venezuela and Peru at less than $5 per observation. Costs are relatively high in Argentina, Bolivia and Nicaragua. The most expensive observations are made in Ecuador due to requests from the country that the costs of utilities at San Cristobal, Galapagos be assumed by the project. It has to be mentioned that helium is the only gas available for balloon inflation in Bolivia and Paraguay. Helium is expensive in these countries and that adds up to the costs per observation. The costs per observation carried significant weight among the different aspects considered for the design of the proposed network.

3. PILOT BALLOON NETWORK

The current PACS-SONET comprises 22 pilot balloon stations in Latin America from northwestern Mexico to Paraguay (Figure 1.) The operation of this network provides additional observations in the Pan American Region in order to fill in the holes in the radiosonde network.

Figure 1. PACS-SONET pilot balloon stations in August 2003. The Managua and Estigarribia sites were not operating due to lack of funds.

Every station has a unique role in the network. The stations in southeastern Mexico and the Managua site have a focus on the study of easterly waves and the strong winds flowing from the Atlantic to the Pacific due to gaps in the topography (gap winds). The stations in northwestern Mexico focus on studies of the North American monsoon and the low-level jet along the Gulf of California. These observations will be relevant for the upcoming field experiment in the region (NAME). The relevance of the stations in Bolivia and Paraguay is centered in the South American monsoon, with a specific focus on the low-level jet east of the Andes (SALLJ), mesoscale convective complexes and the influence of frontal systems passage and cold air incursions into equatorial latitudes.

Although the current network is providing valuable data, there are deficiencies that have to be addressed, specially regarding the geographic distribution of the stations and the frequency of the observations. The main objective of this chapter is to suggest changes to the network that argueably will minimize those deficiencies.

An analysis of the network’s current status is included, along with some initial specific proposals and a final proposal, in which a map of the new pilot balloon network is attached. The radiosonde network is described in Chapter 4.

3.1 Pilot balloon network current status.

3.1.1 Argentina

Argentina is not presently operating any PACS-SONET stations. This country operated 8 pilot balloon stations during SALLJEX (November 2002 thru February 2003).

3.1.2 Bolivia

Bolivia became involved in PACS-SONET in 1999 and, since 2000, 6 stations are being operated in this country. The stations are being operated by AASANA (Airport Administration and Aeronautical Navigation Auxiliary Services). The stations are operated out of 3 airports and 3 secondary stations where the pilot balloon observations are carried out. During SALLJEX, AASANA operated also a pilot balloon station at Villamontes. It is expected that the observations will be continued at a nearby location (Yacuiba) to partly alleviate the low density of upper-air stations in that sector of the country. The funds to operate Yacuiba will e provided by AASANA.

3.1.3 Brazil

Brazil is not presently operating PACS-SONET stations. The Centro de Previsao de Tempo e Estudos Climaticos (CPTEC) in Brazil operated 4 pilot balloon stations during SALLJEX. CPTEC has shown interest in the project and participated in the workshop and in previous activities. The Brazilian weather service (INMET) has also been approached and collaboration with them is promising in the near future.

3.1.4 Colombia

The Centro de Investigaciones Oceanográficas e Hidrográficas (CIOH) in Colombia operates one station in Cartagena making once daily soundings.

There have been personnel problems in this station and less than 10 observations per month have been made in the past 6 months.

3.1.5 Ecuador

Ecuador has been operating one pilot balloon station in San Cristóbal, Galápagos since 1997. The reliability of this station has been intermittent most of the time. Observations in this site are of great importance for the PACS-SONET research and it is necessary to assure more reliable operation.

3.1.6 Mexico

The Mexican Navy is operating 7 pilot balloon stations in Mexico. Six of these stations transmit their data in real time and all of them make twice daily observations. The most recent addition is the site operating from the naval school in Anton Lizardo, Veracruz. The Mexican navy (Secretaria de Marina Armada de Mexico, SEMAR) requested the station to be established primarily for educational purposes, but observations are also made on an operational basis and data is transmitted in real time from the site.

3.1.7 Nicaragua

The national meteorological service (Direccion de Meteorologia - INETER) in Nicaragua has been operating the pilot balloon station in the airport of Managua since April 1997. Starting in June 2000, twice, instead of once, daily observations were made during the rainy seasons of 2000, 2001 and 2002.The station has not been active during 2003 because funds have not been available from the project. Funds have been recently transferred to INETER and the station is expected to resume operations shortly. Data from Managua is valuable to better estimate the synoptic variability of the gap flow across the Central American Cordillera.

3.1.8 Paraguay

Two stations were established in late 1999 in Paraguay. Asuncion is reliable, but the observations in Mariscal Estigarribia (22S, 60W) have been intermittent most of the time. Both stations performed very well during SALLJEX. Mariscal Estigarribia stopped after the experiment and has just resumed operations (October 1) with motivated and more capable observers. Efforts to modernize the meteorological infrastructure and emergency management capabilities in Paraguay have led to the acquisition of a radiosonde system that has been installed in Mariscal Estigarribia. However, shortly after its installation the hydrogen generator failed and, for this reason, radiosondes haven’t been launched since the equipment was installed more than 12 months ago.

3.1.9 Peru

There are two pilot balloon stations in Peru. The site in Piura has been part of the PACS-SONET since May 1997. The University of Piura oversees the station, which is one of the most reliable of the network. Arequipa was a pibal site during SALLJEX and in July 2003 it became a PACS-SONET station with support from the SENAMHI.

3.1.10 Venezuela

Venezuela has been operating two pilot balloon stations, one in San Fernando de Apure and the other in Ciudad Bolivar. San Fernando is reliable and provides good quality data. On the other hand, unreliable gas supply and communication problems at Ciudad Bolivar are causes of this station’s poorer performance. The problems at Ciudad Bolivar were addressed during the workshop and possible solutions were suggested (see next section.)

3.2 Participant’s suggestions to improve the network.

3.2.1 Argentina.

It was suggested by the Argentine participants that the University of Buenos Aires operate two pilot balloon stations in Santiago del Estero and Tostado. The plan is for the stations to operate during 6 months every year, beginning in the month previous to the start of the rainy season. The sites would be closely supervised by the UBA and data are expected to have high quality. Also, immediate use of the data for research would be guaranteed. The purpose of these stations is linked to the study of the LLJ, severe storms in the region and frontal advance. Data will be assimilated into numerical models for verification of the impact of these additional observations in the accuracy of the forecasts. This suggestion was accepted for inclusion in the final proposal.

3.2.2 Colombia.

Colombia suggested the establishment of two new pilot balloon stations; one in Banco de Serranilla in the Caribbean coast and the other in Malpelo Island in the Pacific side. Arrangements are being made with local authorities and permission has been requested for the installation.

The purpose of the new station in Serranilla responds to local interest on the study of the behavior of the trade winds, easterly waves, and the atmospheric influence exerted by cold fronts of polar origin over the Caribbean region. With the new station located in Malpelo Island, valuable information would be recorded for the study of the southerly cross-equatorial flow, the Panama Semi-permanent Low and the El Niño and La Niña phenomena.

This suggestion has been considered for inclusion in the final proposal, except for the inclusion of Isla Malpelo as a potential radisonde site, as explained in Chapter 4.

3.2.3 Ecuador.

Ecuador recommended to resume launchings at Izobamba, an Andean location north of Quito; this time with emphasis on the rainy season. This station’s objective would be to acquire data to facilitate identification of circulation patterns related to the presence of thunderstorms in the region.

Participants recognized the value of the proposal, but because of the high operation costs involved, it was mentioned that PACS-SONET might not be able to afford the Izobamba soundings. It was not included in the final proposal.

3.2.4 Peru.

The Peruvian participants proposed daily launchings in Pucallpa and 3-weekly in both Puerto Maldonado and Iquitos.

The scientific objective of the Pucallpa site would be to supplement the LLJ studies in the upstream region, studies on entrance of frontal systems into low latitudes, as well as studies on the evaluation of the moisture transport from the Amazon basin into the Peruvian-Bolivian Andes.

The objective of the Puerto Maldonado and Iquitos sites would be to obtain a daily database of winds aloft, which would supplement the radiosonde observations made at these sites by the Peruvian weather service (SENAMHI). Because of budget constrains the observations are currently made only every other day. Data from Puerto Maldonado would contribute to studies of the LLJ and the entrance of frontal systems into low latitudes. Data from Iquitos would contribute to the study of convective periods in the western Amazonia, mesoscale convective systems and the moisture fluxes associated to rainy periods over the Ecuadorean and North-Peruvian Andes.

This proposal was considered within the final proposal.

3.2.5 Venezuela.

The Venezuelan representative proposed the relocation of the site at Ciudad Bolivar due to problems with frequent cloudiness and unreliable data transmission. Among the alternatives, four locations were mentioned: Calabozo, Barinas, Puerto Ayacucho and Isla de Aves; the later is a small island that woud be an ideal location for wind observations. It would be necessary, however, to obtain help and authorization from the Venezuelan Navy in order to get access to the island. On the other hand, Isla de Aves is in the Caribbean region, where the radiosonde network is relatively dense. It was mentioned that the next best location would be Puerto Ayacucho.

3.3 Final Proposal.

The participants considered the initial proposals in order to design the new PACS-SONET pilot balloon network, which included the sites currently in operation as well as 6 additional stations: Tostado and Santiago del Estero in Argentina, Serranilla in Colombia; Iquitos, Pucallpa and Puerto Maldonado in Peru (Fig. 2).

The analysis was done considering the available budget and the costs per observation in each country. Although the Argentine proposal has been temporarily accepted based on the geographical location of the stations proposed, this possibility continues to be evaluated due to the high costs involved in making pilot balloon observations in this country.

Fig. 2. Pilot balloon network proposed during the workshop. The small circles represent the current network stations. Big circles represent stations proposed during the workshop.

Chapter 4: Radiosonde network

4.1. Importance of radiosonde measurements

Radiosonde measurements are of extreme importance by their contribution to the knowledge of the thermodynamic structure of the atmosphere, unlike pilot balloons that only contribute to the knowledge of the atmospheric circulations.

Although there is a significant number of radiosonde stations in Latin America, most of these are located in the region of the Caribbean due to the relevance of the atmospheric conditions in this zone to the forecast of tropical cyclones that affect the United States. The central regions of South America have a small number of radiosonde stations, which results in a deficient representation of the thermodynamic profiles in the global analyses, which in turn affects the climate and weather forecasts in the region.

4.2. Current role of PACS-SONET in the radiosonde network

Some PACS-SONET stations operated as radiosonde sites during SALLJEX. However, these stations returned to their previous mode after the experiment ended in February 2003. Currently, radiosonde observations are not being made from PACS-SONET sites.

PACS-SONET has been considering the possibility of implementing radiosonde observations at key sites. A careful analysis of the possibilities considering the budget limitations was done by the group.

4.3.Suggestions to optimize the radiosonde network

Figure 3 shows the current radiosonde network in the Latin America and the Caribbean region.

Some of the main gaps in the radiosonde network are in the Northwestern region of South America (Panama, Colombia and Ecuador) and in the Chaco region (Paraguay, Bolivia and northern Argentina). Implementing radiosonde observations in these regions would have the largest impact in the current radiosonde network coverage.

Figure 3. Radiosonde network (open circles) in Latin America and the Caribbean, PACS-SONET current pilot balloon network (solid dots) and proposed PACS-SONET sites (stars). Iquitos is currently a radiosonde station making 4-weekly launches. The radiosonde station at Veracruz (20 km northwest of Anton Lizardo) is not shown in the map.

Implementation of radiosonde observations in Iquitos (additional ones with support from PACS-SONET), Santa Cruz, Mariscal Estigarribia, Managua and Malpelo Island was considered during the workshop. See fig. 4.

The justification for each station is given below.

4.3.1. Iquitos- Perú

Iquitos is currently operating as a regular radiosonde site. It has a Vaisala system and observations are being made 4 days a week (Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays).

Fig 4. The proposed radiosonde sites with respect to the current PACS-SONET network is shown here.

Iquitos is in a region affected by mesoscale phenomena of local and regional interest, thus it is necessary to complement the days during which no radiosonde observations are made. The additional information would allow for the study of the transport of moist and warm air masses, which are associated with cloud formation affecting the region. It would also help to improve the weather forecasts that are now being made for the eastern part of Peru and Ecuador.

4.3.2. Santa Cruz, Bolivia

No radiosonde observations are being made in Bolivia.

Santa Cruz is a strategic location to fill a gap in the radiosonde network. Currently there is an old vaisala radiosonde equipment at the Viru Viru airport, which is not working due to missing parts. PACS-SONET provided additional equipment that could be used to implement radiosonde observations.

A proposal was made to implement radiosonde observations at this station mainly during the austral summer and potentialy at other times of the year.

4.3.3. Mariscal Estigarribia, Paraguay

As part of their modernization plan, Paraguay acquired a radiosonde system with hidrogen generator that was installed in Mariscal Estigarribia. Shortly after its installation, the generator failed and, for that reason, observations are not being made in Estigarribia since more than a year ago. During SALLJEX, radiosondes were launched using helium cylinders.

It was suggested that radiosonde launches at this site be made every other day between October and May in order to evaluate the variability of the atmospheric circulations during the rainy season.

4.3.4. Managua, Nicaragua

Nicaragua does not have any radiosonde stations. It was recommended that a radiosonde site be implemented at the airport of Managua and observations be made every two days during the months of May to October. This would provide more information on the atmospheric circulation variability over the region during the rainy season.

4.3.5. Isla Malpelo- Colombia

Currently there is no radiosonde station at the site. The proposed observations would be made during a 6 month period (May- October) in this site.

4.4 Final Proposal

After considering all the stations above as possible radiosonde sites, the group reached the following conclusions.

The group discarded the possibility of implementing new stations in Managua and Iquitos because the impact of these in the present radiosonde network would be small in comparison to other locations. The implementation of the station of Mariscal Estigarribia was discarded because of its proximity to the station of Santa Cruz and given the costs of implementing each station.

In the case of Managua, duplicity would exist with the radiosonde station located in San Jose, Costa Rica. On the other hand, the costs related to operating the station in Managua would be elevated.

Iquitos, on the other hand, is relatively close to Leticia, from where daily radiosonde launches are made. Also, considering that radiosonde observations are already being made every other day at Iquitos, it was suggested that the impact of making daily radiosonde observations at this site would be minimum.

Figure 5 shows the locations of Isla Malpelo and Iquitos, where radiosonde observations are proposed with support from PACS-SONET.

Fig. 5 Radiosonde stations proposed (blue crosses). In red is the current network. The radiosonde stations at Chihuahua, Veracruz and Socorro Island, Mexico are not shown in the map.

Chapter 5: EDUCATION

The main objective of this chapter is to propose different options to utilize the money allocated for education of people involved in the project. In the final proposal there is an amount of $17,000.00. The amount needed for workshops is not included in this amount.

5.1 Evaluation of the different options

Five different options to spend the money available for PACS-SONET in educational activities have been considered. Among these options are the workshops, long term scholarships, short term scholarships, visits to NSSL and preparation of materials to be distributed

5.1.1 Workshops

The workshop is a means to disseminate knowledge to a large audience since a number of participants from different regions can be invited to participate. This stimulates an exchange of ideas and leads to a consensus or balance of the different opinions about the decisions that will made concerning the future of the network.

People invited to the workshop are willing to become a link between the project and the institution where they come from. They would try to increase awareness of the project and to increase the utilization of the data for forecasting and research activities.

Proposals

It is suggested that workshops should try to emphasize the importance of the network for the different countries as well as the importance of the data. It is also suggested that at least two research works done utilizing the PACS-SONET data should be presented. Also it is suggested to form groups that would try to find solutions to concrete problems of the network. A document should be prepared at the end of such meeting.

Location for a meeting

If all the countries participating in the network will be participating, it is important to select a city that is centrally located as far as the air traffic is concerned. This would minimize ticket costs for the participants travelling to the meeting. It is best to select a place that is away from big cities in order to maximize the work of the participants during the workshop and to avoid distractions. Some cities that could be recommended due to their central location or because they are not too expensive are Lima-Peru and Quito-Ecuador.

Frequency of meetings

If all the countries in the network send participants to a meeting, the meetings then could take place every 18 months or even every two years. This way some money could be saved that could be used for other activities. It is suggested that in the meantime people from the different countries could stay in touch via a forum which would be implemented in the PACS-SONET homepage.

Participants

It is considered that one or maximum 2 people from each country should participate. Also 2 people from Norman should also be included for a total of about 25 people maximum. As far as the per diem is concerned it is recommended to reduce them as much as possible in order to maximize the use of the money available. Lower per diem would mean that people really interested in the subject would want to participate.

Invitations

It has been determined that it is best to send the invitations directly to the people being invited in order to guarantee that these people would be the ones attending the workshop.

Future Workshops and Research

Within the activities for the next workshop, it was proposed to call for papers where PACS-SONET data has been used. The different papers would be evaluated and would be posted on the web page. Two of papers could be selected to be presented at the workshop by the authors.

5.1.2 Long term scholarships

Another option that may be worth considering is using part of the project's money to provide two long term scholarships. These would be for bachelor's degrees in Meteorology or could be for graduate work. It was considered more useful to have scholarships at the undergraduate level because the graduate degrees may take longer to complete.

Possible candidates for the scholarships could be members of the different institutions participating in the project. It was noted that many members of the weather services only have a 3 year degree at a technical level. It was considered possible that some of these people could get the undergraduate degree in the US without taking a full 4 years.

Among the options for places where the selected candidates could go were: University of Costa Rica, the University of Oklahoma, the University of Miami, the University of Buenos Aires and the University of Sao Paulo. The details of possible expenses associated with this activity have been included in this document.

a- Short-term scholarships

Another alternative could be short-term scholarships during which selected individuals could work with the PACS-SONET data . This also includes developing educational materials that could be later distributed.

5.1.3 Visits to NSSL

Another possibility is to invite different individuals from the participating countries to visit NSSL in Norman Oklahoma for short periods (up to 3 months). During their stay people would also work with the PACS-SONET data and could help improve the WebPages.

b- Visits from PACS-SONET personnel to countries in Latin America

It was considered useful to have at least two people responsible for running the project visit the different countries participating in the network. The main objective of these visits would be to inform and coordinate with members of the different participating institutions.

c- Dissemination of PACS-SONET products

It was considered important to disseminate the different PACS-SONET activities through the publication of bulletins or newsletters. These newsletters would be distributed to the different research centers in the region.

Also considered were the dissemination of materials and information via de web page of the project. This could be done by including articles and relevant research as PDF or Word files.

There is a great need for developing tutorials that can be placed in the web page. Some tutorials could be about quality control of the data., the use of theodolites, different techniques that can be used to work with the PACS-SONET data (correlations, calculations of means, anomalies etc). Also a tutorials explaining how to utilize all the information available in the PACS-SONET homepage would be useful.

5.2 Costs

Below is a short description of the expenses for the different educational and training options mentioned above.

5.2.1 Workshop

Table five show the cost of a workshop. Some of the expenses are flexible and depend in part on the locations selected for the activity. There is the option of having a workshop in North America and a workshop in South America but it is not being considered in the expenses analysis.

A workshop in Lima was considered for the cost calculations below. The budget is about $20000. This workshop would have an estimated 23 participants, would last 7 days and it would be done every two years.

Cost per participant	Daily cost/ person	# participants	#days/times	Total cost
Ticket Norman-Lima	900.00	2	1	1800.00
Perdiem in Norma	7.00	2	7	98.00
Tickets participants	650.00	14	1	9100.00
Perdiem-participants	6.00	14	7	588.00
Airport transport	40.00	14	1	560.00
Perdiem local participants	6.00	5	7	210.00
Tickets local particip	180.00	2	1	360.00
Local transportation	7.00	21	7	1029.00
Room and board	30.00	21	7	4410.00
Total cost/person				18,155.00

Fixed expenses	Cost/ person	Amount	Total cost
Internet connection	19.00	5	95.00
Purchases	200.00	1	200.00
Copy and printer rental	500.00	1	500.00
Helium for balloons	50.00	1	50.00
Various	1000.00	1	1000.00
Total fixed costs			1,845.00

Grand total

20,000.00

Table 5. Estimated costs for a biannual workshop for 23 people with a 7 day duration.

Foreign participants: 12

Local participants: 7

Best paper winners: 2

Total participants: 23

5.2.2 Supporting a bachelor's degree student in Argentina

The yearly expenses for a student in Argentina working on an undergraduate degree in Meteorology are shown on table 6. The degree takes 6 years and the cost is about $26, 760

Fixed expenses: Phone, water, electricity	$ 360.00
Rent	$ 1200.00
Food	$ 1200.00
Misc materials	$ 100.00
Miscelaneous expenses:. Tickets etc	$ 1200.00
Insurance	$ 400.00
TOTAL	$ 4460.00

Table 6. Estimaded expenses for a biannual workshop for 23 people for 7 days

5.2.3 Supporting an undergraduate student in Brazil

Supporting a student at the University of Sao Paulo would cost approximately $14,000 for the four years that takes to finish the degree.

5.2.4 Short scholarships

A possibility exists for supporting long distance learning for participants in the different countries. The amount estimated would be about $1500.

5.2.5 Visits to Norman

It was estimated a cost of $5565 per person for three months

Tickets	1300
Visa Expenses	165
Insurance	300
Monthly expenses	3600
Various	200
Total	5565

Table 7. Expenses associated with short visits to Norman for one person for three months.

5.2.6 Visits of PACS-SONET managers to different countries in